First and foremost, I would like to thank the cooperative board for agreeing to purchase enough shares to help us cover the final costs of filing the development application.

The next financial year, which begins on Friday, will be a big one for us; we’re planning an 11-million-dollar budget for the entire year. We plan to raise $5 million from the cooperative and the rest from sophisticated investors interested in the growth of the Australian food industry and related processing sector.

Our next tasks will be to plan for operational works, including moving 300,000 tonnes of soil, as well as engineering design and architectural work for the first stage buildings.

Another key task is to begin formal negotiations with local growers and suppliers, particularly with our potential major purchasers, such as Coles and Woolworths. Many people have expressed concern about how helpful Coles and Woolworths will be; however, we would like to clarify that our experience with both organisations has been positive, and they have stated that they will engage constructively with us once we have the building approvals in place and have begun our building works.

We have a big year ahead! My first goal is to create a suitable team to pick up the workload these plans will generate.

Take care, Colin