Archives

Australia Post Stops Delivering on Farmhouse Direct

Words by Richard Cornish
Images Supplied

Just over ten years ago Australia Post developed a brand new online marketplace for farmers across the nation to distribute their food and products around Australia.

This groundbreaking eCommerce site was a central marketplace and took online orders from customers and sent the order plus cash, minus commission, to the farmer. The farmer then fulfilled the order and used Australia post to deliver the product. The programme was trialled in April 2012 and rolled out nationally after that. At the end of September, Farmhouse Direct will come to an end, forcing some food and beverage producers to find other methods of taking orders.

Australia Post believes that with the development of eCommerce apps and software, there is no longer a place for the Government-owned delivery service in food distribution. A statement from Australia Post read, “due to declining demand and a changing eCommerce landscape Australia Post has made the difficult decision to close Farmhouse Direct, effective Friday, September 30.”

It cites COVID as being an accelerator of the eCommerce field, stating, “During the pandemic, Australia saw around five years of eCommerce growth in the space of a year, prompting many small businesses to build their eCommerce capacity to accommodate the more than 5.6 million households now shopping online each month.”

Australia Post faced severe criticism in 2021 when it informed producers of foods such as butter, cheese, truffles, small goods and native bush ingredients that it would no longer deliver their perishable products offering just three months’ notice. It was a blow to many small producers who had already suffered sales setbacks due to COVID. Blowback from the food community saw the tax-payer-owned service backflip on its decision.

The decision to axe the groundbreaking service came as no surprise to many. Upkeep on the website has been lacking in recent times, with newsletters dating back to 2020 on the home page and hotlinks on recipes no longer working.

Food producers will still be able to use Australia Post to deliver their products but not the ordering system. Customers wishing to use Farmhouse Direct need to get their last order in by September 1.

After ten years, the site will go dark on September 30.

THE DETAILS

WHAT: Farmhouse Direct
WHEN: Closing September 30
MORE INFO: Farmhouse Direct

Think fresh veg is expensive? Shop local and seasonal.

Words by Richard Cornish

South Werribee vegetable farmer Marcello Faranda holds a head of iceberg lettuce at the Abbottsford Farmers Market. Harvested it the day before so the lettuce is fresh, heavy and crisp. He is selling it for $6. In a greengrocer a kilometre away an iceberg trucked 700km from South Australia, its outer leaves are wilting, and it feels loose and light. It is selling for $9.99.

A few months back icebergs were selling for around $3.50 in the supermarket. Four dollars in the farmer’s market. Since then, a few things have changed. Firstly, the growing season in the south of the state has come to an end. Then La Nina influenced rainfall patterns and flooded large swathes of the flat Northern New South Wales and Queensland vegetable farming areas.

This still sodden ground sees farmers unable to harvest ripe crops or replant new crops. At the same time, the Ukraine war erupted. A large amount of potash used for fertiliser is manufactured in Ukraine. The embargo on oil and gas exports from Russia has caused an energy crisis which has seen diesel to fuel tractors and trucks jump 80% despite a cut in Federal excise. This has seen synthetic nitrogen fertiliser, made using gas and oil, has risen in price. It is presently around $1300 a tonne. Those in the industry are budgeting for it to be $2500 a tonne next year. Then the rise in the cost of electricity to power pumps and run cool rooms has affected northern farmers. This is an immaculate, impeccable and perfect storm.

But the hike in fresh food is not evenly spread. A very short drive from the farmer’s market is one of the big two supermarkets. They don’t have an iceberg in stock. There seems to have been a run on the other varieties with a handful of bedraggled double pack cos lettuce remaining, with an asking price of $3. It may have come from East Gippsland, perhaps further afield. Back at the farmers market you can buy an organic cos, freshly picked from a farm 40km away, for the same price. This disparity between the higher supermarket fresh food prices and the lower prices compared to the farmers market the prices are high. Eggplant $8.90 compared to $8 at the market. Cauliflower $4.90 compared to $4. Broccoli $9.90 at the supermarket, $6 at the farmer’s market. When it comes to organic produce the difference is even greater. At the big supermarket, a medium organic cabbage is $10 at the Peninsula Fresh Organics stall they are $6. Seven-dollar supermarket celery versus those at the farmer’s market, organic and freshly picked selling for just $4.

