Category: Blog

Sunshine Sugar’s Low GI Sugar is gaining international attention since production began in the NSW Northern Rivers region in mid-2018.

The Central Sugars Refinery in Kuala Lumpur has secured significant tonnage of our all-Australian and Bonsucro-certified sustainable low GI sugar through Manildra Harwood Sugars, for ongoing supply in 2019.

Central Sugars Refinery is among Malaysia’s most popular brands, supplying sugar and sweetener ingredients for consumers, retailers, food service distributors, food manufacturers, culinary professionals and specialty markets.

Sunshine Sugar Chief Executive Officer Chris Connors attributed the enthusiastic response in Malaysia to “the quality and innovation that our low GI sugar represents”.

“Like many countries, Malaysia has increasing rates of obesity. Since introducing low GI sugar to consumer and industrial customers, the uptake has been strong, which is creating more market opportunities for our growers and mills here in Australia,” Mr Connors said.

Sunshine Sugar’s Low GI Sugar – which was developed in Australia – retains naturally occurring and beneficial antioxidants and is more slowly digested, absorbed and metabolised – resulting in a lower and slower rise in blood glucose.

Low GI Sugar Sweetens Tastebuds in MalaysiaLow GI Sugar Sweetens Tastebuds in MalaysiaLow GI Sugar Sweetens Tastebuds in Malaysia

Taking 20,000 punnets of unwanted strawberries from Sydney Markets and throwing in a few tonnes of white sugar from Manildra Harwood Sugars, helped make more than 2000 jars of jam to fundraise for disaster relief.

When Australian strawberry growers were sabotaged by the needle contamination scare last year, central to the proactive efforts to make something positive from growers’ misfortunes was the Country Women’s Association (CWA) of NSW.

The money raised for the CWA’s disaster relief funds program supports families and communities in need across the state.

As an active advocate for rural, regional and remote health issues across Australia, CWA also provides emergency funds and education grants for secondary and tertiary specialists, including nursing and midwifery.

The Sweet Way Sunshine Sugar is Helping Strawberry Farmers

Marianne Mac Smith’s introduction to factory life was as a primary school student in New Zealand during World War II.

“Dad was overseas. Mum and my grandmother worked in Wattie’s cannery in Hastings, which had the contract to make all the tinned food for the troops during the war.

“Every Friday afternoon and each Saturday morning, my sister Suzanne and I had to work and our wages were donated to the Red Cross. I had to stand in front of a great big mincer and my job was to throw the carrots in to be diced up.”

Little did young Marianne know that her early foray into food production and manufacturing would last a lifetime – just like the Red Cross, a charity she’s also committed many years to.

Nor could she know that many years later, her sons would establish their own manufacturing plant in a different country, crushing canola grown on the family farm.

It was in February 1956 when she moved to the farm where new husband Lance Mac Smith was born, Little Boree at Cudal, near the thriving regional NSW city of Orange.

They’d met in the spring of 1954. It was a chance encounter at the Parkes aerodrome, when Mr Mac Smith travelled to see his sister Felicity and her new friend from New Zealand, who was to become his wife.

“He came over to meet the plane,” Mrs Mac Smith told The Cultivator. “I came and stayed here at Boree and the rest, as they say, is history.”

She was invited to join the Tuesday tennis group, “which has been going for 60 or 70 years”.

“I had four children – Mary, Bob, Rachel and Peter. I’ve always said you’ve only got your children on borrowed time. But I’ve been extremely lucky because they’ve all come back to the district.”

Their daughter Mary returned to the farm to work with her father on the property. Sons Bob and Pete farmed too, but in 1990 – with low commodity prices and interest rates hovering around 18 per cent – their second ‘payment’ for wheat delivered to the former Australian Wheat Board was actually a bill. They needed a Plan B.

“Canola had been working agronomically,” said Mrs Mac Smith. “They were getting up to $300 a tonne for canola, while wheat was paying $90 a tonne.

“The gross margin to grow canola rather than wheat was double.”

In 1991, the Mac Smiths established retail brand Australian Country Canola.

“Within 12 months, the boys found the equipment they needed to establish a crushing plant at home,” said Mrs Mac Smith. “My youngest daughter Rachel returned from Europe and quickly became part of the business.”

The hours before the launch of their retail oil at the inaugural Orange FOOD Affair in 1992 are still remembered well.

