Tammy Degroot has done pretty much every job at the 9 Mile Berry farm in Tasmania, putting her in prime position to take on the role of Blueberry Farm Manager.
The first female to manage a farm within Costa’s Australian Berry Category, Tammy said she was excited about the opportunity.
Tammy, who lives in Penguin with her family, started with Costa in 2010 when the third stage of the 9 Mile blueberry farm was being planted. She had previously been working a number of jobs including in hospitality, running the canteen at her sons’ school, and at a chicken farm.
“Our own farm overlooked the blueberry farm and I had watched the farm expanding so I thought I’d give it a go.”
After two years Tammy moved into a supervisor role and for the last four years she has been managing the harvest operations.
“There isn’t anything on this farm I haven’t done. I like all aspects of the blueberry farm and just really enjoy coming to work.
“For a number of years I have been working towards this role. When Rob Saggus moved here to Tasmania from the Corindi Berry farm he saw the potential in me and has been guiding me,” she said.
Cameron Folder, Tasmanian Regional Manager, congratulated Tammy on her promotion.
“Tammy’s experience equips her well for this new challenge and I am especially pleased that Tammy has been able to progress through the business to take this position,” he said.
Rob Saggus, who was the previous farm manager, has moved into the role of Raspberry Farm Manager.
Rob has also been a long-standing employee having worked for Costa for 25 years, working his way from fruit picker to irrigator to operations manager in Corindi before moving to Tasmania to lead the blueberry team for the past five years.