“If it’s grown locally and it’s in season then it is going to be cheaper,” says Natashia Shields from Peninsula Fresh Organics at Baxter, one hour south of Melbourne. “Our produce is cheaper because we are organic,” she explains.

We make our own compost, so we don’t have the rising cost of synthetic fertilisers. We cut the product the day before so there are no storage costs. We are cool climate so we don’t need all that energy to chill the veg to keep to it fresh.

Her nearest outlet is a few hundred metres away at the farm gate in Baxter. Their farm stall at the Dandenong Market is 22 kilometres away. The city markets are just over an hour away. “This means the customer is not paying for diesel. We also don’t have the added costs of distributors or agents. We have this great soil here and our other organic farm at Barham and we run them regeneratively. Our biggest cost is labour”

“We have a real problem with our food system,” says Tammi Jonas, Central Victorian regenerative farmer and President of the Australian Food Sovereignty Alliance. She and her cohort promote a diverse system of local food production where the food we eat as a community is grown locally and regeneratively so that energy shocks, fuel crises, and fertiliser shortages have a lesser impact on the availability and accessibility of clean, fresh healthy, fair food.

“The farmers in our movement have been charging the real price of produce,” she says. “It has always been more expensive than cheap food based on cheap fuel and cheap fertiliser,” she says. “We are low input, and any inputs are local,” she says referring to spent grain from local breweries used to feed pigs and farm-made fertiliser or animals’ manure fertilising fields and crops. “We also need more regional food processing infrastructure such as abattoirs, grain mills, dairy processing, boning rooms,” she says, “It is happening. But it needs to happen faster.”

Back in the Abbotsford farmers market Marcello Faranda stands proud of his $6 a lettuce price. “It costs so much to produce food,” he says. “But we are not going to put prices up. We don’t want to crucify our customers. Good food needs to be for everyone. Not just who can afford it.”

We wish to acknowledge the traditional owners of this land and to pay our respects to their Elders, past and present.

Source locally harvested Saffron from Squirrel Gully Saffron

Words by Richard Cornish
Images Supplied

Saffron, by weight, is more costly than gold. But a little saffron goes a long, long way, a tiny pinch is an essential spice flavouring dishes from paella to bouillabaisse. The local saffron harvest has just finished and Rosemary Pamic and Andrew Black from Squirrel Gully Saffron have finished drying their precious threads and now have the 2022 season stock for sale.

“Saffron is the stigmas, thread-like parts of the flower of a crocus bulb,” says Rosemary. She and Andrew grow their bulbs in above-ground containers on their farm at Dunolly, halfway between Bendigo and Ballarat. “The crocus bulbs are easy targets for fungus and the raised beds offer better drainage,” she says.

The bulbs flower in late autumn and there is a brief fortnight when the flowers can be picked. The small blooms are hand-harvested before sunrise and the red saffron stigmas are painstakingly removed. They are then carefully dried to develop the aromatic compounds in saffron.

“There is a lot of fake saffron around,” says Rosemary. She refers to the ‘saffron powder’ an imported imposter that is artificially coloured and flavoured fakery. Some product sold as saffron can be stigma from other plants that has been artificially dyed.

The busy pair at Squirrel Gully Saffron also produce a range of saffron value-added products from rather delicious saffron-flavoured caramelised popcorn and saffron-flavoured salt. The product range is highly regarded and has been used in the kitchens at Goldmines Hotel in Bendigo and Trofeo Estate on the Mornington Peninsula. The 2022 season saffron is now in stock as are other saffron products such as dulce de membrillo, paella packs and cultured butter-making packs.

THE DETAILS

What: Victorian Saffron
Where: Buy online for $13 per 100mg at Squirrel Valley Saffron

We wish to acknowledge the Dja Dja Wurrung  people as traditional owners of this land and to pay our respects to their Elders, past and present.

