Advance Australian Manufacturing With Sealane Food Service
Established in Melbourne’s northern suburbs way back in 1982, Sealane Food Service is among the most recognisable and trusted food distribution services in the industry. Owned and managed by the Li family, many of Victoria’s busiest restaurants, cafes, hotels and nursing homes rely on Sealane to keep their kitchens ticking over and their customers and residents satisfied.
Given their client base, it shouldn’t come as any great surprise that the impact on the hospitality industry was sharply felt at Sealane. Jamie Li, the CIO, shared Sealane’s COVID-19 experience with us as part of our #AAM series of stories, as well as his thoughts on where Australian manufacturing needs to go next.
AAM: How would you compare your business now to pre-pandemic?
Jamie Li: “There are three main pillars of change, I’d say. One is the decrease in turnover and revenue in the food business; that's probably been the biggest, most significant change. Then, there’s employment and people's mental health, and how that affected everything, and that spilled over into the availability of resources and materials that people rely on. Those three areas are really all very heavily interrelated, and they’ve been the biggest areas of change for us.”
What would you say have been the greatest challenges of the pandemic for your business as a manufacturer?
“The biggest challenge at the start was that no one knew what would happen, what the actual consequences of the pandemic would be. Initially, it was quite difficult for us and the people working for us as well. It was literally a day-by-day survival thing. So, the greatest challenge wasn't really the pandemic itself for the business; it was actually testing ourselves as business operators, owners and managers; seeing how well we could adapt to the unknown and to solve problems literally on the spot.”
“It eventually became about how we actually sustained those changes – were they going to be permanent or temporary? That uncertainty was like trying to sail through a storm.”
Were there any unanticipated positives that came out of your experiences across recent years?
“Hindsight's a powerful thing, but looking back, it banded a lot of people together. Even though it was a pandemic of isolation and separation, it actually brought us together. There’s the old saying, ‘When the going gets going tough, the tough get going’, and that really showed in people's support for the company and for each other. The positive there is it made a lot of us stronger – including us as business owners and senior management. We achieved miracles, even though there were times where we were wondering if we were going to make it to the next week. And that experience has carried on.”
What does the future of manufacturing in Australia look like through your eyes?
“The landscape has changed massively. We're facing a kind of Mount Everest at the moment, and strategising about where we need to take our businesses for the next 12 to 24 months, and even three to five years, because who knows when the economic aftershocks are going to end?”
“In the food business, we've seen a great decline in the quality coming from mainstream, mass-market food producers over a number of years, and there’s been a good deal of exposure about where our products come from, the source and the quality of the food. So now, the scales have tipped a little bit because there’s been, I believe, a shift in people's ethics and morals. They want to know where their food is coming from, what – or who – they're supporting and where their money's going.”
“Consumers are really passionate about supporting local, which is a huge positive, because Victoria is built on small business, especially boutique, artisan producers in regions like the Yarra Valley, and Gippsland and so on. People are more discerning about the source of their products, whilst also opting for quality as well. They’d rather support small, local businesses that care about what they produce. Local manufacturers have to continually try and produce the same quality product, whilst keeping their costs under a very challenging ceiling these days.”
If you were to share some important advice with other Australian manufacturers, what would it be?
“Australia's known for exceptional food output to the rest of the world, and we cannot lose that position. So, in sharing some important advice with other Australian manufacturers, I’d say, while it's tough at the moment and it's easy to go down that road of ‘cheap and just get your product out there’, it’s so important to find your sweet spot between quality and cost.”
“I think we've always had something pretty unique here in Australia compared to the rest of the world and we should fight hard to keep our reputation for quality and not compromise on it. We are very proud to be called Australian producers, and as tough as it is at the moment, that pride will always be there!”
Find out more about Sealane Food Service at www.sealane.com.au
The Sealane Food Service story is part of Integra Systems' Advance Australian Manufacturing (#AAM) initiative. Read all about it and see how you can participate.