“By about 2pm on the Saturday, the boys were still trying to extract the oil,” said Mrs Mac Smith. “They tried everything in the ensuing 10 hours, but at midnight they still had no oil.

“Eventually they suggested trying another batch of canola seed. As Bob went to get some, it started raining. It was the greatest fluke as that damp seed produced oil straight away. “It was unbelievable and the relief when we had about five dozen bottles to take to market was something else. They sold out and everything was all right.”

Their early success came at some cost, though. “In those days, we had to manually apply the labels. I labelled that many bottles that I had to give up Tuesday morning tennis because my thumb and fingers lost their strength,” said Mrs Mac Smith.

“The boys knew they had a tough decision to make about the future: expand on the farm or start from scratch on a new site.

“They were very fortunate when Dick Honan, the owner of the Manildra Group, visited them. He came here and told the boys he wanted to expand into the oil business, and left them all his telephone and facsimile numbers and told them to get in touch if they needed a hand, or a chat. “They had some tough decisions to make but Lance and I supported them 100 per cent. Lance always told them, ‘If that’s what you want to do, do it’. He never stopped them trying anything.”

In 2005, sons Bob and Pete formed a joint venture with the Honan family. In 2006, they began building on a new site in the Central West NSW town of Manildra, and the new business – MSM Milling – began producing oil in April 2007.

“One of the nice things is that I was able to take Lance over to the mill shortly before he died,” said Mrs Mac Smith.

“Dick Honan was there and he told us he was blown away that the boys got the business running in 18 months, when he’d expected it to take 10 years.

“That’s what I like so much about Dick. He’s got the same goal, vision, passion and culture as Bob and Pete. He’s been a great mentor and is a very empowering person. While there have been challenges in the world of commodities over the years, it’s been a complementary partnership.”

Mrs Mac Smith has also notched up some notable achievements of her own, including being presented a Gilt Rosette for 60 years of service to Red Cross – which unofficially started some years prior, as a small child during WWII in the NZ cannery.

But not one for big-noting, Mrs Mac Smith wouldn’t tell The Cultivator about being crowned Cudal’s Citizen of the Year in 1956. Nor that she’s held multiple positions on several community groups.

Still today, she’s not one to sit still – even after knee replacements, replacing tennis with aqua-aerobics. But there’s no aqua on Tuesday mornings – they’re spent in the kitchen, baking her famous ginger bread with MSM Milling’s 100 per cent Australian-grown and made auzure Canola Oil, to be delivered still-warm to her sons and the rest of the MSM crew for smoko.

Service Along Life’s Walk From Factory To Farm Service Along Life’s Walk From Factory To Farm

As Australia’s largest producer of chocolate honeycomb, bringing back home production of the Violet Crumble – the nation’s oldest chocolate bar – was a natural fit for Robern Menz.

Led by four generations of the Sims family since 1908, Robern Menz has grown to become one of the nation’s largest Australian-owned manufacturers of confectionery and distinctively Australian treats, such as the Crown Mints made in Adelaide since 1892, and the FruChocs range since 1948.

Today employing more than 90 staff, led by brothers Phil Sims (Chief Executive Officer) and Richard Sims (General Manager of Operations), the family business maintains a close focus on home-grown and made quality, with an eye towards further product extensions and expanded distribution. “We are so proud of the sustainability and transition, from generation to generation, for more than a century of family ownership,” said Phil Sims of the confectioner inducted into the Food South Australia Hall of Fame in 2013.

“Our loyal staff, with us throughout the journey, have been instrumental in building a food manufacturing business on strong brands such as FruChocs, Crown Mints and now, Violet Crumble.”

In a triumphant return to Australia, the iconic Violet Crumble – created in 1913 in Melbourne by the Hoadley family – was acquired from Nestle in January 2018, with a plan to “breathe new life into the brand without changing its century-old recipe or distinctive purple and gold branding”.

Robern Menz now makes more than six million Violet Crumbles a year – following a $4 million upgrade to the state-of-the-art Glynde factory to expand the chocolate bar and honeycomb production line to 180 metres in length – alongside a range of high-quality fruit-based products, including Robern Delightfuls.

“We’re so proud to be able to employ Australians and support our communities through our manufacturing base locally,” said Richard Sims.

“As an official icon of the state, our Menz FruChocs (apricot and peach centres covered in milk chocolate) is such a great brand story in South Australia – and it’s important for us to stay true to our brands’ core values while continuing to innovate and build relevance.”

