NEWS

ICONS at the airport. Farmers' market feasibility

COMMITTEE NOTES

New deputy chair and treasurer. Many thanks.

ABSOLUTELY BARKING

On-line ordering and grants.

NEW FRIEND

Cladich Pavilions

EVENTS

CONTACTS

CALENDAR

ADVERTISE

The Adelaide Hills Food Chain

Our buns were hot

AHF member Maurice Kneen of Araluen and baker Dave Faehrman of Millie's Bakery.

Millie’s Bakery owner and AHF Secretary, Margaret Gilbert, opened up the Millie’s Mt Barker kitchen to Members, Friends and their offspring for a taste of hot cross bun making and a range of Hills wines.

Head baker Dave took 16 participants step-by-step through the process of making hot cross buns as we rolled, tasted and explored the enormous interiors of industrial-size ovens and cool rooms.

It was a fabulous insight into commercial bakery and Margaret Gilbert’s inspiring story of how she changed Mt Barker from having no bakery 25 years ago, when bread was brought up from Tip Top in Adelaide, to being the founding town of Millie’s Bakeries now also in Nairne, Stirling and Dulwich.

Thank you, Margaret.

In the News

The last couple of months have been really successful in raising the profile of Adelaide Hills Food with a number of successful events involving lots of our members.

Camping and Caravanning Show

The Camping and Caravanning show ran for five days in February and Cocolat, Buzz Honey, Fruitwise and guest Aussiemite (Australian yeast spread) shared a marquee. Adelaide Hills was one of four regional food marquees that formed the Taste Sensations area at the show. Feedback was that it was generally a good experience with much better crowds at the weekend. It is the next biggest show after the Royal Adelaide with a footfall of around 40,000.

Showcase a success

Justin Markos, head chef at Mount Lofty House made everyone feel very welcome for the Adelaide Hills Showcase and it was great to see so many members and friends present as well as some of the local vegetable growers and broad representation from the wine industry. Everyone had a good night and we got some press coverage as well.

Iconic products

A lot of producers came to learn about ICONS, the new store that will be opening at the airport in May selling exclusively South Australian food and wine with a tasting bar showcasing regional platters. Several of our producers have decided to opt in and take space in the store which will give us a strong presence in what promises to be a stylish and exciting venture.

Focus groups

The Adelaide Hills Farmers' Market feasibility study is now well underway and the Business and Marketing Students from Adelaide City TAFE will be starting Focus Groups next week to find out about shopping habits. Out of this they will develop a questionnaire comparing three different sites. They will distribute around 400 of these and then statistically analyse the information.

Consumers’ crush

The Adelaide Hills Wine Region’s annual celebration – Crush ’07 – was held on Sunday, March 11, and proved to be a huge success. On a lovely autumnal day, thousands of visitors streamed up to the Hills to taste wine, savour food and enjoy the live music amidst stunning scenery. According to newspaper reports, a massive 5,000 visitors attended the Stirling cluster alone.

Katie Cameron, executive officer of the Adelaide Hills Wine Region association, estimates the total turnout in the Hills on the day to be in excess of 10,000 individuals.

“I attribute the growth in our visitor numbers to the comprehensive radio and television campaign prior to the event,” she said.

Crush was formerly known as the Hills Harvest Festival, but the name was changed after a branding exercise defined the region as being beautiful, fresh and vibrant and appealing to affluent, hip consumers.

- Marc Dobson, Hahndorf Hill Winery

Have your say

The Adelaide Hills Food Chain is produced by Adelaide Hills Food for its members and friends and associated industries.
Your contribution as a member of the food industry is welcome and we encourage anyone who has something to share to send any news and pictures to…
Mary Fowler
PO Box 66
Basket Range SA 5138
Tel 08 8390 0415, Mobile 0408 882 623.
Email: mary_fowler@bigpond.com

Excellent exposure

The Adelaide Hills Food Chain is a great place for members and associated businesses to advertise products, services, opportunities and events - in fact, anything that relates to our food industry.
Reaching Adelaide Hills Food Members and Friends, local and interstate food media, Adelaide Hills Tourism Marketing Committee members and members of the Adelaide Hills Wine Region, advertising in the Adelaide Hills Food Chain represents fantastic value at $40 plus GST per standard supplied ad.
If you would like to advertise in the next issue of the Adelaide Hills Food Chain visit www.adelaidehillsfood.com.au/news/advert/ or phone Andrew Kelleher at Sema4 Media on 0411 025 076.

Visit SA's new tourism website in April

South Australian Tourism Commission's
new website delayed until April. [southaustralia.com].

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Committee Notes

From the Chair

Mary Fowler, Chairperson

There is a lot of thanking to be done this month…

Thank you to Sean Bradshaw, HQ Cuisine, who has taken up the role of Deputy Chair of Adelaide Hills Food and whose enthusiasm and commitment to regional food and the Group is invaluable.

Thank you to John Delaine, Hahndorf Venison, for replacing Sean as Treasurer of Adelaide Hills Food. I believe our treasure is in very good hands with John.

