Support Payment Recipients

To date, we have assisted 262 people who are now a step closer to realising their aspirations and achieving their full potential.

If you would like to know about more about them and what training they have done (or are doing) please have a look at the following industry specific brochures or read on for a part of their story.

Baking - Keva Freeman
Chocolates -  Lynn Green
Cheese - Kris Lloyd
Meat - Alan Holloway and Corey Barr
Microbrewery - Justin Murdock 

Story of one of our recipients – Keva Freeman (video) 
 

JANUARY 2024 SUPPORT PAYMENT RECIPIENTS 

Petria Byrne

4 generations of family passion for wine and viticulture has Petria now looking to ensure that Byrne Vineyards is secure for future generations.  Her previous focus was on production and now as CEO her focus is on sales. She will be completing WSET Level 3 to enhance her wine knowledge, refine her tasting skills, speak wine with confidence and assist her career.

Her philosophy on viticulture is all about regeneration of the environment, combining the maintenance of sustainable soil fertility and the recognition of the relationship between plant growth and a method of management that treats the vineyard as a living system to produce wines of consistent award-winning quality.

Gerard Callanan 

As the Cheesemaker and Affineur at Lilyarra Artisan Cheeses Gerard specialises in making artisan cheeses with goats milk.  Lilyarra Artisan Cheeses have won several gold medals at the South Australian Dairy Awards for which they are justifiably proud.

The next step to formalise and increase his knowledge of cheese affinage is to attend the Mons Cheese Affinage course in France in April 2024 and we are pleased to be able to assist him with this training.

Charavy Chan

Charavy is a passionate food technologist who has been working in the industry for twenty years. As a relatively new consultant she is looking to expand her skillset and resources to better support South Australian food and beverage processors.

Her funding will be used to complete the Approved persons course for thermal processing of low acid foods in addition to completing the Advanced course for UHT processing and aseptic packaging.

She is keen to support those businesses who do not have the expertise in-house and provide a local service rather than needing to bring in assistance from interstate. 

If you think Charavy might be able to assist you and your business please contact her at LabCoat Food & Beverage Consulting.

Mitch Gauvin

Mitch is the Head Distiller at Applewood Distillery in Gumeracha.

In 2023 he self-funded and successfully completed IBD General Certificate in Distilling and module 1 of the Diploma in Distilling.  We are pleased to be able to assist him in 2024 and 2025 to complete modules 2 and 3 so he can successfully complete the IBD Diploma in Distilling allowing him to develop and formalise his knowledge of distillation.

Jessica Hobson

Jessica works in the wine industry and will be completing WSET Level 2 Award in Wines to give her a more technical understanding of wine making, grape growing and an educated approach to wine tasting.  She is seeking a greater understanding of the process so she can explain wine terminology in consumer friendly terms and give her the confidence to stand in a room and be able to talk the talk and know that she is saying the right thing.

Sarah Lark

Sarahs application is the first we have ever received for training relating to vermouth.

Her ambition is to learn how to create a premium vermouth in 2024 as a part of the Still Friends portfolio; a vermouth that also captures the unique flavours of Kangaroo Island.  To do this she will be travelling to Spain and Italy where she will be working and training with key vermouth producers in technical sessions directly with their vermouth makers. She is particularly looking forward to being in the area where juniper is grown, with some trees being 400 years old.

We are pleased to be able to assist Sarah with this personalised vermouth educational program.  The Larks are back and we couldn’t be happier.  From all of us at F&B we sincerely wish Sarah and Jon every success in their new adventure Still Friends.

Kath MacDonald

Kath is an early career affineur with an intense desire to learn more about affinage, build an appropriate skillset and be able to assist local cheese makers to create uniquely matured cheeses and bespoke products.

As a 2024 F&B recipient Kath will be attending an affinage course at Mons in France.

Kylie Randell

Kylie is a 2024 recipient whose funding will be used to complete Cert IV Patisserie at TAFESA Regency.

She has her own online food business called Kylies Kuisine where she supplies customers with home made cooked meals and is looking forward to branching out into special occasion cakes and to be able to cater for special occasions.

Nathan Riches

Nathan has grown up with a passion for food, fermentation and food science.  Graduating with a Diploma in food and nutrition science specialising in food science from Uni SA in 2020 he has since worked for various well known South Australian food producers.

Following a passion for brewing his career has now moved to the brewing sector where he is working with fellow F&B recipients at Big Shed Brewing.

We are assisting Nathan in 2024 to complete module 1 of the IBD Diploma in Brewing.

Alexia Roberts

Alexia is a winemaker by trade, both for her family business as well as winemaker promoted to GM for Pennys Hills Estate and Gemtree Wines.

She is a long term wine industry representative with a lot of knowledge and expertise to offer the industry and regional Boards and a desire to contribute to the future of the sector for many years to come.

To enable her to successfully do this we have agreed to fund the AICD Company Directors Course in 2024.  This is one of those courses that is difficult to get across the line for F&B funding but Alexia completely convinced us of her passion for the sector and that this will be a great trajectory for her career.  We wish you every success Alexia.

Belinda van Eyssen

Belinda is the winemaker and co-owner of The Cutting in the Barossa Valley, a sustainability-driven boutique winery established in 2018. They craft award winning wines from single vineyard sites across the region and specialise in Shiraz, Grenache and Cinsault production.

Having previously completed WSET the next step in her education is AWRI – Advanced wine assessment course and we are pleased to be able to assist her with this.

For Belinda and her husband it is all about producing better quality Australian wines.  Her passion extends not only to the diversity and sustainability of vineyards and landscapes, but also to the people and palates that shape the world of wine.

Lara Winsor

Lara has extensive skills and experience in the wine industry.  She is planning on completing WSET level 2 and 3 as a genuine reflection of her level of wine knowledge and expertise, with the intention to pursue positions in the wine production and processing side of the industry.  We wish you all the best Lara.