Violet and Ivvy – a new place to meet in Warragul

Words: Amanda Kennedy
Photography: Johnathon Tabensky
Design and style: April Pyle

 

After 20 years as an award-winning photographer in the Northern Territory, April Pyle upped sticks and moved to West Gippsland, as you do. It was there she opened Factory One, a successful hybrid space selling plants, furniture and homewares, art and more. For some, almost 10 years of running a thriving business would have been enough, but not for April.

She is about to embark on her third act, Violet and Ivvy. Located on a buzzy commercial strip just out of central Warragul, this incarnation has doubled the floor space of Factory One, which in addition to retail allows for the incorporation of a café spot, corporate meeting space and wine bar.

The expanded retail section will showcase a diverse range of beautiful homewares, including unique pieces of furniture, a veritable jungle of plants in covetable pots, plush cushions and throws, candles and vases – all curated by April’s professional photographer eye. It’s the kind of place where you go gift-shopping only to leave with gifts for yourself as well.

There is still plenty of original art dotted around the venue, including a series of playful paintings from Gippsland artist Janine Riches and sculpture pieces from Sydney-based powerhouse duo, Gillie and Marc, whose artwork has found homes in hundreds of private and public collections around the world. A large living wall has been installed by long-time project collaborator Nerida’s Plants.

The semi-private meeting spaces are the perfect spot for corporate get-togethers so you can all remember what you look like in real life and thoughtful design means there are plenty of spots to recharge devices.

‘We’ve put in USB ports in our bench seats so people can come in and work on their laptop and plug in their phone if it’s going flat. We’ve been very conscious of the space and how we’re using it,’ explains April. ‘It’s a sanctuary and a great healing space as well with all the greenery.’

To recharge yourself, simply grab a flat white and perch by the curved glass wall for a little time out. Food offerings will be along the lines of sweet treats and light snacks, while the wine bar will serve cured meat and cheese boards when it opens.

It is these types of mixed businesses that might well be the way forward after the last several years of a challenging retail environment. Violet and Ivvy is set to officially open June 4th, though the liquor licence may take a little longer.

THE DETAILS

WHAT: Violet and Ivvy
WHERE: 137 Queen St, Warragul
WHEN: café/retail 8am – 5.30pm 7 days, wine bar 12-8pm
MORE INFO: keep an eye on their soon-to-launch website

We wish to acknowledge the Gunaikurnai people as traditional owners of this land and to pay our respects to their Elders, past and present.

A discovery of the St Andrews village

Words by Della Vreeland

A one hour drive north-east of Melbourne, St Andrews is a small rural township that is characterised by its lush native bushlands and charming village aesthetic.

While its bustling weekly market acts as one of its major drawcards, the town is fast becoming known as an all-around hub of creativity, with a range of boutique businesses showcasing the versatility of talent and wonder inherent within. We give you a glimpse of exactly what this quaint community has to offer travellers with this specially curated itinerary.

The OHO Itinerary of Hurstbridge

A bit of a well-kept secret just outside of Melbourne is the quaint village of Hurstbridge. Most people will only have heard of it as it’s the end of the train line but believe us this small community is bursting with world-class restaurants, diverse shopfronts and heaps of walking and biking trails.

So jump on the train or take the scenic drive out to explore the foodie, art and cultural scene of this vibrant community.

We’ve even made it easy for you to get started with an itinerary of restaurants and storefronts but believe us you will find heaps of delightful places to visit.

To flee the coop: Small producers calling it a day in exchange for family time

Words by Della Vreeland
Images Supplied

Eight years ago, Bruce and Roz Burton transformed their 20-hectare acreage into an operational farm growing award-winning Sommerlad chickens, and occasionally some sheep, cattle and old-fashioned fruit and veggies.

Just as nature intended, slowly and tenderly, the couple spent years finding the best produce with truly unique textures and flavours, and supplying some of Australia’s best chefs and restaurants under the name Milking Yard Farm.

Now, almost a decade later, and following two years of financial difficulties as a result of the health pandemic, the Burtons have made the decision to close up their beloved venture.

‘The business really wasn’t at a sustainable size in its current shape, so what that meant was I couldn’t afford to have enough help to allow me to get off the tills and spend more time running the business. It needed to be bigger,’ Bruce says.

