Page 6 - National Poultry News

CQU alumnus Melinda’s university path takes her from the farm to Tokyo and back again
CENTRAL Queens- land University alumnus Melinda Hashimoto is the CEO of Egg Farmers of Australia.
“From a young age I wanted to study a lan- guage.
built resources and time- tables.”
our second-largest trading partner and agriculture and mining are commod- ities in our region that make their way to Japan,” she said.
business, both practical and theoretical.
there enjoyable.
“Local students are
ence that they would not experience at home.
A background in farm- ing, a passion for educa- tion, business and politics and a love of language have come together to put CQU alumnus Melinda Hashimoto in charge of Egg Farmers of Australia.
“I really realised my love of trade when I worked for the Federal Minister for Agriculture.”
“The experience in fast- paced environments helps a great deal.
“Regional education al- lows for specialised in- dustry placements and for international students they are able to have a study and lifestyle experi-
“I am the first of my family to receive a formal university degree.
Melinda has come a long way since graduating with a Bachelor of Education (Languages Other than English) from CQUniver- sity in 2000, and now, as Egg Farmers of Australia CEO, she acknowledges the vital role her univer- sity studies played to put her in the top job.
“I enjoyed their classes and believe their drive and commitment to provid- ing an incredible learn- ing experience for their students correlated in my goal to become a Japanese teacher.”
Eventually she found a job as a political and eco- nomic adviser to the Japa- nese consulate in Brisbane and later, with Trade and Investment Queensland’s North Asia team.
Melinda has lived and worked in Yeppoon, To- kyo, Toowoomba, Canber- ra and now she’s come full circle back to her farming roots as Egg Farmers of Australia CEO in Rock- hampton, representing more than 270 Australian egg farms.
“One challenge I have found is working with policy advisers who have never lived in the regions or have no experience with agriculture.
“My parents did not have the opportunity to attend university but were driven to ensure I had the opportunity, for which I am thankful.”
“The school I attended introduced Japanese stud- ies and I had the most inspirational teachers in years 7 and 8.
After returning to Aus- tralia, Melinda complet- ed a Master of Business Administration while she worked three part-time jobs.
“Sometimes in life you need to take risks and be prepared to move around to gain experience.
lucky to have a regional university to attend and with online learning you can be engaged with your university wherever you are.
“Central Queensland University is well known for first of family.
Having grown up on farms with her fam- ily around Brisbane and later Central Queens- land, Melinda always had dreams of the places and people in the world around her.
“My husband Ryo and I worked at an international school and set up an el- ementary school starting with six students.
“Bill O’Chee was a huge inspiration to me because he was one of the very few young politicians in my era and I believed age should not be a barrier to being involved in the political process.”
“Our organisation is apolitical and one of the most enjoyable parts of the job is engaging with people from all levels of government, all parties and all walks of life,” she said.
Melinda said the ben- efits of studying with a regional university spoke for themselves.
“I decided to study at CQUniversity as it had a unique one-of-a-kind Jap- anese immersion course called The Language and Culture Initial Teacher Education: Primary pro- gram,” Melinda said.
“After five years there were over 100 students enrolled – this feat was one of our huge achieve- ments.
At 20 when she was still a CQU student, Melin- da was president of the Young Nationals.
“Any learning opens your mind to new ideas, approaches and people,” she said.
It was also during her CQU Japanese studies that she met her husband Ryo and the next part of her journey began.
“I was involved in poli- tics at an early age,” she said.
“When considering pol- icy issues these advisers do not come with that lens and I have found my per- spective has been helpful in improving policies.
“My four-year course was completed in three- and-a-half years and I then went and taught at St. Brendan’s for 18 months before moving to Japan for five years,” she said.
“My family sat around the table and discussed politics and I wanted to understand it.
In Australia, more than 17 million eggs are pro- duced daily to meet do- mestic consumption, and the industry contributes $1.8 billion to the national economy.
“Everyone has different knowledge and experi- ence and we can always learn from one another.”
“Together we taught,
“Trade has always inter- ested me, given Japan is
“This job would be dif- ficult to do without previ- ous experiences in educa- tion, trade, agriculture and
CQU alumnus Melinda Hashimoto is Egg Farmers of Australia CEO.
