As our customer base grows and diversifies, My Local Foodie is committed to providing the best quality products to suit our client’s needs and when it comes to cakes we have teamed up with Armadale Cakes, Illy’s Good Taste and Terry’s Tortes to only provide the best.
 
All three suppliers have been leaders in the market for many years and as producers of homemade, upmarket cakes they know their sweet things. Every order placed is made to order. Freezing is not an option. From the very first step to the very last, each ingredient is lovingly put together to produce the very best product available.

All suppliers offer our clients something different depending on what they are looking for. In our opinion if you are after great petit fours then Armadale Cakes makes it an excellent choice for any premium function and with generous individual cake sizing their product is a fitting choice to include on any restaurant dessert menu.  But if it’s a lemon meringue you are after then you really cannot go past Terry’s Tortes, it is his
No. 1 selling product and in blind tastings often comes out favorite. If it is high quality at a reasonable price then Illy’s Good Taste is a great alternative with generous individual cake sizing and quality slab cake options on offer.

With ever increasing dietary requirements, flourless, gluten free, nut free and dairy free options are available and they still pack that sweet punch.

The large product range means there is a cake, slice, tart or treat to suit every taste.

And as regular taste testers of all our sweet products we are known only the best product reaches our clients.

With such a great team in place we thought it is the perfect time for you to get to know us a little.

First up, is our snappily dressed and suave Sales Manager Anthony Wollstein.

As the newest member of the My Local Foodie team, Anthony is responsible for assisting the needs of our current clients and for generating new business.

Anthony is regularly out and about visiting clients, with a goal to improve business for all involved.

He is always available and happy to address any issues or questions related to the Cost-i-mator, service or supply.  With Anthony’s knowledge of all areas of My Local Foodie’s systems he can walk you through anything you need to know.

Anthony hails from the north of the country. This is where his love for the food industry began, crawling the floor of his parents bistro, literally.

While his love for hospitality and food never wavered, his effervescent personality and ability to immediately put people at ease meant he was destined for a career in sales and it is in sales that he found his passion.

Anthony loves sales because he loves people. He is always keen to listen to another point of view and always striving for a win-win situation. He enjoys the hurdles that come with the industry and thrives on finding a solution.

In his downtime Anthony loves dining out. He enjoys catching up with friends at a quiet bar and cooking up a storm for family and friends but Sunday morning is ‘Anthony’ time.

You will find him reading the paper; enjoying a steaming hot coffee and watching the world go by.
In his own words, Anthony is honest, loyal and disciplined. We love having him around and we are sure you will too!!!

Over fifty years ago two young fishing boat operators, Peter Rockliff and Una Barnett, fell in love and married. Combining their names with a passion for the fishing industry, Petuna was born. Today both are still on the Petuna board and continue to have hands-on involvement in the day to day running of their business. 
  Take the beautiful Southern Ocean, a current annual production in the vicinity of 3,000 tonnes of Ocean Trout and Atlantic Salmon and a commitment to excellence and it’s easy to see why Petuna was awarded the Champion Medal for Ocean Trout at the prestigious 2011 Sydney Fine Food Spring Agriculture Competition.

Like so many of our producers, Petuna are constantly thinking about the environment and the impact they have on it.
From their deep-sea auto-longlife fishing vessel, the Petuna Endeavour, to the East Davenport processing plant the wholesale and retail network is monitored every step of the way.
This is great for the environment and great for us.

Specialists handpick each fish they use. If a fish doesn’t look right or isn’t the right colour it will be rejected, meaning only a top quality product reaches our clients.

Recently aquaculture has consistently been the world’s fastest expanding food production industry and Petuna has been investigating and investing in it since 1990. With a 50 per cent share in a salmon and trout hatchery at Cressy, a water lease and sea cage operation in Macquarie Harbour and the processing Factory in Davenport, Petuna understands the importance of responsible fish farming. This was made evident in 2004 when both Peter and Una Rockcliff were awarded an order of Australia Medal for their contribution to the fishing industry. 

To get a better understanding of their operations, My Local Foodie recently took a trip to Tasmania and visited Petuna. After being taken on an extensive tour we were left with little doubt they are at the top of their industry. If there is one thing Tasmania has a lot of its space and all those visiting were impressed by the enormity of the state of the art facilities.

Tasmanian’s pride themselves of being self-motivated and like us are always looking for new ways to improve product quality and customer satisfaction. With this in mind we can’t wait for our next visit to Tassie and for what Petuna will have to offer.