‘Another of the challenges was that supply from the abattoir and boning room was at risk because they’re growing so much they couldn’t really handle us, so we were asked to find somewhere else if we could. That meant we’d have to build our own abattoir or coop and it’s a big investment.

It just wasn’t profitable enough.

According to Bruce, Milking Yard Farm lost all its restaurant revenue overnight once the COVID pandemic hit. ‘That was half the business,’ he recalls. While he says the farm did indeed ‘pivot’ – introducing the Community Sustained Agriculture model, as well as online sales – he says the business would need to expand significantly in order to remain viable.

The closure of small regional businesses is a familiar story in the current climate. The health pandemic, the soaring cost of fuel, the overseas war crisis, and even the interstate floods all have ripple effects when it comes to how businesses are coping. At the end of the day, business owners simply yearn for space to breathe and time to spend with their loved ones.

‘We will keep farming , running sheep and cattle, and growing food and spending more time with our expanding pool of grandchildren,’ Bruce says. ‘We’re looking forward to that.’

The tale’s the same in Healesville, where Yarra Valley Pasta has decided to close up shop after 25 years.

While the providore’s retail offering was consistent during the pandemic, owner Lisa Giffard says it was finally time to focus on her boys, her mum and her dad and diminish some of her stress for her own sake and that of her family.

She says with the rising price of fuel, and with the demand on wheat crops – particularly with the floods and overseas war crisis – now was a tough time to be a food producer.

‘When we opened in 1997 there was nothing in Healesville. You couldn’t get a decent cup of espresso anywhere, so we were new and exciting. Of course [the business] has had lots of different lives, but it was time to reinvent again and in order for the business to thrive, I would need to dig a lot deeper and find a different energy and headspace.’ she says.

‘All those floods in the northern rivers where our wheat comes from, and all the stuff happening in the Ukraine and overseas – the government could quite possibly want to allocate wheat to them and not to us. It’s interesting to see how the events in the world affect a little food producer like me. I know all those stresses coming up that are going to really affect me and ultimately my family.’

Yarra Valley Pasta was integral in cultivating the town’s reputation for artisan produce and global dining, so choosing to close its doors took a lot of courage on Lisa’s part. But she says she’s eager for the next chapter.

‘You have to have the confidence to do it,’ she says. ‘A lot of people are scared, and of course there are financial commitments and I get that.’

25 years is a long time. My time’s up. It’s alright to change and to do something different. When you close one door, another one opens.

For Bruce, he too is maintaining a positive outlook for the future.

‘The way it needs to be for small producers is to have direct relationships with customers,’ Bruce says. ‘Community Sustained Agriculture is the way of the future. It was evidenced in the pandemic. People are now prepared to buy online and have their food delivered to their home while they’re not there and have it sit at their doorstep.’

‘Our other hope is overcoming structural inefficiencies by having shared abattoirs and boning facilities available for multiple facilities because what’s holding our industry back is a lack of access to those facilities.’

‘Our final hope is that the genetics of birds like ours don’t get lost as growers like ours switch off their businesses. Ours was one of three heritage breeds in Australia, and we need to share and propagate the genetics broadly so reach is greater to consumers across the country and more people can experience chicken how it should be.’

We wish to acknowledge the traditional owners of this land and to pay our respects to their Elders, past and present.

OHO Markets – Mother’s Day Collection 2022

Celebrate your Mum this year with a unique gift from our regional Victorian makers and producers.

There are heaps of lovely gifts to choose from to show your Mum how much you love her and you’ll also be supporting our regional community at the same time.

Happy Shopping!

Introducing Athletes of Wine new Pet Nat

Words by Richard Cornish
Images Supplied

From Melbourne sommelier turned winemaker Liam O’Brien comes this tight, bright, cheery pet nat from the Macedon Ranges. A few years back Liam (Cutler and Co.) and Matt Brooke (Crown) decided to spread their wings and do a crash course in winemaking that saw them immerse themselves into the arcane art and explore every aspect from viticulture to bottle ferment.

We saw ourselves as if we were in training. So we called ourselves the Athletes of Wine.