“Australia is our main market and where we operate our business, so we rely on Australian farms and suppliers for most of our ingredients.”

Sharing that commitment to local industries and communities is Australian family-owned business Manildra Group, preferred supplier of locally produced ingredients (such as glucose and dry and liquid sugars) used to make the range of Menz confectionery and Robern fruit snacks.

Manildra Group Managing Director John Honan said Robern Menz was breaking boundaries in the confectionery industry – as a strong Australian food manufacturer, product innovator, and brand-building champion.

“The Sims family’s approach is their commitment to Australia first, then take on the world – which is right at the heart of Manildra Group’s philosophy, too,” said Mr Honan.

Phil Sims said Robern Menz customers expected the company to support and use Australian-grown and made ingredients.

“The reliability of supply and quality of these ingredients is vital, and Manildra Group has been a long-term valued partner of Robern Menz,” he said.

“Australians prefer us to support Australian-grown and made products, and have a strong desire to understand the provenance of what they consume.

“Supply chain partnerships will be critical to the future of Robern Menz’s growth, including the ability to take advantage of emerging challenges and opportunities. Manildra Group will be a key part of this and we look forward to continuing this relationship well into the future.”

With three retail stores in South Australia, The FruChocs Shops provide Robern Menz a critical direct link to customers, with the opportunity to trial new products and establish a presence in regional communities.

To support the plan for market expansion in Australia, and the high demand for Robern Menz products internationally, Phil Sims said there were substantial opportunities to build the business into some exciting markets.

“With 320 million people, the United States market is a key buyer of Violet Crumble and Menz chocolate products, and with many other markets in Asia providing great prospects, we’re poised for future expansion,” he said.

Manildra Stockfeed DDGS Wheat Pellets have been a “game-changer” at the Bailey family’s lamb fattening operation in Central West NSW the past few years.

With more than 30 years’ experience in the industry, Andrew and Annette Bailey’s lamb production business, with their eldest son Nick and wife Belinda, consistently turns off over 30,000 prime fat lambs annually.

They introduced Manildra Stockfeed DDGS Wheat Pellets into their feeding regime three years ago and Mr Bailey said it had “been a game-changer”.

“Inclusion of the DDGS Wheat Pellets has resulted in consistently higher weight gains – meaning less time on feed resulting in a quicker turnover of lambs,” he said.

“We introduce the DDGS Wheat Pellets at the start of the feeding process in the induction paddocks, where the lambs spend 7-10 days with purpose-built feeders. This is the most challenging time of the process, as the lambs adjust to the change in diet.

“This is followed by more concentrated feeding in smaller paddocks, where our lambs are fed for about 30 days.” Fattening lambs for both domestic trade and export markets, Mr Bailey said the feed ration comprised Manildra Stockfeed DDGS Wheat Pellets with additional oaten hay, canola hay, whole cereal grain, and a rumen buffer.

“Weight gain can vary substantially according to lamb breeds and their backgrounds,” he said.

“Our lambs are gaining weight consistently at all times – even in the often-difficult induction period – and the ample yeast component of the DDGS Wheat Pellets is a major factor in our success,” he said.

As an advocate for a total mixed ration that includes the lambs’ total daily roughage requirements, Mr Bailey said the result was lambs remained healthy and content throughout the feeding process.

“A percentage of our lambs’ diets includes roughage, in the form of hay, to complement the pellets.”

“With oaten hay and canola hay in the ration, by customising the feeding systems, we can ensure a constant and consistent feed without feeder blockage or wastage.”

“The ration is extremely palatable with the addition of the DDGS Wheat Pellets, which substantially reduces wastage at the foot of the feeder and mortality rates.”

Manildra Stockfeed National Manager Tim Wirth said the Baileys’ remarkable results had been consistent with feedback from other lamb producers intensively feeding with DDGS Wheat Pellets throughout NSW, Queensland and Victoria.

“The inclusion of the DDGS Wheat Pellets delivers an excellent source of protein and energy for the lambs’ diet,” said Mr Wirth.

Mr Bailey said use of DDGS Wheat Pellets extended to conditioning ewes and increasing milk production post-lambing, a feed practice that also assisted in backgrounding sucker lambs onto hard feed in preparation for weaning into induction paddocks.

Pellets a ‘Game-Changer’ for Fat Lamb Production

“Strength and consistency – it sounds so simple but it’s imperative to a baker’s success,” confirms Neal Bassi, President of Manildra Group USA, about the naturally superior vitalising gluten from “the best wheat protein quality region in the world”.

