Page 22 - Food&Drink Magazine November-December 2021

✷ RISING STAR
Rising Star: Class of 2021
Industry pioneers veer from the conventional and expected to innovate, drive change, and achieve success. Our Rising Stars of 2021 are testament to that.
Rise and Yalnun
Australia’s Indigenous owned, operated, and controlled coffee brand Dhuwa is the result of an unstoppable drive to end Indigenous disadvantage and intergenerational trauma, a partnership founded on respect, and a mutual commitment to delivering a premium product in a highly competitive market.
SHAWN Andrews, a descendant of the Mununjali people of South East Queensland and the Palawa people of Tasmania, who founded Indigicate, a curriculum driven Indigenous education cultural program, and Supply Aus, a 100 per cent Indigenous owned and operated procurement company, was asking himself, what’s next?
“I thought, what products do I love and how can I turn them into something more. I love coffee but there are many outstanding coffees out there, so how could I do it differently?”
Andrews knew exactly what Dhuwa (pronounced Dee:Wah, meaning ‘to feel alive’ in Bidjara language) Coffee stood for – a celebration of Indigenous people, their
cultures and the 300-plus languages they speak. He says it is a reconciliation ecosystem, from the coffee it creates, the people it celebrates, and the opportunities it brings to other Indigenous people.
“The bigger picture is to create a successful coffee enterprise that will train and employ Indigenous people to enable them to contribute to their communities,” he says.
“We knew exactly what we wanted to create and had access to all the sales and distribution channels but not the skills or knowledge to produce the coffee,” Andrews explains.
And then Andrews and business partner Adam Williams met with the co-owners and directors of Griffiths Bros Coffee
Roasters, Peter Patisteas and Chris Togias.
The Griffiths Bros pair were drawn to the opportunity to develop a product that supported a new enterprise on a large scale with an Indigenous ownership structure. Patisteas says from the outset what attracted him to the project was the truth telling component Andrews and Williams brought to the table.
“As simple as it sounds, the actual roasting and packaging side of the business is something we know backwards, that’s the easiest part of it. It is the relationships that take time and a lot more effort to understand,” Patisteas says.
Critical to both parties was the clear definition of Griffiths Bros role – that it would add valueasasupportingstructure, not a leading one.
A meeting with Woolworths ended with the ambitious agreement to have 18 SKUs ready in 14 weeks.
“In the space of fourteen weeks, a completely Indigenous
led company, took a completely new premium product to market into one of the most competitive markets in the country. Five per cent of our profits go straight to our charity partner Dreaming Futures which supports Indigenous kids in out of home care.
“We are a serious, successful Indigenous business and seen as such but there’s more to do,” Andrews says.
Andrews says: “We’re all destined to become ancestors. How we start supporting more Indigenous people and businesses comes from understanding we have to be more involved in Indigenous culture. We all have to respect, care, understand and love it for real and lasting change.”
Dhuwa is calling all of us to riseandshine. ✷
LEFT: The oldest coffee house and the oldest culture combine with Peter Patisteas, Chris Togias, Shawn Andrews and Adam Williams.
ABOVE: Yalnun means sunshine for the Yugambeh people of South East Queensland.
22 | Food&Drink business | November - December 2021 | www.foodanddrinkbusiness.com.au