Bush tucker takes flight

His company has made Qantas history as the first stand-alone Aboriginal company to be promoted on their flights and as the brand develops close to its roots, it could change Wellington's future, bringing manufacturing and jobs to the town in years to come.

Qantas began serving the slice for morning tea on their regional and national flights on March 31 after the airline placed an order for 150,000 units.

Herb Smith is a proud Wiradjuri man and a direct descendant of the original Wellington valley inhabitants.

He is now hoping this new platform will bring his unique bush flavours to Australians everywhere and maybe one day around the world.

Qantas CEO Alan Joyce wrote about this partnership in the latest inflight magazine, QNews, saying the decision to embrace this Australian flavour was important because it told a unique story about Australia.

"We think part of our role as a national carrier means acting as something of a shop window to the best Australian producers," Alan said.

Passengers are already raving about the slice and on the first day it was served for morning tea on domestic flights, Shirley Drysdale was probably the first local to try it on her flight from Canberra to Sydney.

She always has a look at the packaging to see where items are from and when she turned the slice over to read the label, she got a surprise.

The idea of Dreamtime Tuka was inspired years ago in Mr Smith's childhood by his grandmother's cooking, and to this day he vividly remembers the beautiful aroma of traditional Indigenous flavours that emanated from the kitchen at their home in Curra Creek.

“As most kids did, I spent a bit of time with my grandparents during school holidays and gran used to do a lot of baking.” Herb said.

“I have always remembered those beautiful-flavoured biscuits she used to make and sometimes she’d get us to help.”

After 31 years in the police force and then running community engagement programs in Sydney, he started serving up traditional foods at events and began to think about his grandparents' cooking with flavours like wattle seed, cinnamon myrtle and lemon myrtle.

“I have some of those old recipes gran used and I took them to a manufacturer and had them produced in commercial quantities,” Herb said.

One of his biggest challenges from the time the business began in 2013 had been how to keep the care that went into quality homemade food while producing it on a mass scale.

He set about with businesses in the region and said that the help and guidance of Earlyrise Baking Company in Dubbo (where the slices are made), Danielle Anderson at Wellington Business Services and graphic design company Shamrock Design had been invaluable.

“Together with the Earlyrise bakers I developed my first line of biscuits called ‘Dreamtime Temptations’ and we had to tweak the recipe to fit the modern day commercial processing techniques required,” Herb said.

From the traditional design and logo on its packaging to the way the recipe was created for mass production, he now believes it reflects as an Aboriginal product from the inside out.

Herb took his biscuits to a Qantas staff market day in early 2015  which led to an invitation to Qantas supplier interviews last October where he also took some muffins and the slice which has become most popular at morning tea among passengers on domestic flights.

The idea of the name Dreamtime Tuka came in a “lightbulb” moment when Mr Smith thought back to the evenings his grandfather would call them in for tea, saying "good tucker and a full belly makes you sleep and have good dreams".

Now he believes his grandparents, Bessie and Jimmy Daly, would be proud to know their legacy will be seen nationwide and maybe one day around the world.

"What makes me so proud is that this is a company from a little town like Wellington," Mr Smith said.

"I want to create employment for both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people; traineeships and apprenticeships for young people and to bring a successful industry to Wellington.

“There is a big chance that if we can maintain a strong business partnership with Qantas there will be more opportunities there.

"I want to let young people know that you can do things like this in the bush."

Qantas Product and Service Delivery head Helen Gray said it was a product they had to share with Australia.

"Not only because of the quality of the product but also of Herb's uniquely Australian story," she said.

Mr Smith said the aim of Dreamtime Tuka was to create recognition of the nutritional and gourmet value of native foods and to share this cultural knowledge of Indigenous foods with Australia and the world.

"The linking of Aboriginal foods and culture to the average consumer increased their appreciation and understanding of a history that has lasted many centuries.”