In the food manufacturing industry, where shift work and production targets dominate, Cripps Nubake has done something quietly extraordinary. Over three years of partnership with Asuria, this Tasmanian bakery has overhauled how it recruits, onboards, and retains staff — and in doing so, has become one of the most genuinely inclusive workplaces in its sector.
At the Third Annual Employer Awards, Cripps Nubake was honoured with the Diversity and Inclusion Impact Award, recognising the measurable and lasting change the company has driven since partnering with Asuria in 2022.
Founded in 1878, Cripps Nubake operates across Glenorchy, Launceston and Ulverstone, employing more than 200 staff and supplying major retailers and local outlets across Tasmania. As the business expanded, it recognised that traditional recruitment methods – formal applications, resumes, structured interviews – were filtering out exactly the people who had the most to offer, and the most to gain.
The solution, co-designed with Asuria, was elegantly simple: remove the resume requirement entirely, and replace formal interviews with on-site factory walk-throughs led by operations managers. Candidates see the workplace, ask questions, and have a relaxed conversation rather than facing a panel. It’s a mutual fit assessment that gives both parties a real sense of whether the opportunity is right.
The results have been striking. Since the program launched in February 2023, 90 participants have been employed through the partnership. Female workforce participation has grown to 34%, exceeding the industry average of 27.5%. In 2025 alone, 33 participants were placed, including seven First Nations participants and 19 long-term unemployed individuals.
The cultural shift has gone deeper than hiring. Every staff member at Cripps, from factory floor to senior management, receives training in inclusive communication and cultural awareness. A physiotherapist visits the site weekly to support staff health and wellbeing, and the company’s Employee Assistance Program is available to all employees.
That culture is evident in how challenges are approached on the factory floor. In one case, a participant on the autism spectrum was struggling to recognise the urgency of tasks on the production line. Rather than escalating a formal performance concern, the Asuria contact worked with operations manager Tristan to find an approach that would land. They reframed the need for urgency using a Dungeons and Dragons metaphor – something the participant connected with immediately. Output improved noticeably. It’s the kind of person-centred problem-solving that can’t be mandated; it emerges from a culture that genuinely values the individual.
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The judges praised Cripps for taking decisive action, noting they had “recognised the advantages of inclusive recruiting and taken action, partnering with Asuria to develop a program that would increase representation from female, transgender, First Nations and CALD workers, mature-aged jobseekers, principal carer parents, people living with a disability, and participants who have experienced long-term unemployment.” They were impressed by “increased workforce diversity and higher staff morale,” and particularly noted that “all staff from the factory floor to upper management receive training in inclusive communication and cultural awareness.”
Asuria CEO Nicole Grainger-Marsh said the award celebrated a partnership that had quietly set a new benchmark. “Cripps Nubake shows what’s possible when an employer is willing to ask the hard question: who are our recruitment processes actually designed to exclude? They answered that question honestly, changed what needed to change, and the outcomes speak for themselves. This is what authentic diversity and inclusion looks like.”
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