The Producers, a Food Podcast.

After a career traversing the globe as a photojournalist, Tim Wimborne and his family moved to regional NSW and his new food journey began, first with native mountain pepper, and now with an incredible pasta and flat bread offering under the banner of Braidwood Food Company. https://www.braidwoodfood.com Follow The Producers on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/producerspodcast/ Host Dani Valent...

Jake Wolki and his wife Ann run Wolki farm and butchery in Albury in New South Wales.  They started the farm in 2019 on a hobby block that his dad used for conventional cattle. Things changed very quickly, thanks to YouTube rabbitholes and a deepening commitment to doing things differently. The Wolkis farm according to five principles: animal welfare, environmental backbone, healing food, communit...

After more than 20 years involvement in scientific research Julie Martyn (Artisa) moved to Tasmania and began looking for opportunities where she could indulge in her foodie interests. A mix of opportunity and science lead her to exploring plant-based cheese, especially those that might incorporate some of the amazing Tasmanian produce. https://artisa.com.au Follow The Producers on Instagram https...

Mark Foletta grew up on a farm near Benalla, a couple of hours from Melbourne, and ended up buying the farm next door. Yin Barun is a diverse business with everything from cherries to pumpkins, pine mushrooms, wine and livestock. Mark has a focus on regeneration, soil health and strong human connections, not just in his regional area but also with prominent city chefs who use and appreciate the fo...

After having an average experience eating Jamaican food at a festival Brian Johnson (Jammin’ Jerk) suddenly got an urge to try and do it better. He delved into the food of his heritage and soon discovered the complexities and challenges of dishing up food of a high standard. But after trial and error, he’s become one of the best producers of Jamaican Jerk spice rubs and hot sauces downunder. https...

Fourth generation farmer Charlie Scott was always going to return to the land but it’s fair to say he didn’t dream about quail farming as a boy. A combination of luck, nous, trial, error and endless hard work led to him developing a successful business around his own breed of quail. As he comes towards the end of his farming journey, Charlie looks back on a business that’s driven him hard and brou...

After arriving in Australia in 2004 Giorgio Linguanti (That’s Amore) wanted to create something different that not only fulfilled his creative side, but added to the evolving culinary landscape. He became a cheese maker for the love of creating almost an unlimited number of cheese products from just one simple ingredient, milk. https://thatsamorecheese.com.au Follow The Producers on Instagram http...

Growing up in the Victorian produce hub of Mildura, Ben Circosta’s family pantry was always well-stocked with ‘bippi’. The Calabrian word for chilli is now the name of his brand of Italian chilli pastes, based on the recipe that his Nonna Emilia brought with her from Calabria. Ben’s pandemic project has turned into a thriving young business infused with pride, not just in Italian culinary traditio...

Victorian-based Aurum poultry are specialists that focus on producing the finest chicken, cockerel, ducks and game birds for avid cooks who appreciate the flavours and textures of traditionally raised birds. And according to Henning Skallebaek they have become the go to poultry supplier for some of Australia’s most influential chefs too. https://aurumpoultryco.au Follow The Producers on Instagram...

Caley Callope works with Black Duck Foods, an Indigenous produce enterprise that encompasses farming, learning, connection and culture on Yuin Country in East Gippsland, Victoria. Caley brings her whole self to her role: there’s her rich and proud Aboriginal heritage, the complexity in how she was raised in generosity and community, and an academic lens which also informs her intention and ambitio...

For the last 18 years, The Paddock in Leopold has offered people with a disability the chance to learn new skills, and thanks to The Paddock’s Kim Turner the fruits of their labour are now appearing on restaurant menus across the region. https://www.givewhereyoulive.com.au Follow The Producers on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/producerspodcast/ Host Dani Valent  https://www.instagram.com/dani...

John Ford and his team at Unearthed Mushrooms grow gourmet culinary mushrooms in Victoria’s Yarra Valley, supplying restaurants and a few retailers in Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide. John has loved mushrooms since he was a teenager and eventually turned his hobby into a business. It’s been far from easy but he’s as curious and passionate about fungi as he ever was and is very happy to wear the man...

Levenvale Farm is a place that nourishes the soil, the plants, the animals and where farmer Georgina Baker (Bello Beef) and her husband Sam are rearing the amazing cattle to produce grass fed Bello Beef. A farm that helps build community and bring back localised food systems. https://www.levenvalefarm.com.au Follow The Producers on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/producerspodcast/ Host Dani Va...