After finding the ideal location at 546 City Road, South Melbourne, the space was invaded by a team of workers. It took them around six weeks to transform what was an old T Shirt factory into the new My Local Foodie offices.

Walls were erected, partitioned work stations organised and bathrooms built. In a vacant corner a fully operational commercial kitchen sprung to life. Add an enormous central table, capable of seating up to sixteen and you have the perfect setting for visiting chefs, suppliers, producers and clients.

We love the splash of colour and light created by the atrium. Not only does it flood the office with sunshine and natural light, it is the perfect place to grow our vertical herb garden.              

This bright, open and modern space makes the perfect home for our relaxed and approachable team!!!
We look forward to welcoming you for a visit soon.

Some of you might be familiar with Anthony from his days as the Victorian Sales Manager at M & J Chickens.

Anthony's role is to make sure all our clients are satisfied and resolve any issues that may arise.  

If you have any enquires feel free to give Anthony a call.

In 1999 an innovative and dedicated group of beef producers started Gippsland Natural Beef. Set amongst the lush green undulating paddocks of Victoria’s Gippsland region, it’s all natural, flavoursome grass fed products carry the Meat Standards Australia (MSA) Tenderness Guarantee.

Since its conception Gippsland Natural Beef have set the benchmark for cattle producers. No artificial growth-promoting hormones and healthy well fed livestock allowed to roam free and carefully managed to minimise stress have guaranteed a top quality product. Their success in the beef industry has been widely recognized. These efforts include recently winning the best MSA - Grass Fed Beef Award at the Royal Melbourne Show Fine Food Awards.

A strong alliance with Tassie Fine Foods who distribute thier product, has guaranteed that Gippsland Natural Beef not only produce great tasting beef but ensure that thier customers are serviced in an efficient and professional manner.

My Local Foodie recently caught up with Director of Gippsland Natural Beef Paul Crook to chat about the importance of delivering a great tasting product and what it takes to be a market leader.

What is it about Gippsland Natural Beef that makes it special?

Gippsland Natural Beef is beef produced from farms that care about what they are doing both in raising the cattle and looking after the farm environment. Most importantly they care how the end customer will appreciate their meal.

While the story behind the produce and the producer links is great, unless the eating quality is there, the story means little.

Gippsland Natural Meat uses the tenderstretch method to further enhance the eating quality experience making

What are the main factors affecting beef eating quality?

There are many factors that influence beef eating quality. This starts at the farm level with issues such as nutrition, genetics, breed, animal management and the use of hormonal growth promotants. Nutrition and animal management are two critical points that directly impact on eating quality. Using HGPs has a negative impact on the tenderness of beef.

Age and sex of the animals are important, however older animals can still produce tender and more flavoursome beef if the nutrition has been good over their lifetime.

At time of dispatch, transport and animal management to minimise stress is critical to ensure the carcasses will meet the tough MSA standard.

Once the carcass is hanging, hang method is important. The traditional hang method is by the achilles tendon. If a carcass is hung via the aich-bone (tenderstreching) it will make a considerable difference in eating quality across a number of different premium meat cuts.

PH in the carcass is critical in understanding how the meat will perform in the chiller.

Correct fat cover on a carcass also contributes to eating quality in so far as how the carcass will hang in a chiller.

Ageing or hanging of meat has a direct correlation to eating quality. The argument about dry-aging versus vacuum packing is relevant, however does impact on shelf life and yield and hence end price.

Why do you think your beef has been so popular?

The quality of the beef speaks for itself. Starting with excellent livestock and genetics, utilizing the MSA grading system we can provide a consistent product week-in week-out.

Consumers are now becoming more aware about provenance, are starting to ask more questions about where their food comes from. Grass fed or grain fed? Is it ethically produced? Who has produced the meat? Is it local?

Gippsland Natural Meats can provide all these answers from paddock to plate in a professional and transparent manner.

By joining together as a group of producers, we can manage the supply to ensure a reasonable volume of available product.

By using the MSA grading system we are able to provide a consistent quality throughout the year avoiding the seasonal uncertainties of grass-fed beef. (Carcasses which do not meet the MSA grading criteria – ie boning groups 1-6 – and we do have cattle that don’t grade - are not sold under the brands).

How do you ensure consistency?

It is very important to Gippsland Natural beef that all the producers supplying beef adhere to strict guidelines to ensure quality

• Properties must be located somewhere in the Gippsland region of Victoria (from the Mornington Peninsula through to Orbost).

• Cattle must be raised free-range in a pasture based production system.

• Producers must be trained, understand and licensed under the Meat Standards Australia system so they are aware of their requirements to produce cattle that will meet the stringent MSA grading process.

