Page 17 - Tropic Magazine Issue 38

TROPIC • UP FRONT
Mick James
Food manufacturer
Mick James had retired as a
refrigeration mechanic and
business owner when one
day he asked his son-in-
law to make him a bottle of
chilli sauce. It was very good,
prompting Mick to build a food
manufacturing facility to cook
up Fang’s Chilli Sauce.
Mick and his wife Mary now
spend their days sharing their
passion for food manufacturing
with clients at the Food
Manufacturing Hub in Bunda
Street, Cairns.
A DAY IN THE LIFE
Tropic delves into the daily routines and habits of a local identity.
4:30am 12:30pm
Mary sleeps soundly while I get up to The cook is done and now we just need
have breakfast and head into the Hub to put the jam in the jars, but first we
on my scooter. The traffic is light at have lunch. I head into the boardroom
this hour, and it is only a few minutes with my packed lunch to catch up with
into the office. Lara and find out what is new. Lara is
5:30am working on a school tour, delivering a
showcase event - the Indigenous
I check the calendar for the day and Food Expo - and running a food
plough through my emails. e-commerce program.
6am 1pm
I head into the kitchen to make sure Back in the kitchen to fill the jars.
it’s ready for a big day of cooking. They leave the kitchen on a conveyor
belt to get a tamper-proof seal and a
The hair nets and gumboots are label before being packed on a pallet
lined up for the clients.
Ingredients are double checked and ready for warehousing and distribution.
any last-minute maintenance and
repairs are undertaken. 3pm
The Skybury staff head home and
7am Mary and I head back into the kitchen,
Will arrives to help me set up and we washing the equipment until it is so
quickly go over the plan for the day. clean you could eat off it. Mary is a
We move pallets and rearrange powerhouse who never stops.
our warehouse, making space
to accommodate the new product. 6pm
Mary heads home as guests begin to
8am arrive for our latest workshop hosted
The food technician team of Brett by Lara. She will lock up the facility
and Steve from the Department of when she leaves. I climb on my scooter
Agriculture and Fisheries drop by to and head home.
grab coffee and discuss the jam we’re
making. Their support is essential to 6.30pm
deliver a high-quality product. I head into my shed to tinker and relax
They provide advice and we discuss the with my motorcycles. I watch a little
best ways to extend shelf life. television and catch up on the latest
Moto GP results.
9am
The staff begin to arrive, along with 7.30pm
my wonderful wife Mary. Lara, my Despite us both spending the whole
CEO, heads into the boardroom for day in a kitchen, Mary and I prepare
meetings. Our admin officer, Dasha, dinner. Some nights I really would love
heads into the office. The Skybury cook takeout. We sit and enjoy a meal and
team rolls in. The workday has now a refreshing beverage together while
officially begun. discussing the day.
9:30am
I pull on my gumboots and slip into my
hair net ready for a big day in
the kitchen. We can make 1,200 litres
of jam and fill 6,000 bottles in an hour.
The sweet smell of papayas fills the
air as we wash, chop, stir and cook the MORE: foodmanufacturinghub.com.au
delicious sticky jam.
17 • tropicnow.com.au