“Our procurement expertise in the Australian NSW wheatbelt – well-known as the best wheat protein quality region globally – is supported by a long history of gluten production by Manildra Group, with technical resources and innovation centres worldwide,’ Mr Bassi said.

“A focus on wheat alone allows us to be the best.”

But it’s not just the world-class reputation of Australian wheat behind the global appetite for the vital wheat gluten. Manildra Group customers use the products to fortify a range of foods – from breads through to breakfast cereals, weight management bars and nutritional beverages, meat and egg powder replacement products, and feeds for fishing or pets.

“Australia was the first country in the world to commercially dry gluten,” said Manildra Group General Manager Peter Simpson. “We’re proud to continue this tradition by producing vital wheat gluten – a high-protein fine powder extracted from premium Australian wheat flour.”

Manildra Group produces vital wheat gluten and other premium proteins at the world’s largest wheat processing facility of its kind, in the regional NSW town of Nowra, where the most advanced industry technology produces the natural wheat protein (gluten) for a full range of tailored food applications.

As consumer demands and industry trends have evolved, so has Manildra Group USA – the Iowa manufacturing facility opened in 1994 remains unrivalled in its ability to create specialty valueadded products, including highly functional proteins and starches.

“Our customers get the highest quality and service on a day-to-day basis, each and every crop year,” said Mr Bassi.

“We’re renowned by bakers worldwide as setting the benchmark for the highest quality and most consistent vital wheat gluten.” – Neal Bassi, Manildra Group USA President

“Bakers select vital wheat gluten according to its ability to enhance flour quality, strength, elasticity and gas retention in dough, and to improve the texture of baked goods – and our product ticks every box.”

Mr Simpson said the vital wheat gluten perfected by Manildra Group was also exceptional in other applications, such as strengthening and as a texturiser, processing aid, stabiliser, water absorption, retention agent, thermosetting agent, and an agent for flavour and colour.

Mr Bassi said that consumer demand for cleaner and less processed foods provided “an opportunity for ingredient companies like Manildra Group to provide solutions through product development and innovation”.

“We’ve created a range of wheat protein isolates, customised to fit any application with versatility and unique functionality. In the past, wheat proteins were used solely for strength and texture – now our protein range adds firmness to pasta or acts as egg or cream replacements in bakery products.

“We are also offering an organic range – catering to the growing high-protein organic baked goods and plant-based meat industries,” said Mr Bassi.

Manildra Group’s ongoing program of investment in technology, to support collaboration with customers in pioneering product development, includes the 2017 construction of a specially designed Innovation and Research Centre in Leawood, in the North American state of Kansas. This supports the fully resourced Australian research and development facilities in Sydney, Melbourne, Manildra and Nowra.

Offering training and information sessions and quality-control monitoring, these facilities provide customers with world-class laboratories and a fully equipped bakery environment for a variety of purposes – from training and workshops with customers and sales teams to sensory panels on visual appeal, taste and texture.

Turbocharging an old station wagon really drove home the value of ethanol-enhanced fuels for the duo behind Mighty Car Mods, the world’s most-watched DIY online auto show.

Recently ranked among the most influential digital stars on the globe, Australian car enthusiasts Blair ’Moog’ Joscelyne and Marty Mulholland count some 2.8 million YouTube subscribers and up to 4.2 million monthly views for their handy and humorous demonstrations of at-home automotive improvements.

The pair first became fans of high-performance, ethanol-based fuels after nearly doubling the power of a 15-year-old Subaru by using E85 – a blend of 85 per cent ethanol and 15 per cent petrol.

Mr Mulholland said they picked up the stationwagon dubbed “Supergramps” for a couple of thousand dollars and “swapped the engine out for an EZ36, the biggest engine that Subaru makes”.

“Problem was, it was already super-high compression and we were going to turbocharge it,” he said.

“By using E85, we could raise the tuning headroom; adding more ignition timing and boost pressure – resulting in almost double the factory power of the original car with its original engine.”

From “filming videos on my mum’s driveway in 2008” to more than four million people watching every month, the duo recently ranked in the world’s top 12 digital influencers by Variety Magazine.

“We aim to empower our audience by teaching them skills they can use on their own cars, and regularly showcase projects they can do themselves on the weekend,” said Mr Mulholland.