This role allowed her to travel and meet a range of people and strengthen and change some of her views.
“It is really fascinating.
“Regional universities often have different offer- ings and a range of expe- riences in industry place- ment and community set- tings that makes your time
John O’Hara recently finished up as Sunny Queen Australia CEO. Photo: ipswichfirst.com.au
Sunny Queen Australia CEO cruises out after 18 years
SUNNY Queen Aus- tralia CEO John O’Hara recently announced he is fin- ishing up with the company after 18 years in the top job.
four years into O’Hara’s term at the helm, when the company started us- ing a small factory at Coolangatta to broaden its focus.
produce a mix of egg- based foods including quiches, omelettes and much more to meet the growing demands for food in Australia and Asia.
It was 2002 when O’Hara joined Sunny Queen, which originally launched 51 years ago as largely a state-focused business known as the Queensland Egg Board.
This include a range of egg-based foods, which proved to be a master stroke.
“Just when other com- panies in food and agri- culture were selling up and moving interstate and offshore, we be- lieved there was a great opportunity to invest lo- cally,” O’Hara said.
Now the Queensland farmer-owned giant has both a national and in- ternational presence to be proud of.
Then in 2016, a sub- stantial investment of $40 million in a new distribution and manu- facturing plant in the Brisbane suburb of Car- ole Park saw the com- pany further develop its future-focused food facilities.
Sunny Queen Aus- tralia is now estimated to be worth about $7.4 billion a year and holds a sizeable share of the breakfast market.
This transforma- tion has taken time to achieve but was initiated
This value-added egg processing facility en- abled the company to
“For me, the timing was right and last No- vember I said to the Board I wanted to go do something else,” O’Hara said.
Julie Proctor is the new CEO of Sunny Queen Australia. Photo: couriermail.com.au
Taking over as CEO is Julie Proctor, who has worked in several senior management roles with- in the business over the past 15 years.
“You should go out when the business is strong, not when it’s get- ting weaker.”
Recipe
Potato tortilla with chive mayonnaise
INGREDIENTS Mayonnaise
• 4 egg yolks
• 500ml vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons of Dijon mustard
• Juice of 1 lemon
• Salt, to taste
• Small bunch of chives,
chopped
Caramelised onions
• 2 onions, sliced
• 4 tablespoons of oil Tortilla
• 10 eggs
• 3 tablespoons cream
• 300g left over roasted pota-
toes, roughly sliced
• Small bunch of flat leaf pars-
ley, picked and washed
METHOD Mayonnaise
1. Place the egg yolks into a
jug with the mustard, lemon juice and a pinch salt. Using a stick blender or mixer, blend the yolks to a paste.
2. Whileyoucontinuetoblend, slowly and steadily pour in the oil to combine it with the yolks. Once thick, stop blending and fold in chopped chives and season to taste with salt and pepper. Caramelised onions
3. In a pan over medium heat, add the oil for the caramelised onions. Once hot, add the sliced onion and cook for 5 minutes until softened and caramelised. Leave aside to cool.
Tortilla
1. Mix the eggs and cream for the tortilla, then add the cooled caramelised onion and potatoes. Season with salt and pepper.
2. In a non-stick frying pan, heat the oil for the tortilla over high heat.
3. When hot, pour in the potato mixture and mix well with a spatula for 30 seconds.
4. Turn the heat down to medi- um and continue to stir to break
up the potatoes.
5. Run the spatula around the side of the tortilla to form the edges. Cook for 3–4 minutes or until the surface starts to set.
6. Cover the entire pan with a large plate and turn the tortilla over, then slide the uncooked side back into the hot pan. Continue to cook for a further 3-4 minutes. If you don’t feel confident flipping the tortilla, pop the pan and the tortilla it into a preheated oven at 180 degrees and bake for 5 minutes until just cooked through. If you flipped the tortilla cook for a fur- ther 4 minutes until firm when pressed.
7. Flip onto a plate. Allow to cool and set for 10 mins, other- wise it will be hard to slice.
8. To serve, cut a slice of the tortilla, add a dollop of chive mayonnaise and parsley.
By Jo Barrett
Cook time 35 min Serves 6
For more recipes, visit australianeggs.org.au
Page 6 – National Poultry Newspaper, July 2020
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