RED Grant helps take new Toowoomba charcuterie beef line global
Cathie and Jim Tanner, Emily Pullen and Minister Furner
24 January 2024
Jim’s Jerky is taking its red meat snacks global and developing a new premium smallgoods line with the help of a Rural Economic Development (RED) Grant.
The Darling Downs family business' Chief Executive Officer Emily Pullen said Jim's Jerky is hoped to become a world-class exporter of gourmet biltong and beef sticks.
“Charcuterie boards have traditionally been dominated by pork and cheese products, so we are taking the concept of value-adding beef cuts and putting it into the entertainment space with biltong and beef sticks under the Grazers line," she said.
“As well as looking domestically, we are looking at Australian beef as a charcuterie snack for our trading partners overseas."
The RED Grant will help fund a range of equipment and materials for the new manufacturing line, as well as assisting with the costs of brand and business development.
“Having the assistance of the grant has really given us the confidence as a small, growing business to boldly move ahead and make business decisions that would otherwise feel quite daunting," Emily said.
“As a niche business that has been operating for 19 years, we are really proud to work together with the red meat supply chain to add value to the agricultural industry.”
The project will create up to nine direct, full-time jobs.
“We are recruiting new staff to work across the business including manufacturing and upskilling current staff into the gourmet, healthy beef smallgoods space," Emily said.
Jim’s Jerky is one of 24 businesses approved for the fifth round of the competitive RED grants program with a total funding of $3.9 million. Overall, the fifth round of the RED Grants program is expected to create up to 215 direct, long-term jobs.
Grants are available for up to $200,000 with a 50 per cent cash contribution requirement from applicants to fund projects which generate economic and employment opportunities related to primary production value chains across rural and remote Queensland.
Over five years, the Queensland Government’s RED Grants program has provided a total of $13.3 million in funding to support 59 successful regional agribusiness projects, worth more than $52.4 million and estimated to create over 2,500 new direct and indirect jobs.
A sixth round of RED Grants has been allocated for the 2023-24 financial year, with applications to open later this year.
For more information about the RED Grant scheme, visit the RED Grant scheme page.
The Queensland Rural and Industry Development Authority (QRIDA) administers the RED Grant scheme on behalf of the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries.
