Page 24 - Food&Drink magazine April-May 2023

ORGANICS & NATURALS
The chickens and the bees
One area of the organic market that continues to grow is farming and live cultivation. Fleur Michell speaks to two producers in the poultry and honey sector to learn more.
SONYA Dowling and her husband Angus (pictured left) established Enviroganic Farm in 1999.
Located on the southwestern slopes of New South Wales, the couple had started to question the chemicals in foods they were consuming.
“We saw an opportunity to grow and produce healthy, responsibly raised organic chickens. Starting out with only 50 chickens and an old chicken coop, our business is now home to 11 sheds of Certified Organic free-range chickens and 15 full-time staff,” Sonya Dowling says.
Being based in rural Australia, it hasn’t been without its challenges, including drought and floods, which caused supply issues of feed ingredients, organic grain shortage, and staff shortages. Post-Covid they have seen increased production costs for diesel, gas, and electricity.
Despite this, Enviroganic is Australia’s longest-established, certified organic poultry producer,
“We produce and supply twice weekly to major supermarkets and suppliers, and export to Hong Kong. All poultry feed is Certified Organic along with the land the chickens are raised on. We also use manure and bedding from sheds as our fertiliser and grains for feed.
“The chickens are processed, packed, and distributed by a leading poultry processor. The process results in fresh certified organic whole chicken packed in an e-bag and pieces packed in MAP trays,” Dowling says.
In the 24 years since the Dowlings began, they have seen changes in consumer behaviour as education around organics grew. Sonya Dowling says the industry will be strengthened when the anticipated domestic regulation comes into effect in the next year or so.
Their goal for the business in the next five years is to improve systems and efficiencies, as well as expand production so they canresumeexporting.
Sonya Dowling’s advice for those starting out, “Do your due diligence and be persistent. Work hard and prepare for ups and downs as it will pay off in the long run.”
WILD NECTAR
The director of Wild Nectar, John Corrigan, had been tending to hives, and selling honey wholesale “for years”.
“We felt there wasn’t enough raw, organic honey available with a known origin at scale, and we wanted our honey to be unpasteurised, unfiltered, and untouched at an affordable price.
“We saw as a gap in the market and started producing cold extracted Australian honey direct to consumers from the beekeeper,” Corrigan said.
The business now has
10 employees and produces 700-800 tonnes of honey a year, with just over half its output Certified Organic.
“We have bases in Temora and Nowra to be closest to hives located throughout New South Wales. With bushfires and floods, we’ve had to rescue hives a few times! Taking a business from primary producers and wholesale to retail has also been interesting but we’re encouraged by the feedback and really proud of our brand,” he says.
Wild Nectar launched an organic one kilogram pail last year to meet growing demand.
“For honey to be certified as organic, the beehives must be more than 5km from cultivated areas. Our honey is cold- extracted from the hive. Keeping the honey raw maintains its natural beneficial properties that are eroded when heated during pasteurisation.
“People are more aware of the benefits of raw and local foods now versus processed products or honey that’s heat treated or imported,” Corrigan says.
Corrigan’s goal is to improve consumer knowledge about the benefits of cold extraction and Australian honey from native flora while also increasing its stockistsontheeastcoast. ✷
24 | Food&Drink business | April/May 2023 | www.foodanddrinkbusiness.com.au