“We often travel to different parts of the world, buy cars, and then road-trip them while exploring the local automotive culture.”

It was in the regional Australian town of Nowra, NSW, where the pair discovered the full potential of sustainable ethanol being produced locally at the biggest distillery in South East Asia, part of Manildra Group’s world-class Shoalhaven Starches facility.

Mr Mulholland said they were struck by the versatility of 100 per cent Australian ethanol for value-adding uses ranging from fuel to food and beverages and pharmaceuticals.

They were also surprised at how many Australian-made products used raw and refined materials made in the same plant that produces both household-grade and fuel-grade ethanol.

“There is always a lot of talk about future technologies, where they will take us and how clean they are,” Mr Mulholland said. “We’re excited about all of them, and one thing about renewables such as ethanol is that they are here, right now – we can create it from scratch in Australia, put it in a vehicle and go.

“One thing about renewables such as ethanol is that they are here, right now – we can create it from scratch in Australia, put it in a vehicle and go” – Marty Mulholland, Mighty Car Mods co-founder

“I’m a big fan of Australian-made and it’s great to add an Australian-made product to imported petrol to increase octane and improve performance.”

One of ethanol’s biggest benefits in fuel is octane – with E10 (a blend of 10 per cent ethanol and 90 per cent petrol) having a high-octane rating of 94.

“The E85 we often use is labelled at 107 octane, which gives you an idea how powerful the fuel is,” said Mr Mulholland.

“We often push the limits with engines, and E85 gives us the opportunity to get more power and better performance in our cars, just by switching fuel.

“The only other change required is to ensure the fuel system has the capacity to handle the extra fuel. You use more of it, but being a renewable resource, we’re happy with that.

“Once you’ve sampled how good E85 is in your car, it’s hard to go back to normal 98 octane petrol.

“When we travelled to the US to create our Subarute WRX – which we converted to run on E85 and filled up at fuel stations around California and Los Angeles – we got excellent power from the extra boost and timing we could cram into the engine.”

Mr Mulholland questioned “myths” around E10 being previously considered a lower-quality fuel, given its octane rating squarely in the middle of what is available and suitable for most cars.

“One of the issues with E85 in Australia is availability – it’s not at every pump so if you’re driving a car with a flex fuel system and want to use it, you have to plan your route. Luckily, I was able to find E85 from the Sunshine Coast in Queensland – where we built one of our cars – all the way back to Sydney, with a few small detours off the highway.”

Catch Mighty Car Mods on YouTube, Qantas in-flight entertainment, and regular events in major Australian cities.

Innovation and diversification go hand-in-hand toward the bottom-line sustainability of the Wood family’s mixed farming enterprise in NSW.

From their home base at Lilydale – a stone’s throw from Manildra Flour Mill – everyone in the family has a hand on the tiller in the business, started from scratch in 1973 by Grant and Carmen Wood.

“Having everyone involved in the business brings many different skills into the operation,” said the couple’s youngest son Alex – who with wife Kate, and brothers Luke with wife Belinda, and Angus with wife Andrea, take an intergenerational management approach to profit and efficiency.

Owning, leasing and share-farming a combined 1700 hectares, the Woods’ mixed cropping and livestock operation includes wheat, barley, oats, canola, legumes, seed crops, sheep and cattle.

Strong advocates for diversity within farming operations – particularly through disheartening dry seasons, as recently experienced – both Alex and Luke are also involved in agronomy contracting.

It was diversifying the family’s income stream off-farm that “forced us to look more closely at what drives profit in other agribusinesses,” Alex Wood told The Cultivator.

“Chasing big yields that cost you most of that yield is just increasing your risk for a diminishing return,” he said.

“Understanding what gives you the best return on investment, and what saves you on inputs while maintaining yield, are what drive profit. Some years that will involve pushing targets higher while other years, that will involve cutting costs.”

With fertiliser among their biggest input costs, Mr Wood said alternative ways of improving the properties’ fertility – such as legumes and other crops that increase soil organic matter– were “becoming rapidly of interest”.

He said while being flexible and realistic in yield targets was critical, “starting moisture in the soil profile has had a big influence” in their choice of crops and upfront input investment.

“We work more on what moisture we have stored in the soil; what the paddocks need agronomically,” he said.

“We also look at what feed we have for stock and adjust our dual-purpose crops to suit requirements for our livestock.

