The COVID-19 pandemic generated a lot of unknowns for the state's agricultural sector.
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For Andrew Terry, chief executive of Tasmanian Berries, COVID-19 hit right at the end of the season.
"It was just becoming an international pandemic when we were finishing up, and it threw a spanner in the works," Mr Terry said.
"Employing a lot of people it caused concerns about the right protocols to follow and how the keep them safe - it involved a lot of things like spacing out teams into groups that logistically on a farm you don't think you'd need to do."
One of the issues faced by Tasmanian Berries was the impact of supply chain issues due to people panic buying.
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"Supermarkets usually know what to order and when, but the panic buying had people stockpiling items they don't normally buy and from places they don't usually shop, it caused big logistical issues," Mr Terry said.
"People still wanted our product, but it became an issue of not being able to get it out because supermarkets had a push and a focus on those big key items which dropped our prices and it was a stressful time.
"But at the end of the day, we still have our business and we have so much to be thankful for."
It's valuable lessons like these Mr Terry is set to learn, with Tasmanian Berries one of 10 businesses taking part in the seventh ANZ Business Growth Program.
The nine-month fully funded intensive course is aimed to help business leaders and executive team members build the foundations for the long-term growth of their companies.
"The main reason we joined the program is because we've grown the business very fast over the past six years which we're really grateful for," Mr Terry said.
"We're at a point where we have such a great team, but we need to work out our structure for the future and set out that plan because we want growth going forward.
"It's about the right personnel and the right processes, and that help is really valuable."
Program chair Professor Jana Matthews said the calibre of applicants was incredibly high.
"We had around 350 CEOs that we took through a one-day clinic to learn about growth, which gave me an opportunity to assess them and assess where they are as leaders and learn the aspirations they had for their company," she said.
"It was hard to choose 10, but Andrew Terry and Tasmanian Berries was one of those.
"What he has is a company that's a family businesses, and he wants to move out of that small business mentality and grow and has all this passion for what he does.
"With the right foundations, the sky is the limit for any future business growth and that's what we want to see happening."
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