COMINGS AND GOINGS

							                                                                                                       Issue No: 03
                                                                                               Issue Date: 8/1/2004


H AP P Y N EW Y E AR                                            The BBBC has a range of four beers – Aardvark
                                                                Ale, Leopard Lager, Baboon Bitter and Dikdik
A Happy New Year to all of you. For those who                   Draught – which use special African materials to
are returning from leave, I trust you enjoyed your              give “a taste of Africa” to Australian consumers.
time away from the coalface. For those of you                   Let me point out that the dikdik is also a type of
who laboured mightily over the festive period,                  African antelope, despite what you might have
thank you. May you enjoy your leave when it                     thought.
comes.
                                                                The BBBC has undertaken market trials to test
The big news for this year – a Christmas present                the acceptance of its African-derived product,
for SimuLab – is a major new contract that will                 and the response was so positive that it has
take us into new areas. More of that later.                     decided to expand its production facilities to
                                                                Australia. It is not economically viable to import
                                                                all the raw materials from Africa, particularly
CO M ING S AN D G O IN G S                                      given the excellent quality of Australian barley.
                                                                Therefore, a decision was made to use the local
We have had a few staff changes since our last                  barley, mixed with small quantities of materials
newsletter, so I wish to take this opportunity to               imported from their African headquarters.
welcome the new Laboratory Supervisor to the
team.                                                           The BBBC has set up a pilot plant on Kooragang
                                                                Island to test the new formulation of the special
Let me also bid a belated farewell to Alan                      African flavours with Australian barley.
Rimmer, Julius Starker and Mary Jo Armstrong.
I hope that they find their new careers as                      The role of SimuLab is four-fold:
rewarding as their time at SimuLab.                                 to validate the quality of the imported raw
                                                                     materials
                                                                    to analyse the product from the pilot plant
N AT A AC C R E DIT AT I O N                                        to develop test methods where necessary
                                                                    to act as consultant for the pilot plant in
I am very pleased that the NATA inspection went                      assisting in the development of the
so smoothly, and that our registration was                           formulation of the four beers
granted for three years. To all staff who were
involved in the preparation for the inspectors’                 We will be appointing a project manager whose
visit, my most sincere thanks.                                  role it will be to liaise with the staff at the pilot
                                                                plant, and to coordinate activities within
It is our intention to make this appreciation more              SimuLab.
tangible with a dinner at a local restaurant for all
staff and partners in February when we have all                 No doubt many of you will have some part to play
recovered from Christmas excesses. Stay tuned                   in this exciting new venture for SimuLab.
for more information.
                                                                I should also thank Brian Baxterhill, whose
                                                                knowledge of African beer, and more importantly,
A N EW R O L E FO R SI M UL AB                                  his friendship with the chairman of the BBBC,
                                                                has helped SimuLab secure this contract.
And now the big news. In December, SimuLab
signed a three year contract to provide laboratory
facilities and production assistance with a new
venture into the Australian beer market by the
Bongo Better Brewing Company (BBBC), an                         Managing Director
African company. By the way, it has been
explained to me that the bongo in the company’s
title is not a drum, but a type of antelope.



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                                                                      Issue No: 03
                                                               Issue Date: 8/1/2004




EM PLO Y E E P RO F IL E

Brian Baxterhill

A new feature for SimuLab news: each issue will
feature one of our staff. This month is the turn of
Senior Technical Officer (Organic Group) and
African beer specialist, Brian Baxterhill.

When did you begin working at SimuLab?
1996

Where did you work before joining SimuLab?
Africa, Tooheys (Sydney), Cascade (Tasmania)

What are your hobbies away from work?
Beer, football, developing the perfect body

What is your favourite music?
The Beer Barrel Polka, Up There Cazaly

What are you currently reading?
Ralph, FHM, Inside Sport

What are your favourite TV shows?
The Footy Show, Get Smart, Red Dwarf, Beer
Drinker’s Guide To Britain

What is your favourite food?
Chicken vindaloo




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