“Our crop diversity, combined with controlled traffic systems and zero till, have not just helped us stabilise yields and reduce costs, we’ve noticed an improvement in our soils’ organic matter – which has allowed us to catch and store more water for the crops, building more resilient cropping systems.”

Mr Wood said the refrain “if you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always got” was common in agriculture for good reason – but after two back-to-back bleak seasons, it was also worth considering when taking risks and trying new things, even with the smallest of decisions, he said.

“With our crop rainfall significantly down on average, and with the lower yields in 2017, we worked out there should have been enough nitrogen left in the system for a dry season and decided to leave top-dressing of nitrogen on some of our wheat until later in the season. We also dropped some of the canola acres and planted more grazing crops to help the livestock side of the operation.”

Mr Wood said while fertiliser rates had become more flexible and targeted at seasonal conditions or yield potential, the aim was to produce the high-protein wheat desired by end-users.

“And considering the season we’ve had, we were very lucky our wheat was in the top two grades,” he said.

“Being able to produce high-protein, high-quality wheat for Manildra Group – and the price that it demands – have been a great asset to our business. We are always keen to sell to Manildra Group as they are after local wheat and chasing quality wheat at harvest.

“Obviously having a local end-user literally a stone’s throw away also has its advantages with freight.

“Manildra Group is also an integral part of the local community, employing many local people and keeping the Manildra township vibrant and prosperous.

“As a family business, they are more in touch with what matters – keeping jobs and money in rural Australia – not just dumping our wheat into boats to send overseas instead of value-adding to keep profits here at home.”

While involvement with enterprises beyond their own has been a valuable resource for the Wood family, understanding the dynamics of their own operation and being willing to adopt new technology have also helped boost the bottom line.

“Investment in GPS technology has quickly paid for itself,” said Mr Wood.

“With our topography, we’ve changed from round-and-round-type farming to up-and-back tramlines, which has reduced many of the areas sown by up to 10 per cent.

“Slow-moving autonomous optical sprayers are also of interest, saving labour and inputs – perhaps sharing them among other businesses would also be beneficial in cost efficiencies.”

But while efficiency was “very important”, said Mr Wood, “don’t ever compromise the effectiveness of the job for it”.

“Efficiency can be tricky to understand. If you take spraying, for example, speed can contribute to good efficiency in more acres covered but if the job isn’t done properly, then the efficiency of time saved can be lost in the ineffective job done.”

Meanwhile, the Woods continue to make the most of family time that three generations are able to share together at home on their farm.

“I also enjoy walking through our crops and looking at the soil and how the paddocks change and come to life after rain events,” said Mr Wood. “I really get a kick out watching the crops develop in the different seasons, and seeing the change in our soils over the years. With the improvements we see from the changes in the farming practices, the soils appear to be more alive.”

Producers Who Inspire: The Wood Family Producers Who Inspire: The Wood Family

An “audacious ambition” to put a modern Australian whisky on every bar in the world began with a taste for craft beer back in 2004.

“I soon realised good beer doesn’t travel well and whisky, at its most basic, is distilled beer… and the idea for an iconic Australian whisky we can take to the world was born,” said David Vitale, who founded Australian whisky brand Starward in 2007.

“It was still early days in our appetite for all things craft, but it was really clear we could take it up to the international players with a product that was flavour-forward and stood for something.”

Breaking all the rules to create the distinctly Australian whisky range, the Starward team took “far more of a beer-making journey” in crafting their spirit, followed by “a wine-making approach to maturation” in only Australian barrels that were not re-charred, said Mr Vitale.

“This was new in the world of whisky when we began and still today, there are very few distilleries in the world able to lay claim to maturing whisky in locally sourced wine barrels for their entire maturation.

“It is one of the most vital aspects of our success – the ability to talk about sourcing our products from within a day’s drive of the distillery.”

Born and raised in Melbourne, Mr Vitale wanted to create a whisky that reflected his home city – from the famed microbrewing culture to the “four seasons in one day” climate.

“The inspiration comes from our amazing wine-makers, who have spent the past 30-plus years putting Australia on the map as a credible wine-making country,” he said.

“We want to do the same with whisky.

“So the ability to use Australian wine barrels to do that is such a privilege, and a nice tip-of-the-hat to their hard work in putting Australia on the global wine map. The interesting insight has been that having a diverse set of barrels actually creates light and shade in flavour, to be able to have consistency.”

