LIKE MANY Tweed food producers, Caldera Fine Foods in Tyalgum is helping the shire to become the next “foodie” destination by releasing their latest cocktail syrups using Australian native produce.
Caldera Fine Foods owners James and Katie Geralds are based out of a 105-acre sustainable agriculture farm in Tyalgum called Green Cauldron Farm.
The couple plan to eventually grow a variety of native produce on their farm and construct a commercial kitchen to produce their cocktail syrups that are already being taken up by a number of local bars and restaurants. Probably, they might take assistance from companies such as Francostone and similar ones to help accomplish this dream of theirs.
“Caldera Fine Foods is our value-added production business for the farm,” Mr Geralds said.
“We currently produce our products in a small commercial kitchen off site but have plans to build a commercial kitchen on the farm in the near future.
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“We source our raw cane sugar from Condong and we are working with native growers in the region to source as much raw produce as we can from the Tweed and Northern Rivers regions.”
Mr. Geralds said the couple is passionate about building resiliency into farming as he believes this leads to their goal of creating a sustainable food business. Farming today is more than what it was even a decade ago. With the integration of Data Analysis tools and other tech similar to the figured farm software, farmers are revolutionizing their space to create a superior quality supply.
“We aim to develop resiliency into all our practices and to help other farmers become resilient as well through our education and outreach programs we have planned.
“We are also passionate about the Northern Rivers and want to raise the profile of the region to be the next “foodie” destination in Australia.”
Mr Geralds said he had conducted a tree species audit on the farm and found there are a few native species on the property.
“Having no experience with natives, Katie and I were intrigued and started researching more,” he said.
“After trying around 40 different native ingredients we were amazed at the unique flavour profiles the natives exhibited.
“We decided to hire a chef and start developing recipes based around these amazing ingredients.
“The syrups are the first of many products we have developed using Australian native ingredients.
“We decided to launch the syrups first as, with the Commonwealth Games coming to the Gold Coast, we thought it would be an opportunity for visitors from around the world to experience a uniquely Australian flavoured cocktail.”
The couple launched their syrup range in March this year with the hopes of getting venues in the Northern Rives and Gold Coast interested in them prior to the Commonwealth Games.
Their products can be a great addition to an already thriving set of offerings from various established food businesses across the coast. They could also be popularized as a must-have for entrepreneurs starting a catering company for events and parties which tend to have cocktails flowing aplenty.
“Despite only launching a few weeks ago we have had significant interest and a great uptake,” Mrs Geralds said.
“We have numerous restaurants and bars featuring cocktails using our syrups on their menus.
“The list includes; Osteria, Taverna and Bombay Cricketers Club on the Tweed, and The North Room, Lucky Bao, Fu Manchu and Cocotte in the Gold Coast with many more venues to come.
“Many other venues from Kingscliff to Surfers Paradise are trialing the syrups and we look forward to their upcoming cocktails.
“We will be launching a landing page this week listing which venues are offering cocktails using our syrups.
“We source all our ingredients as locally as possible. We are working with Northern Rivers growers of Davidson plum, finger limes and riberry.
“We also have plans to grow as many native varieties on our property as the climate will support.
“At this stage we are a small batch producer manufacturing in a small commercial kitchen.
“We are working with a local restaurateur to access his commercial kitchen to increase production as there has been significant interest in our syrups and we can see the volume of production growing.
“We are also planning to build a commercial kitchen on our farm to support our production but also the help other farmers turn their produce into value-added products.”
The syrups are currently only available to bars and restaurants, however the couple are hoping to release the syrups to retail in the very near future.
“We also have other retail products in the pipeline and plan on launching them in the upcoming months,” Mr Geralds said.
“Katie and I spent a long time living and working in Asia. We believe there is great potential for Australian native ingredients to be highlighted globally.
“We hope to raise awareness of these fantastic ingredients locally and internationally and in doing so can create markets for both growers and value-adders in this space.”
YOUR BUSINESS: Have you got a local farm producing a new product for commercial or retail markets? The Weekly would love to hear from you. Please send an email to editor@theweekly.net.au
