Leon Skaliotis and Rebecca Rosato of Flavourtech, which won the Employer of Choice award. Photo: Oliver Jacques.
Innovative global Griffith business Flavourtech has added to its extensive trophy collection by taking out the prestigious Employer of Choice category at the 2022 Murray-Riverina NSW Business Awards ceremony at the Whitton Malt House on Thursday, 3 November.
“We are elated at winning Employer of Choice – we do a lot for our staff. That’s why we retain our staff, ” Flavourtech general manager Leon Skaliotis said.
“We have a number of staff who have been with us for more than 20 years. The operations manager started as an apprentice 22 years ago and he is still there and he still loves working for us.”
It was in the late 1980s that Flavourtech pioneered a magical device known as the Spinning Cone Column – the first machine able to extract flavours and aromas from foods and beverages without damaging the quality or reducing the shelf life of a product. This led to partnerships with coffee producers, wineries and food manufacturers all over the world, which are able to ulitise Flavourtech’s skills and resources to refine and enhance what they sell.
“When you cut your piece of fruit, we can capture that freshness and aroma … previously, products didn’t do that,” Mr Skaliotis said.
The company, which won the main award of Business of the Year at the same event in 2021, played a major role in the recent boom of zero- and low-alcohol wines and beers.
“We were asked if our technology could remove alcohol from wine – we had a request to give it a try, and it worked.
“[Some] 35 years ago we were shown the door by wineries and big companies around the world who said, ‘Who’s gonna drink zero alcohol?’, but finally it’s happened.
“Lately, zero alcohol and low-alcohol products are gaining popularity … [our technology has] been used by some of the largest alcohol companies in the world to remove or reduce alcohol.”
Flavourtech staff were among the first round of award winners. Photo: Oliver Jacques.
The general manager said his company was also innovative when it came to staff management, which was why Flavourtech won the award that recognises businesses that have implemented strategies and initiatives to create stimulating and supportive workplace environments.
“We like to do things a big differently … we do family fun days. We did the City to Lake [a Griffith fun run]. We are doing Move-vember, which is our version of Movember – you can choose whether to do steps, exercise classes or grow a moustache,” he said.
Rebecca Rosato, the people and culture manager at Flavourtech, explained some of the innovative workplace practices she helps put in place.
“Each year we have a balance scorecard. We have agreed initiatives we do out of that. It doesn’t have by accident, there is a commitment from top down… we have a calendar of events we roll out each months and ongoing initiatives. We run surveys asking people what they want [and] we try and recognise and reward people for the work they put in. We have staff nominated awards each quarter.”
“We were honoured to win this award as we felt we worked hard for it.”
Further information about Flavourtech can be found on the company’s website.
Loading ...