With a passion for brewing and wine, Mr Vitale said Starward’s single malt and double grain whisky ranges were elementally matured for three “Melbourne years” – meaning the mercurial weather makes the barrels expand and contract more. This not only increases alcohol content – which would usually decline during whisky ageing – but “pushes the boundaries of what whisky can be”.

“We would not have Starward whisky without distinctly Australian ingredients,” said Mr Vitale.

“We really loved the work that Manildra Group was doing supporting the craft spirits scene with their 100 per cent Australian wheat-based spirit, and there was an opportunity to work together to produce a product that would support our ambition to be on every self-respecting bar in the world.

“Together, Manildra and Starward combine wheat and malted barley – the two quintessential Australian grains – to make an approachable and affordable Australian whisky.”

The result – Starward’s Two-Fold Australian whisky – was launched in November 2018.

But unlike almost every new release from Australian distillers, this whisky was not conceived as some super-rare and expensive, single barrel, single malt targeting connoisseurs and collectors.

Two-Fold is a double grain whisky with malted barley and Manildra Group’s wheat-based spirit, matured in Australian red wine barrels, for a beautifully balanced and incredibly versatile sipping whisky retailing at an affordable $65.

“Two-Fold’s launch was a huge moment in my professional life,” said Mr Vitale.

“Our ambition is simply audacious – a Starward whisky on every self-respecting bar in the world. “Two-Fold provides us with our best shot at achieving this ambition and – notwithstanding the 11 years it’s taken to get to this point – I get out of bed in the morning knowing we have a best-in-class whisky and a team in place to achieve this.”

Mr Vitale said that without Manildra Group, “Two-Fold would have been impossible to produce”.

“Consistency is king – particularly as we start to scale up and appeal to drinkers who have us in their sharing cabinet. They are seeking a familiar friend to return to,” he explained.

“The quality, consistency and sustainability of Manildra Group’s operation is in a league of its own in Australia. The whole team have been amazing to work with – from the first day we discussed our idea to our last order, they are practically an extension of our production team.”

Manildra Group Head of Ethanol Sales in Victoria, Jason Davis, welcomed Starward’s mission to democratise Australian whisky by making it more approachable and accessible.

“It’s terrific to support and work with like-minded, Australian-owned businesses such as Starward,” Mr Davis said.

“David Vitale and Andrew Macdonald have revolutionised the whisky industry in Australia – creating full-flavoured, distinctly Australian whisky of world-class quality and craftsmanship that can be enjoyed by everyday Australians.”

Mr Vitale said producing a single malt whisky (from malted barley alone) was “always going to inhibit our ability to fulfil our ambition” due to the scale and cost involved.

“Our view is, if we want to be an Australian icon one day, doing it from the top-shelf of the bar is a very long way to go about it. And that’s coming from a whisky maker who waits three years to bring a product to market,” he said.

“We felt having Starward available to people to try and buy without it breaking the bank was an important part of being a modern Australian whisky.”

The Starward distillery also offers experiences including tastings, masterclasses and other events.

“Story-telling is everything,” said Mr Vitale.

“Our job is to ensure we can share our own story anchored in the Australian ingredients and environment at our disposal to make our whisky.

They are the two things that set Starward apart in the world of whisky, and it’s important for us to celebrate that at every opportunity.”

Mr Vitale said there was plenty of support among the domestic craft distillers industry because “the success of one brand is the success of the industry”.

“I think the industry sees Two-Fold’s launch as a great first rung on people’s Australian whisky journey,” he said.

“My hope is others follow with affordable and approachable Australian whisky – especially in export markets, where we could benefit from building that section of the whisky shelf. It’s hard being a category of one product in those export markets.

“But the appetite for craft whisky continues to grow and the biggest challenge for the industry now is to keep up with demand.”

Mr Vitale said he hoped to work more with Manildra Group on Starward’s innovation pipeline.

“We are really happy with the two core products we have on offer – Nova and Two-Fold – and from time to time, we release limited-edition projects and bottled cocktails. Typically, they sell out online within hours, which is a nice place to be.”

The development of export markets – particularly the United States and United Kingdom – would be the focus for Starward’s future, said Mr Vitale.

“Whisky is a patient business,” he said. “The idea to make Starward was born in 2007, it took us until 2013 to launch our first bottle, and the whisky we are making this year won’t see the light of day until 2022.

“So the challenge of funding that start-up, and investment in growing inventory, never stops – there just seem to be more and more zeroes each year,” he said.

