Our Gather By Team

Gather By is an Australian owned company providing the highest level of food security through revolutionary health and environmental projects committed to regenerating the environment.

Our contributions include:

Community and pollinator restoration
Promoting the benefits of plant-based medicine
Connecting primary advocates and businesses in sustainable regenerative growth with environmentally conscious consumers around the world.

A key aspect contributing to the regenerative growth is the production and supply of medicinal honey from the Australian bush to end user. Made possible through regional community support, Gather By is able to develop a high income, low maintenance regenerative farming model producing pure, potent and raw premium Manuka Honey which is then distributed to meet the enormous global demand through its worldwide Medicinal Honey Channel.

Years of research and ten’s of thousands of kilometres have been spent locating which parent plant of the 87 varieties of Leptospermum have contributed maximum potency to the honey harvested. This is an important consideration when defining the strength and efficacy of Manuka honey as it is during the pollination process that dihydroxyacetone (DHA) is converted to Methylglyoxal (MGO), a crucial ingredient used for its antibacterial properties This nectar is tested for dihydroxyacetone (DHA) selecting 15 of the hyper-DHA plants for propagation. These selected Leptospermum bushes are then cloned for bioregion diversity maximising potency, growth and extended nectar flow.

To keep abreast of our latest environmental projects promoting sustainable living please sign up to our website click here.

To help encourage our work in regenerative growth, please share our good news projects by liking our Facebook page here and following us on Instagram. In this way we can share resources, connections and wisdom with other interested parties like yourself.

Board of Directors

Matt Blomfield

Chief Executive Officer
Chair of the board
Executive Director
Founder

Matt is the passionate and visionary founder of Gather By, with a successful track record in conceptualising and actualising innovative, large-scale global projects. Heading up the commercialisation, market development, supply chain security, sales & marketing and new technology ventures, Matt’s expertise lies in building stakeholder value.

Dr Allan Ellis

Non-Executive Director

Strategy & Compliance

Allan has been a resident of the North Coast for over 40 years. He recently retired from the position of Director of Research for the School of Commerce and Management at Southern Cross University. During his career he has held a range of board positions and currently also chairs the boards of two North Coast NFP companies that provide disability services and education and training.

Dr Gary Ewart

Chief Science Officer
Non-Executive Director

Gary is a non-executive Director, bringing 25 years of applied scientific research experience to Gather By. Gary heads all things molecular for plant-based research and IP processes working with the team in prioritising valuable honey bee research for actioning.

Tony Stubley

Non-Executive Director

Tony has brought a successful track record and years of experience in marketing, advertising and brand building, to Gather By. He, together with his partner Ruth, are currently implementing the Medicinal Honey Forest ™ on his beautiful estate in Byron Bay for the purpose of producing medicinal and therapeutic honey.

Sales, Marketing & Business Development Team

Balbina Koscielska

Marketing, IT & Administration Executive

Balbina is in charge of the administration and IT support for the Sales, Marketing and Communications teams. She is also actively involved in the Marketing & Sales strategy for Gather by.

Balbina has a degree in Media, Logistics & Marketing and has a global background in sales, marketing, communications and IT and also has extensive experience in executive administration and customer relations across industries such as Hospitality, Real Estate and Transportation. Balbina lives between Europe and Australia and is currently based in Warsaw, Poland

Operations Team

Luke Morrison

Operations Manager
Supply, Distribution & Apiary

Luke Morrison has extensive experience in executive operations management across multiple industries in Australia and overseas. This includes various senior positions in the honey industry as well as the printing and packaging sectors. Luke's deep experience in both the Australian and NZ Manuka honey industries, in both production and sales, is a unique fit to Gather By.

Luke's skills are in managing multi-cultural teams, strategic planning and implementation, change management, efficiency management, best practice management, cost management as well as supply chain management. Luke has formal qualifications in manufacturing, food safety, health and safety, business management, importing, exporting and business studies. Luke lives in the Northern Rivers

Martin Brown

Field Manager
R&D, Plantings & Nurseries

Martin is responsible for further progressing Gather By as a leading organisation in R&D to produce high-value medicinal and therapeutic honey. He manages the Gather By MHF plantings, nurseries and plant production while also supporting Matt in Operations to store and produce Gather By’s unique Australian Manuka honey. Martin also co-ordinates and documents the field operations of the MHF system and MCS plant outs.

Working across plantation design, management and sustainable operations, Martin’s strengths allow Gather By to optimise plantation and bee health for high medicinal honey potency and yields. Martin is highly experienced in MHF, nectar testing and is hands-on in plantations, quality controls, projects and documentation.

Martin has a degree in Applied Sciences and his Environmental Management & Sustainable Development qualifications bring a practical, research approach to the team. Martin has an extensive background in technical support services, field support, technical trainings, design reviews, quality assurance, safety, scheduling and protocol development in fields such as solar photovoltaics, manufacturing and dairy farming. Martin lives in the Northern Rivers NSW.

Kerry Bryant

Grower Manager

Kerry is a commercial Grower of our Medicinal Honey Forests (MHF) and assists Gather By in providing support, guidance and wisdom to prospective Growers contemplating a MHF installation.

Kerry has a lifelong passion in natural therapies, sustainable living and responsible agriculture which has combined with her professional background in Sales, Customer Service & CRM systems. Kerry also has a background in leadership programs to help drive behavioural and cultural change within organisations. Kerry lives on her property in Chambigne, Northern NSW with her partner and together they grow a commercial MHF with Gather By.

Finance Team

Lee Vakas

Finance & Strategy Manager

Lee provides corporate advisory and strategic advice to Gather By and also develops innovative financial and MHF modelling for the company. Lee manages creditors and debtors, prepares financial accounts for the Board, assists in procuring R&D funding and is also involved with export documentation and compliance.

Lee has a Bachelor of Commerce majoring in Accounting and Finance and has post graduate qualifications in Applied Finance. He has extensive experience as both a corporate adviser and strategist, as well as an investor across a range of industries. He is a specialist in corporate and institutional analysis, corporate advisory, private equity, risk management, equity and debt capital markets and operational management. Lee has been responsible for multi-billion dollar portfolios of corporate and banking institutions with substantial credit approval authorities. Lee lives in Sydney NSW.

Edina Debreceni

Finance Executive

Edina is in charge of Gather By’s financial & accounting administration.

Edina has a degree in Accounting as well as a degree in Business Administration and Management and has extensive experience across various accounting and accounts payable fields. Edina lives in Sydney NSW.