It is not every day in school that you get to hear the secret to success with big businesses like Qantas, but that is exactly what St Mary's Catholic School students did recently when local Herb Smith paid a visit to talk about tackling the food industry.
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A few weeks after his Dreamtime Tuka lemon myrtle and coconut slice was rolled out on domestic flights to rave reviews, he shared his story about Australian flavours to the local food technology class.
"It was yummy!" one student said, while another said it was fascinating to learn about traditional Aboriginal food in the industry.
"It was an extremely inspiring visit from Herb," teacher Lindy Whale said.
"It was great for the students to see such accomplishment from a Wellington man. He is a great role model for the kids."
Mr Smith not only brought along the famous lemon myrtle and coconut slice, but also a whole range of other products he is developing including jams and biscuits.
"I spoke about how I used Indigenous products in the new age," he said.
He brought along a Rosella plum jam and a Quandong or wild peach jam and spoke about how the flavours worked in different products like his flavoured waters which feature lemon myrtle, lime, wild peach and wild spearmint.
He also brought along photo samples of the plants and discussed their progression through to the end product, and targeting niche markets.
His products, for example were inspired by his grandmother's recipes, but he had to develop them for large scale cooking.
Mr Smith spoke about how many Sydney restaurants have restaurants featuring Aboriginal Indigenous foods as a niche market, which were highly sought after.
"Food is everywhere," he said, adding that the possibilities were endless with the traditional idea of opening a shop front, being just one option of many more that they might not have thought of.