Matt stepped away 12 months ago but Liam carries on the ethos of spartan winemaking working with Brian Martin at Kilchurn in Romsey.

This week Liam released his latest wine, Vino Atletico NV Macedon Pet Nat. It’s a beautiful expression of cold climate Chardonnay grapes, grown at 560m altitudes in the Macedon Ranges. Low-yield, fully-ripe grapes were hand-picked then whole bunch press and fermented in a tank using Champagne yeast. Whilst still undergoing fermentation the young wine was transferred to bottle for further fermentation in a manner the French refer to as method ancestrale.

The wine was then stored in bottle, on lees, for 7 months. The result is a straw-coloured wine that is more misty than cloudy. The bottle fermentation gives the wine bubbles that are fine, which give way to reveal a clean line of acidity. This marries the fresh green apple aroma and the richness of the living yeast. There’s some soft tannins on the front of the palate and a gentle round richness. One mouthful and this wine is screaming out for a food friend. Think seared scallops and cauliflower puree; a bite of pork belly and roast apple sauce; or gnocchi frito with green olive mortadella.

This is a beautiful example of a pet nat, or petite natural wine. A lot of criticism has been thrown at this style of wine-making as there have been a lot of sloppy Australian versions of this old method of putting bubbles in wine. But here Liam is at the top of his game when it comes to understanding how wine is enjoyed. He has gone out of his way to make a pet nat that suits the palates of a broad range of modern diners, who enjoy their wine in the context of dining, not just quaffing. This is a young, fun wine that will stand up for itself in a serious dining context, whilst not taking itself seriously for one moment. It hits the shelves this week and you can order online direct from $35 per bottle.

THE DETAILS:

WHERE: Online and Woodend Wine Store; Union Wine Bar, Geelong; Winespeake, Daylesford.
WHEN: From April 4
MORE INFO: Athletes of Wine

We wish to acknowledge the traditional owners of this land and to pay our respects to their Elders, past and present.

Butchers of the Bush

Words by Richard Cornish
Images Supplied

Once they were part of the very fabric of every town, village and community. Butchers were as integral to life as the local pub, the church, the footy club. A decline in the consumption of meat and a rise in the number of supermarkets has seen a strong downturn in the number of butchers across regional Victoria. Many, however, continue not only to survive but thrive. We spoke to four around the state to see what is the secret to their meaty success.

Tom McGillivray from G & G McGillivray, Gunbower

When I started I was 15. Now I am 67. Back then, every family in town would have a roast for Sunday lunch. Women, generally, would turn the oven on, put the roast in and go to church with the family. After the service, they would come home to a ready roast.

Lamb was always popular but there would be rolled beef roast as well. This is a cut of beef where the meat from the top of the ribs is rolled around and held together with loops of string. It can be slowly cooked in a pot in the oven, and it is one of the most tender cuts. You don’t see it much anymore but we still do it here. We’re on the Murray downstream from Echuca, right on the edge of Gunbower Island. This is a beautiful part of the country, with lagoons and river red gum forest.

When I was younger there were not the number of takeaways there are now. Today young families will drive the 20 minutes into Echuca to buy McDonald’s, instead of cooking a home-cooked meal. Until a few years ago my cousin Jack had an abattoir down the road. We’d get beef and lamb off cattle and sheep from local farms and it was so much better. More tender and better-tasting because the animals were not as stressed- they didn’t have to spend hours on a cattle truck.

We get a belting from the supermarkets these days – and their specials – like steak for $10 a kg. I can assure you they are not making money out of that! We’re still doing a good trade here because we look after the locals and source really good quality beef. I have a buyer who goes to the markets and selects the best British breed cattle, all grass-fed. I age the carcasses here for a bit and butcher it the way the locals like it. For me the best cut is always rump – it has great flavour, cuts well and is perfect when grilled. We are still known for our sausages which are a mix of pork and beef made to our own recipe which is pretty simple.

G & G McGillivray, Gunbower St, Gunbower,  (03) 5487 1220
Google Map

Scott Reid from Avenel Meats, Avenel

Dad was a butcher on the Queen Mary. He’d load up Aberdeen Angus from Scotland (dad was from Glasgow)  and sail from Southampton to New York feeding the passengers. We came to Australia and dad wanted to semi-retire to this little historic town in 1987.

