Business as usual, with help from Echuca cafe

Civil construction company Bitu-mill has found a win-win solution to support local businesses while providing healthy meals for its team who are stationed in and around Echuca.

Contracted to maintain a safe road network across regional Victoria, some Bitu-mill teams are still required to travel and stay locally.

Micro stabilisation manager Des Smith said Bitu-mill had partnered with Echuca cafes and restaurants such as Hungry Goat to have meals individually prepared for staff before they travelled.

“It was critical our company's COVID-19 measures also effectively apply to teams working remotely,” he said.

“This has removed the need for employees to leave their accommodation at night and provides them with healthy, convenient meal options.

“We are in an industry that is fortunate enough to be still operating and we understand it is our duty to help keep the economy moving in these challenging times. It is great to be able to support the locals, particularly smaller businesses that are heavily impacted.”

The Hungry Goat individually packs the meals for team members over the weekend, and Bitu-mill collects them to distribute to employees on Monday mornings before they travel.

Hungry Goat owner Jess Windridge said she appreciated Bitu-mill had sourced locally rather than a national meal delivery service.

“It's a great way of keeping local businesses afloat and helps redirect to those people who need help,” she said.

“While our distributor has been great, we now source locally as much as we can, all our fresh ingredients are from local businesses, such as Echuca Meats, Moama Meats, and we've switched our milk to Kyvalley Dairy.

“And local businesses have been very supportive, providing extra services such as same-day delivery. It has put into perspective how important it is to support the local community.

“It's comforting to know that we have regular orders coming in, and the team at Bitu-mill has been providing extra support by getting the word out for us.”