Nestle waking up the neighbourhood to get us all talking

Gympie's Nestle marks Australia Day with a Blend 43 good morning

GOOD START: Sharen Ram and Brooke Lusted start the day with some of their own fine product. Picture: Troy Jegers

APPARENTLY, some people think they can wake up without a cup of Gympie-roasted Blend 43 Nescafe.

But, back in the real world, the good news is that Nestle's Gympie operation is no longer content with waking up a considerable proportion of Australasia and the South Pacific.

The Gympie workers who provide much of the world with its morning optimism, decided to share the joy yesterday.

Sharynne Durbidge, with factory manager Richard Jones and Glenn Jones enjoy a decent pre-Australia Day breakfast. Picture: Troy Jegers

As a special Australia Day gesture, they wanted Australians to get to know each other better, with a morning cuppa shared among friends.

Nestle's Raise a Cuppa campaign, launched in Gympie yesterday, is a response to research showing a big proportion of Australians don't even really know their neighbours.

The sad story across Australia is that 60 per cent of us believe neighbours were more important to our parents than they are to us. We know them, but not that well.

It should not be too hard to fix this, the company says.

Apparently sharing a coffee with neighbours is our third most common neighbourly activity, so it should not be hard too do a bit more of it.

Valued neighbourly favours include babysitting and feeding a pet while the neighbours are away - and drinking coffee.

Yesterday, Nestle shouted breakfast, with coffee for emergency service personnel, staff and, naturally, neighbours.