Starward’s Secret Puts Australian Whisky in the Cabinet Starward’s Secret Puts Australian Whisky in the Cabinet

Cows can’t compete with fish when it comes to the most sustainable food production for both people and our planet.

Requiring less bone for support in a weightless environment makes fish naturally more efficient than land animals at converting protein and energy into muscle – or meat we can eat.

The muscle-bone ratio also means a greater proportion of the whole fish ends up on our plate compared to livestock – for instance, we can eat almost two-thirds of a salmon compared to only about 40 per cent of the weight of cattle, or just over half a pig.

The imperative to do more with less coincides with warnings of forecast increases in global food production demand beyond the capacity of our planet’s agricultural land use potential.

And with more than 70 per cent of Earth’s surface covered by ocean, aquaculture – one of the oldest ways of producing food as well as one of the most efficient — offers arguably our most sustainable source of animal protein.

All of which make what we feed our farmed fish crucial.

With an industry-leading team of scientists and specialists in fish and prawn health, nutrition and feed production technology, Skretting Australia formulates high-performance feeds for Australian Atlantic salmon, New Zealand Chinook salmon, barramundi, rainbow trout, yellowtail kingfish, abalone and prawn aquaculture industries.

“We formulate our fish feed to provide all the correct nutrients in protein, fat, carbohydrate, vitamins and minerals,” said Melissa Abbott, Tasmanian-based General Manager of the global feed supplier in Australia.

“A critical part of our feed formulations, wheat gluten is a great source of amino acids, which are the basic building blocks to form proteins.”

With a shared commitment to sustainable food production and regional manufacturing industries, Australian family-owned Manildra Group supplies Skretting with locally produced gluten and starches to manufacture nutritious and sustainable aquaculture feed for healthy and delicious Australian fish and prawns.

Manildra Group Accounts Manager Adam Armstrong said there was great potential in Australia’s diverse and thriving aquaculture industry.

One of the fastest-growing primary industries in Australia, aquaculture production has more than doubled since 2006/07 due to Tasmania’s salmon industry.

With Skretting already a world-leading producer of prawn feed, Mrs Abbott said the company looked forward to “exciting market opportunities in Australia for the barramundi and prawn industries”.

“Although these markets account for a smaller proportion of our feed supply, we are actively working with our customers to ensure that feeds maximise production potential and deliver quality and sustainable products for the end-consumer,” she said.

Mrs Abbott said consumer demand for safe, healthy and delicious seafood made “trustworthy, high-quality fish and prawn feeds a prerequisite” for the aquaculture industry.

“Our intention is to source the best possible raw materials for our feed requirements, and our preference is to source from Australia to support regional growers and producers,” she said.

“It’s integral that the raw materials have desired quality specifications which ensure that we manufacture consistent high-quality feeds, and Manildra Group’s range of products perfectly suit these formulation requirements.”

Operating in Australia for more than 25 years, Skretting has also improved feed conversion in aquaculture systems through programs with customers, to prevent feed being wasted.

“We’ve developed advanced feeds that optimise the use of nutrients for fish growth, rather than waste,” Mrs Abbott said. “Our feeds are also highly digestible so more of the feed is converted to the fish, and less is lost to the environment.”

Mr Armstrong said Manildra Group had spent seven decades perfecting extraction of 100 per cent of the grain of wheat – producing value-added products such as gluten and starches that go into Skretting’s aquaculture feeds.

Mrs Abbott said procuring raw ingredients locally had the added supply benefits of high-quality consistent product and logistic efficiencies, including short delivery times to Skretting’s manufacturing site in Tasmania, with more than 70 employees.

With the rapid growth of the industry, the challenge for Skretting Australia is to develop feed solutions that keep pace with market demand for protein, and an evolving production system.

Mrs Abbott said responsible procurement was an important tool for Skretting to meet demands.

“We only source raw materials from responsible suppliers, who must sign our code of conduct detailing our social and environmental expectations – and they are regularly audited,” she said.

“Another of our priorities is identifying and evaluating new raw materials, to avoid over-reliance on any one ingredient.

“Understanding the nutritional requirements of our target aquaculture species and the nutritional profile of raw materials, and a robust research and development program, facilitate this evaluation process.

“As a leading supplier of these feeds, and an essential link in the feed-to-food chain, Skretting has also embedded strong quality assurances and controls into its organisational structure – with all our feed ingredients approved under the Australian stockfeed and pet food regulations, governed by the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority.”