Brenden Minehan
Sales Manager
Brenden Minehan
A self-confessed sports nut, Brenden Minehan is Nerada’s Sales Manager, based in our Brisbane factory. Brenden has worked for Nerada since 2015, but he has had a long association with Nerada tea – as a child he remembers his mum making a pot of Nerada tea first thing every morning!
Brenden is a Queenslander through and through – born and raised in Brisbane he’s worked for a number of proud Queensland companies over the years, such as Bundaberg Rum and the iconic Breakfast Creek Hotel, before moving into sales for Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) giants including Southcorp Wines, Diageo, and Johnson & Johnson.
A brief encounter with food scientists, biochemists and a professor at the University of Queensland helped cement his passion for the tea industry. He was amazed by the reputed health benefits of tea and started selling and representing some of the functional tea blends in the pharmacy and heath industries. When his role was relocated to Sydney, he serendipitously received a call offering him a position with Nerada Tea. He did not want to move out of his beloved state of origin and the opportunity to work for a Queensland company proved irresistible. The rest they say, is history.
His principal role at Nerada involves the sales and account management of the major retailers and Independent Grocery Channel, which involves regular trips to Sydney, Melbourne and Auckland. He also, of course, visits the Nerada tea plantation at Glen Allyn a couple of times a year to catch up with the team on the Atherton Tablelands.
Brenden is responsible for training Nerada sales representatives as well as attending trade fairs. He’s a passionate advocate for the brand and is always very proud to talk about how Nerada is Australian grown and packed to community groups as part of his tea talks. Full of fun facts, he regularly has the crowd reciting stats about the scale of the Nerada’s Queensland plantation and how the brand is differentiated because of its pesticide-free status.
It’s the people at Nerada who continue to inspire Brenden the most though. Some might define him as the ‘new kid on the block’ given their long tenure with the company. He believes it truly is one big family – even when colleagues give him a hard time when his beloved football teams lose on the weekend.
Continuing his mum’s tradition, Brenden’s kids start the day with a cup of Nerada Organics Rooibos & Vanilla. “They are truly ambassadors of our brand,” laughs Brenden. As for his favourite tea, he can’t go past Nerada Black Tea. How does he take he it? “A tea bag and hot water,” he says. “Nothing else needed really.” Simple pleasures!