Page 9 - Food&Drink Business Magazine June 2019

LEFT: Brookfarm cereals are pleasing to the eye and the stomach.
BOTTOM LEFT: The Brook family – Eddie, Pam, Will and Martin – in their macadamia orchard.
RIGHT: Brookie’s Byron Dry Gin is a showcase of local botanticals.
✷ A TIPPLE FROM THE HINTERLAND
BLUE SKY
LOCAL SHOWCASE
Pam Brook talks about how the importance of working with local farmers is fundamental for the company.
Supporting the bush food industry is a focus. “The bush food industry has been very fragile, but it is so sustainable and virtually organic, so we need to support it,” she says.
Will Brook explains how they work closely with suppliers to develop processes that allow the best of a native food to be showcased in a Brookfarm recipe. Their Wild Berry Granola features the native Davidson plum, grown “just around the corner”.
“We went from the farmer,
through the delicate freeze drying process and created a route to market for the product so we could utilise it in our granola.
“The key to our business is that we make muesli at home, except it’s a few tonnes at a time, but with the same level of care as Mum and Dad took on day one. Our staff are amazing and it’s integral that the level of care is felt across the entire business,” Will says.
For Pam and Martin, it has always been about making products that taste amazing, increasing awareness of native foods and helping develop a viable and profitable industry. ✷
While Will Brook has taken the helm of Brookfarm, his brother Eddie is leading the charge at the family’s new venture – Cape Byron Distillery. Eddie told Food & Drink Business: “For us, the distillery was about showcasing what’s in our backyard in the best light. There’s 26 botanicals in our signature Brookie’s Byron Dry Gin, and 18 are sourced locally, many from our rainforest.”
Its Slow Gin is a cheeky take on a sloe gin, with a gin infused with local native Davidson plums and a raw sugar cane syrup from “just north of the border”.
Mac. is its macadamia and wattleseed liqueur. It was a year in development and stands as a world first. The wattleseed is sourced from South Australia and hand roasted at the distillery.
The macadamias come from the family farm, and every part of the nut is used in the spirit’s production.
The whole nut is steeped in the spirit for three months. The rich
caramel colour of Mac. comes solely from that process.
“The response from the bartending community has been remarkable. It’s rare for a completely new product to come into the market so the enthusiasm for it is intense,” Eddie says.
And then there is whisky. Industry icon Jim McEwan took Eddie under his wing and has been actively involved in the Brook family’s foray into whisky production. In February their first batch of whisky was poured into ex bourbon, US oak casks. And now they wait. “Only 800 sleeps to go,” Pam says.
“Ageing whisky here is so unique, the barrels are housed here on the farm with the climate controlling the process. We are by the sea and in the rainforest, the winds come from off the water or through the trees. It will age twice as fast here as it would if it was in Scotland,” she says.
The family have spent 30 years building a business, so they are fine to wait another few for whisky.
DISTILLING LOCAL FLAVOURS
www.foodanddrinkbusiness.com.au | June 2019 | Food&Drink business | 9