Former policeman Herb Smith reckons his "old black grandparents" would be proud. Every three months his company Dreamtime Tuka supplies Qantas with 450,000 lemon myrtle coconut slices, based on a recipe by his Wiradjuri grandmother Bessie Daley.

Mr Smith is hoping a new Business Council of Australia program, pledging to buy $3 billion in supplies from Indigenous companies, will provide a catalyst for other Aboriginal companies to "go out there and be successful."

Herb Smith's grandparents, Elizabeth (Bessie) Daley and James (Jimmy) Daley, were the inspiration for his company and its recipes.

To be launched on Monday by Minister for Indigenous Australians Ken Wyatt, the Business Council's Raising the Bar initiative is so far backed by 16 of its members.

They include BP Australia, Rio Tinto, Qantas, Commonwealth Bank and Microsoft. It is also a collaboration with Supply Nation, which provides a directory to 2000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander businesses.