Hi Charlie, yeah, it is a bit of a shame. Still, there’s no way I’m missing out of Fraser Island, having my 40th up there, big party etc.
We’re lucky in that we’ve gone into this with minimal debt and an ok slush fund to get us up and running. I’ve never had to baulk at spending money on stuff, this is a bit of an adjustment, but even tonight I found 2 more machines that’d really help with time/labour savings which could pay off within 6 months, but coming up with the 20-30k, well, that takes a bit longer than I’d like, especially before generating revenue.
Fruit I’m planning on combination of wholesale markets, local fruit places, farmers markets and maybe pick your own, though I sometimes worry this is more trouble than it’s worth for our location. If I had have bought in Halls Gap like we’d been looking at a year ago, would have been 90% pick your own. I’m honestly not sure if we’ll be able to sell all our berries that way, while there’s good prices still these days the likes of Costa’s are really growing in the market and they have the scale/presence to set up some sweet contracts. I’ve been talking to some local companies about the cider aspect though, whatever remains I’ll likely make into cider or fortified wine.
Risk diversification is a good thing I think. If I get the garlic, berries and cider under way at different times of the year, it should work out ok. However, I’ve experienced before where I’ve had too many ideas/ways things could diversify and try to do it all. I do this and fail miserably, not even getting the basics of what I set out to do right. It’s a balancing act of priorities and what a person can do.
Still, the reaction I get from my colleagues at work in Melbourne when I tell them what I’m doing and why is priceless, wouldn’t have it any other way
