I love media publicity! It's like an espresso-shot-of-excitement for our business. We've been featured on ABC Landline, SBS, Channel 10. The thrill of a national "shout out" for our coconut products is my favourite "pat on the back" recognition and I am grateful.
So when I got an email from a Brisbane Times reporter last week, I was happy to do the interview.
The angle? How Covid-19 has affected Small Business Artisan Producer Grants winners - like us! (I applied for & won the grant in 2019.)
In summary, despite the Corona-related downturn in business, our April 2020 online sales were up over 300% - due largely to the skills I learned from an e-commerce course I took as part of the grant. Our overall sales are down compared to 2019, but we are thankful for each and every one of our online customers & sales that keeps us going.
And, thank you everyone who supported us (and continues to buy our gourmet coconut products!).
Corona virus has slowed us, but it will not stop us. We have weekly regular customers all over the country, and Aussies - more than ever - want to support Australian-grown food.
Thank you again Brisbane Times for the article! We are grateful as always.
Here's the article published last week:
Months spent in lockdown appear to have given people an appetite for gourmet Queensland treats, purchasable without leaving home.
Beach Harvest Australian Coconuts, which creates coconut chips, and chocolate artisan KOKOPOD were two of the 50 artisan producers to receive a slice of the state government's $200,000 Small Business Artisan Producer Grants Program.
Beach Harvest Australian Coconuts founder Casey Willetts began the business seven years ago, when she began experimenting with coconuts she collected from beaches around Port Douglas to entice her three young children to eat healthily.
Her hobby went from playgroup treats to a full-time business product, offered in 10 different flavours along with her own granola and muesli.
"In the early days, I would go and find 10 or 20 coconuts on the beach and put coconuts in the pram but now we harvest anywhere between 600 to 1000 coconuts and my husband now climbs the trees," she said.
The mother-of-three said the business depended heavily on local market sales before the pandemic.
Ms Willetts said the grant helped her develop e-commerce skills to boost the business, which gave her the confidence to market during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"The skills that I learnt from the grant helped give me a proper foundation and it's made me feel empowered," she said.
"Our sales went up by 308 per cent this April compared to last April."
Keen for more coconut? Check out our range of products here: Shop Coconuts
Have a great week,
Casey