Thank you to Kath Nugent, Bird In Hand, and Marc Dobson, Hahndorf Hill Winery, who have joined the Adelaide Hills Food Guide reprint committee and whose marketing skills and creative input will make a brilliant 2007 Guide.

Thank you to Maurice Kneen, Araluen, for acting as co-ordinator for the Adelaide Hills Food stalls at the Showgrounds Farmers’ Market.

Thank you to Anton Van Klopper, Lucy Margaux Vineyards, and again to Maurice Kneen for their work on the feasibility of an Adelaide Hills Farmers’ Market.

Thank you to all the Members and Friends who have shown their support for the Group and their interest in Adelaide Hills Food by their attendance at events, participation in workshops and communication via the newsletter and email.

Adelaide Hills Food is currently working on projects that benefit all Members, like the Food Guide reprint, the Farmers’ Market feasibility, the AHF website renovation, events and communication. If any Members or Friends would like to contribute some time or expertise to one or more of these areas, please contact me, as some extra heads and hands would be greatly appreciated.

Mary Fowler, Chair
Tel 08 8390 0415, Mobile 0408 882 623.
Email: mary_fowler@bigpond.com

Website report

Following a meeting earlier in the month, some alterations to the site's appearance and structure are being developed.

This month's projects have been fine tuning the site calendar and establishing interactivity in the form of a breaking-news communication 'blog'.

If you would like to take a sneak peek at the blog go to: adelaidehillsfood.com.au/wordpress/. You can even Register (look for the 'Register' link on the right hand side panel) and post your own bit of Adelaide Hills Food news. Don't forget to use the checkboxes to select a category or create a new category.

If you have any ideas you would like to see incorporated into the site, contact Andrew Kelleher at Sema4 Media (abk@sema4.com.au).

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Absolutely Barking

Working together

I've been to a couple of workshops recently, the Regional Food Groups one at Regency TAFE organised by Flavour SA which was excellent, and a Value Add conference organised by the National Food Industry Strategy, also very good. Out of both of them the strongest message was about working co-operatively and how individual businesses can only flourish when the industry as a whole thrives through working together. There was a strong South Australian contingent at the NFIS conference in Melbourne, and it was very clear how envied SA is due to the work done through FoodSA and the FIDO network.

There were a variety of views about regionalism v nationalism with chefs and niche retailers talking about the story behind the food and it having a sense of place and AusTrade about how producers should not be competing against the producer in the next paddock but worrying about the 5 billion other competitors out in the big wide world, starting with China.Clearly there is an argument for both depending on your market. Simon Bryant of the Hilton and Anita Vlassis of City East IGA both gave excellent talks on how they choose suppliers.

Perfect your packaging

The other most valuable information that I received was from a distributor in Melbourne about packaging. He had three simple rules...

1. Your label must be able to be read from five feet away.
2. The type of product should be larger than your company's name.
3. Put a window in all food packaging.

Jacqui Smith, Creative Director of Raw Creative came in to talk to me recently about the services her company can offer to food producers and brought in a portfolio of work that can be downloaded here (PDF 2.5mb).

New Adelaide Hills menu at the Hilton

The Brasserie at the Hilton has just started its Adelaide Hills menu which will run throughout April. I thought it would be nice if a group of Adelaide Hills Food, Wine and Tourism people went down and had dinner there to show our support for Simon Bryant, the Executive Chef who is so supportive of so many of our members. Thursday April 12 is the proposed date.

Please let me know as soon as possible if you are interested and I will try to arrange for Simon to come out and talk to us on the night.

Online ordering

As you all know I have been working with United Logistics to tailor their online ordering system, Bee1Stop, to meet what I believe to be the needs of our producers and they have now reached the point where they are working with several AHF members and are willing to sign up the rest for a six month free trial.

I have been approached by another company, Oliver's List, in the last week who are also offering online ordering as part of their wider gourmet website, aimed more at the individual consumer than the predominantly B2B focus of Beeworks, and likewise they are offering a free sign up to AHF members.

Both the companies have provided some information. Download a brochure about Oliver's List (830k PDF) [Oliver's List]. Or read the box below to find out more about Bee1Stop.

I would recommend that any of you who are interested sign up with both as an opportunity to get your product out there as widely as possible. I would be very interested to hear any feedback from you.

Opportunity knocks: grants and scholarships

Australian Tourism Development Program.

As you may know Adelaide Hills Food producers were successful in procuring grants in the last round. The current one will close soon.

Category One projects can receive $50,000--$100,000 while Category Two can receive between $100,000--$500,000. Projects that offer innovative, sustainable, and unique tourism experiences and that deliver regionally significant outcomes will be considered. For more information go to www.ausindustry.gov.au or call Ausindustry Hotline on 13 28 46.

Round Four will close on Friday April 27, 2007.

Fourth World Congress of Rural Women

Durban, South Africa, April 23-26, 2007

The South Australian Government, through the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Fisheries, the Hon. Rory McEwen MP, is offering Bursaries of $3,000 each to enable three South Australian women to attend the Fourth World Congress of Rural Women. The Bursary will part fund the recipients' Congress costs. Contact Email: hyltonkeele.lib@saugov.sa.gov.au

Applications close: 2 April 2007.