I worked with him and took over in 1990. It was like two bulls in a paddock, but I learned so much from him. Firstly – you need to have good mince and sausages. I make pork sausages using free-range pork from McIvor Farms in Tooborac. They supply all my fresh pork. I need to have a point of difference from the supermarkets in Nagambie, Seymour and Euroa so I make a lot of my own small goods. From bacon to hams to kabana and smoked chicken. I know my customers; I know how many are in their family and what they had last time so I know how to look after them.

Part of the job is knowing how to cook each cut and being able to pass on simple but effective recipes to the customers. I have learned that to be successful in a small town like this, there are only a 1000 people here, is to keep focused on quality and not try to do too much. Don’t get greedy. I have very strict buying rules for my lamb and beef, and I know how to butcher and age it well. So yes, I do have a strong clientele who swing in off the Hume to buy from me.

Quality and service. It is that simple.

Avenel Meats, 10 Bank St, Avenel

Brandon Lang from Crackling Smallgoods, Warrnambool

I am a smallgoods butcher and charcuterie in the historic centre of Warrnambool. I took over a 160-year-old sandstone building that had been a butcher’s shop for generations and spent the best part of 2019 bringing it up to Primesafe standards (the state meat regulator).

I built a brick smoker, with the help of a local bricklayer, in the back and fired it up with red gum and sugar gum and that is where I smoke my hams et cetera. I opened in December 2019 and quickly developed wholesale with restaurants and cafes buying my hams, terrines, and bacon.

And then COVID hit. I am rebuilding my business now. I started off doing in house butchery in a supermarket in Horsham but realised there was a whole lot of creative technique that could be learned working with pork and lesser loved cuts. I did a lot of self-training and worked with Ralph Finke from Oakwood Smallgoods in Castlemaine.

A lot of my time is spent working with customers getting them to understand that I hand butcher everything, hand brine or salt, smoke everything slowly over real smoke. When they understand the quality of the product and the level of skill needed to achieve that then they have no trouble with the prices we ask. We are not after supermarket customers – we could never compete on price.

We are always offering something new, such as the chicken and thyme terrine and there is always new stock – like our prosciutto moving through the display. We can do bespoke orders like smoked pork bones or whole pork leg on the bone as we did for a wedding recently. There are people from Melbourne and the Mornington Peninsula who holiday here, and they are now coming back with their Eskies, filling them up until their next trip. Our customers care about where their pork comes from and how their product is made.

They are the ones we concentrate on.

Crackling Smallgoods 84 Liebig St, Warrnambool 

Andrew Parniak from Butchers on George, Moe

People think of Moe and they say, “that is a depressed area” or “there is a lot of poverty there”, and I go “yeah, but there are an awful lot of fully employed tradies who love their meat”.

I have a love of the American BBQ scene and I have spent a lot of time learning about it. I suppose that through talking to blokes in the shop and going online I have taken people on that journey with me. So now, while other butchers struggle to move their brisket and ribs, I need to order more in, whole boxes each weekend. I also carry rubs, sauces, smoking chips and books on BBQ.

That said, I am also catering to people who don’t have a lot of money but who are willing to spend on quality – my trick is to make products they can’t get in the supermarket – like crumbed pork chops. They look great and we sell them for $24.99 p/kg. Supermarkets can’t package them without looking like a sponge squashed under plastic so they don’t bother.

We also do crumbed lamb cutlets for around $40 p/kg. I saw them in Melbourne for close to $70 p/kg. Our meat is generally 30% cheaper but of higher quality. I am known for my aged beef – which is always local, always grass-fed and always dry-aged. It is really funny here – people will spend $90 per kg on wagyu for a special, they are happy, but I can’t be seen in a community like this to appear expensive. I am known for quality and value. This means people buy a lot of meat from me. And people know that I am just off the Princes Freeway and will make the detour on their way back to Melbourne or heading east to get quality for a bargain.

Butchers on George, 26C George St, Moe

We wish to acknowledge the traditional owners of this land and to pay our respects to their Elders, past and present.