A DECISION to base its hub in Orange and draw on strong ties to generations of farmers in the Central West is being lauded as one of the keys to a business boom for burgeoning beef company, Endeavour Meats.
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Midway through 2019, Tim Sullivan, Will Jeffreys, James Larkin and Campbell Basnett began birthing an agriculture business, which would facilitate the export of Aussie-reared beef, lamb and pork products.
Four senior members of one of Australia's largest red meat exporters at the time, they eventually broke away from the herd, forming the alliance that is Endeavour Meats today.
"The four directors, we were all working together in Sydney on York Street for 10 to 15 years and we were a little band of six people that came out of Sanger Australia," one of the Endeavour Meats directors, Tim Sullivan said.
"So, when we went out on our own, we were very fortunate to already have a tight team - which has grown since."
With international offices located in the United States, Singapore and China, the crew of country-borne industry experts needed an Aussie hub for their operations and Orange was pinned for the office's regionally-based home.
While Mr Sullivan was born and bred in Cabonne, the NSW countryside was also the original home to all four of its chiefs.
"We're all farmers' sons. We all come from farmers' families," Mr Sullivan said.
"And we are all back living in the bush now, because that's what we know and what we've always been passionate about - rural Australia."
With the vision to "keep the money here", Mr Sullivan says Orange's Endeavour Meats base has also bulked up its team, with the idea to grow the nine current members to 12 by the end of the year.
"We wanted to be able to bring those salaries back locally and most of our guys have all gone and bought between five and 200 acres, all within 40 minutes of town - whether that's in Orange or Molong," he said.
"It's about bringing those jobs back rurally and that's what keeps things like our pony and rugby clubs alive, local pubs - because it's the community that makes rural Australia what it is, so that's a little bit about our mission statement and what gets us out of bed in the morning."
We're all farmers' sons. We all come from farmers' families.
- Endeavour Meats director, Tim Sullivan on company "passionate" about business growth in rural Australia
With the company's most recent success - breaking into the foodservice industry in both Thailand and the Philippines - Mr Sullivan says Endeavour's triumphs have been the result of a blended approach in business - maintaining valuable partnerships, facilitating high-quality products and sharing honesty-based bonds.
"Our revenue is driven by being more open and transparent because I think, traditionally, there's been a big divide between farmers and exporters," he said.
"We're lucky enough to have 20 people today who are regionally-based and highly motivated to break down some of the barriers between producers and exporters; and we do that by working in a more transparent way throughout the supply chain.
"So, we're really trying to bridge that gap between the two by having that transparency in the transaction and a lot of the business that we do is done on open-book scenarios; so, we go and market the product overseas openly and that then flows back down, back to the farmer directly."
With Austrade working with the company on business development into new markets, the directors' long-standing ties in the meat industry also carried over established customers from the outset.
"We feel lucky to have the support that we've had; we'd formed strong relationships and we felt very fortunate that the number of key people stuck by us and ultimately backed us to go and take the next step," Mr Sullivan said.
"So, we feel blessed for that and we also feel very fortunate for the people within our team that we work with, which is fantastic because it's like a family and it makes work far more enjoyable."
Now, firmly settled on Lords Place, Mr Sullivan says another choice to base its office in Orange was not only due to it being an "ag-hub" in the Central West, but because of how many boxes it ticks for families.
Our revenue is driven by being more open and transparent because I think, traditionally, there's been a big divide between farmers and exporters.
- Endeavour Meats director, Tim Sullivan on breaking down supplier/buyer barriers
"I wanted to move back here and we needed a base, so we thought what better place to launch ourselves than in Orange," he said.
"It's so attractive for young professionals - and it's got everything a young couple could want with education and health services - so, not only did Orange suit me personally, but moving here also suited others in the team; more importantly, their partners as well."
With its recent success breaking into the Philippines and Thai markets, Mr Sullivan says the company will continue to focus on what's always been their mission - to support country-based growth.
"We're regionally-based and we want to champion regional development by working with supply chains and farmers to develop rural Australia, that's what it's about," he said.
"We're all raising children back in the country now, back where we were all raised and that's very important to us.
"So, it's got to be part of the culture of the business that we do - that's really important to us."
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