Pathways to Sustainable Agriculture EMS Program

This program aims to establish partnerships with industry and regions to increase the adoption of self-sustaining profitable and sustainable farming practices; enhance sustainable agriculture and environmental outcomes; and enable producers to demonstrate environmental credential to domestic and international markets.

Funding will come under two categories: Regional Leadership and Industry Leadership. They will capped at $300,000 per successful applicant.
Contact: Megan Scott, Dept of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry. Phone: 02 6272 4531 or visit www.daffa.gov.au/natural-resources/land-salinity/ems/sustainableag

Applications close: April 5, 2007.

Women's Advancement Initiative

The Australian Government's new Women's Advancement Initiative (The Initiative) aims to build the skills and confidence of women in agriculture, fisheries and forestry industries to better enable them to participate in leadership roles at the local, regional and national level. Grants of up to $80 000 are available for non-government organisations (NGOs) to develop practical, innovative and flexible leadership projects. Please call Kate Kernot on 02 6272 5554 for information.

Application close: April 13 2007

In-market Experience Scholarships.

Each scholarship of $12,500 will help managers or emerging managers from small-to-medium sized agribusiness work for 3 months to 1 year to: define opportunities for their product, service or technology; fully participate in alliances; build relationships with potential customers; undertake business or sector specific courses; gain experience in new areas of business and markets and seek expert advice. Visit www.daff.gov.au and go to New Industry Development Program (NIDP).

Next round is expected to open in April 2007.

Pratt Foundation Scholarships - Value Adding to Regional Produce

See the links below, particularly the Pratt Foundation Scholarships to allow overseas travel to build skills. There is a category for value-adding to regional produce. Download PDF on Pratt Fellowship here or visit www.issinstitute.org.au/os/index.html

Closing date May 28, 2007

Fido Funny

Coffee ................ the person upon whom one coughs.

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New Friend

Helen McArthur

Cladich Pavilions Bed and Breakfast, Aldgate

Helen McArthur, operator of one of the region's award-winning bed and breakfast properties, is one of Adelaide Hills Food's founding members and newest friends.

Before starting Cladich Pavilions Bed and Breakfast at Aldgate, Helen ran a stall at the Adelaide Central Market selling cheese and regional foods.

In fact, Helen's stall was one of the first outlets for Udder Delights cheese and Willabrand jam and her enthusiasm for regional food inspired her to become one of Adelaide Hills Food's first members.

After studying Tourism at Mt Barker TAFE and other courses run by the South Australian Tourism Commission, Helen and her husband Andrew decided to open bed and breakfast accommodation at their Aldgate property.

Cladich Pavilions was purpose built in a modern Australian style using Colorbond and glass with an emphasis on simplicity.

The aim was to become involved in Adelaide Hills tourism and to work alongside other businesses in the area to promote the region as a whole.

"We use all local products, where possible, including Bridgewater Mill wines, B.-d. Farm Paris Creek Yoghurt, Fruit Wise muesli, Beerenberg jams and Jurlique shampoo and conditioner in the bathroom," says Helen.

"On April 1 this year, Cladich Pavilions will have been open for five years and has only had six nights this year without guests.

"Our simple design attracts guests from all over the world and European visitors in particular."

Helen's passionate interest in food, especially Adelaide Hills food, has inspired her to re-join the Adelaide Hills Food Group as a Friend, giving her the opportunity to discuss with local producers what is available in the region.

Helen encourages guests to purchase local products, many of which she is familiar with from her days at the Central Market.

Events

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Contacts

The South Australian Government has set up a drought hotline and website to assist communities access information on support services, managing conditions etc.

The professional team of Networkers appointed by FarmBis in South Australia is there to help bridge the gap between training providers and primary producers.

Robert (Red) Hodge, Ceris Crosby and Annette Filby combine to offer a broad range of valuable experience in working with primary industries and regional communities across the State.

Red Hodge: Phone 08 8226 0375, Fax 08 8226 0333, Mobile 0417 230 072.
Ceris Crosby: Phone 08 8226 1449, Fax 08 8226 0333, Mobile 0428 106 269.
Annette Filby: Phone 08 8226 0378, Fax 08 8226 0333, Mobile 0428 104 625

Calendar

Visit our on-line calendar for the latest dates

Please send information about upcoming events to food@southcentralacc.com if you would like them to be included in the next newsletter which will be published in the first week of March 2007.

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Administration

You are receiving this email because you opted to join the Adelaide Hills Food News list. If you were forwarded this email and would like to subscribe and have it delivered to your in-box each month click the Subscribe link at the end of this message. To unsubscribe to this list, select the Unsubscribe link. To read this newsletter with your web-browser click here. For other enquiries email ahf@adelaidehillsfood.com.au. For more information visit the Adelaide Hills Food web site at www.adelaidehillsfood.com.au