Cathy Palmer is just about getting used to the idea that she’s a dairy farmer. After a career in music management she followed a passion for animal welfare into ethical milk production. On her northern Victorian dairy farm, calves aren’t ripped away from their mums soon after birth. Instead, cows and calves stay together through to weaning. Cathy ensures a calm, happy life for her own cows, and sh...

Andrew Yeo (Yeo Farm) runs a small lamb operation on 100 acres in Bulahdelah on the Mid North Coast of NSW. It’s a small farm dedicated to the locals where Andrew runs 160 Australian White Sheep to bring fresh pasture raised lamb to the area. https://www.yeofarm.com.au Follow The Producers on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/producerspodcast/ Host Dani Valent  https://www.instagram.com/danivale...

In 2012, the Australian culinary landscape was experiencing a Mexican food wave. But there were a few things missing. Mexican-born Gerardo Lopez especially lamented the lack of traditional corn tortillas. He got busy researching, testing, and eventually making tortillas from locally grown grain. The vision has since expanded from a small-scale side hustle to La Tortilleria, a factory that processe...

Coolamon Cheese Company is located in the heart of the Riverina, an area renowned for its abundance of high-quality produce, especially dairy products. It’s here that cheese maker Jenn Nestor creates an innovative range of handcrafted cheeses that are a sensual delight. https://www.coolamoncheese.com.au Follow The Producers on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/producerspodcast/ Host Dani Valent ...

Cecilia 'CC' Diaz-Petersen grows one of Australia’s only commercial crops of wild hibiscus - also known as rosella - alongside an eclectic mix of Asian and Mexican vegetables and exotic fruits on her family’s 50-acre farm at Woolooga, three hours north of Brisbane. Born in the Philippines, CC was a real estate agent when she was swept up by the world of food. Obsessed with sustainability, communit...

It’s become one of the most celebrated gelato brands in the country, but Gelato Messina has stayed true to its roots, ethics and offering to ensure the quality of its product. And as Donato Toce explains it has a cow to cone approach too. https://gelatomessina.com Follow The Producers on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/producerspodcast/ Host Dani Valent  https://www.instagram.com/danivalent Ho...

Lots of chefs talk about foraging these days but what about someone who makes foraging their business? Liam Spurrell grew up in the hills on Melbourne’s outskirts where he now forages consistently and carefully, picking hundreds of herbs, fruits and plants and delivering them to top restaurants. Up at dawn, he's able to gather in the morning and have ingredients on Melbourne restaurant tables in t...

The Fermentalists and its range of hot sauces was initially a weekend hobby but positive feedback from friends and family encouraged Kosta Papanikitas and his partners to continue developing new recipes and expanding the range. The team still make everything by hand in Sydney, but things are a little bit bigger than they envisaged. https://thefermentalists.com Follow The Producers on Instagram htt...

Sophie O’Neil is an owner of Torello Farm, a mixed business and farm gate on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula. Founded in 2016, Torello sells Sophie’s own beef and lamb as well as curating produce from around 70 other local growers. It’s a bountiful business that creates connection and brings nourishment and joy as well as offering an ethical model for contemporary food systems. https://www.torello...

Basik Chocolates was founded by Krsna Rajalingam with a simple belief: That every chocoholic deserves a perfect bonbon that speaks to them. After painstaking research, and trial and error he’s creating some of the most stunning chocolates in Australia – and they’re delicious too. https://www.basikchocolates.com.au Follow The Producers on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/producerspodcast/ Host D...

Founded in Melbourne in 2016, the Tahini Neri vision is tahini schmeared on just about everything. From small beginnings selling homemade tahini on the pavement, Rikki Goldman and her husband Neri’s products are now stocked in major supermarkets in Australia and even overseas. The early impetus was to take tahini from a niche dip to an everyday staple. Along the way, they’ve expanded the range to...

After moving to Bundjalung country - Byron Bay Rebecca Barnes started to explore Native Ingredients. Twenty years later and Playing with Fire Native Foods is not only showcasing the culinary possibilities of native foods, but is helping create career pathways for first nations people too. https://www.playingwithfire.com.au Follow The Producers on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/producerspodcas...