Two Decades of Sodexo Excellence at Garma Festival in 2024
This year marked a milestone for Sodexo as we celebrated its 20th year delivering the iconic Garma Festival, in partnership with the Yothu Yindi Foundation. From its humble beginnings as a small community BBQ, to becoming a premiere event that brings together Indigenous Peoples, distinguished business clients, academics, philanthropic leaders, and political figures – including Prime Minister Anthony Albanese – from around the world, Garma has flourished, and we’ve been privileged to be a part of the spirit of unity, reconciliation and cultural celebration that the event represents.
“It was a privilege to be welcomed onto the sacred ceremonials grounds on Gumatj Country in Northeast Arnhem Land where Garma is held. The beautiful landscape, the rich culture and tradition, and people from community reminded me of the significance of what we do to deliver essential services in the most remote places. If you’ve never worked at Garma for Sodexo, do yourself a favour and put your name down to apply next year. It really is an absolutely amazing experience, immersing yourself in Indigenous culture and also immersing yourself in the Sodexo team spirit.
– Mel King, Garma 2024 volunteer
65 Sodexo team members from across Australia formed an amazing event team, delivering cleaning and catering services for Garma attendees from 1-5 August. Thank you to our 2024 Garma team for the incredible effort they put in to ensure a safe and successful event. The energy was palpable, as waves of thanks rolled in from everyone involved – a true recognition of our collective effort and a monumental undertaking:
The kitchen and production teams dished out 30,000 meals over 4 extraordinary days. That’s 3.5 tonnes of meat, 1.75 tonnes of poultry, to ensuring the morning started right with 720kg of scrambled eggs and 418kg of baked beans, not to mention the 1.7 tonnes of melons, 1.3 tonnes of whole fruit, and 1200kg of potatoes!
“A huge shout out to our absolutely amazing team, I couldn’t even count the number of people who complimented the quality of our food and our service. Everybody was absolutely raving.”
– Geoff Webster, Director of Operations East & GSA
As the sun set on the 2024 Garma Festival, it left us inspired, with a stronger sense of community, and a reminder of what we can achieve together, especially in the area of cultural learning and spirit of reconciliation. Here’s to celebrating the past, nourishing the present, and anticipating what’s yet to unfold next year!