• Enviromeat suppliers are required to have an Enviromeat Environmental Management System in place on their farms. This is a rigorous EMS compliant with ISO 14001.

• Producers are not permitted to use Hormonal Growth Promotants or prophylactic antibiotics.

• Producers with Enviromeat accreditation can have their product sold under both Enviromeat and Gippsland Natural brands, however Gippsland Natural Beef producers cannot supply cattle for the Enviromeat brand.

Combining the care they take with their cattle and a dedication to producing the best possible product Gippsland Natural Beef are the driving force in Victoria behind quality beef. A desire to see their brand proudly displayed on menus in leading restaurants and in other food service sectors means that the consumer will benefit from the care, effort and attention that goes into producing Gippsand Natural Beef.

Our four premium beef brands; Hopkins River Beef, Gippsland Natural Meats, Collinsons Black Angus and Condabri convened at our South Melbourne office to present the very best they have to offer to some of Melbourne’s leading chefs.

With over 150 samples of premium meat on offer and the grill in overdrive there wasn’t a disappointed person in sight.

A selection of sausages, burgers and differenct cuts of beef including Rump, Porterhouse, Scotch, T bone, Rib Eye & Eye fillet were all showcased.

Each and every product impressed our guests and cemented the excellence of our local producers.

With a table laden with Ferrarelle Mineral Water, Schwob’s Swiss Bakery bread and with an impressive cheese platter supplied by Gippsland Cheese Co. & Hellenic Cheese ensured that every person over indulged on great quality products.

My Local Foodie understands the importance of knowing where your produce has come from and takes great pride in being able to provide clients with the option to promote and support producers who participate in sustainable food and farming practices.

As part of our Premium Beef Tasting Session our four premium brands spoke to the group about their life on the land and their commitment to delivering the best possible product from paddock to plate.

From Hopkins River’s ‘Carbon Footprint’ to each brands commitment to their product and the care that is taken with the cattle and the land is testament to the level of excellence of our farmers and producers.

With happy guests and the kitchen all cleaned, My Local Foodie would like to thank;
Adam North & David Maconochie from Hopkins River Beef
Paul Crock from Gippsland Natural Meats
Greig Keily from Collinsons Black Angus
David Larkin from Condabri Meats
Daniel Hansen from Tassie Fine Foods and
Paul DeBortoli & Judy Fitzmauice  - Tip Top Butchers
For taking part and supporting My Local Foodie.

Completing the picture is director and business partner of Hopkins River Beef Adam North. Adam is passionate about his product and the care that’s put into it and when My Local Foodie recently visited this scenic countryside we asked him what it is about Hopkins River Beef that sets it apart.

What makes Hopkins River Beef unique?

It’s still very much a hands on family run business. We monitor the meat every step of the way from the way the cattle are treated to being present in the abattoir. Our two tiered product range which includes grass fed and grain fed cattle, enables us to produce the best tasting beef.
Grass Fed system: Cattle are grown and finished on rich pastures before reaching the ideal specifications for high quality grass fed beef. Grain Fed system: Cattle are grown on rich pastures for up to 18 months before being finished on grain to complete the ideal combination of beef flavour and consistency.

You have a reputation for taking great care of your cattle. Why is this important?

We raise our cattle with an emphasis on complete dietary nutritional requirements. All our cattle are free from added hormone treatments and we handle them in a manner which minimises stress and this also assists in eating quality.

Why do you think Hopkins River Beef continues to be so successful?

Something that sets Hopkins River Beef apart is our focus on promoting healthy aspects of agriculture. Our ‘Beef Carbon Footprint’ which involves re using a waste material (cattle manure), recycling it into a nutrient dense humus fertiliser for pastures, thus reducing the net emissions by improving soil carbon levels, shows consumers our commitment to not only producing a top quality product but protecting the environment.

Victorian producers work long and hard to create their produce and it is great that restaurants are recognising this and supporting them. Our brand is now being identified not only for its reputation of quality and consistency, but also for its environmental credentials. Our ‘carbon hoofprint’ has made a huge difference in our farming sustainability.

What is your long term goal for the business?

As a company our goal is to deliver a high quality and consistent product from paddock to plate. Our vision is to create and deliver a product that remains constant to our goals, bringing excellence to our customers that meets and exceeds expectations. Furthermore, we endeavour on flexibility to change and innovation to sustain integrity our resolve.

A combination of product quality and professional service has seen the business continue to expand with an average annual turnover of between 12,000 and 14,000 cattle. At Hopkins River Beef managing the environment goes hand in hand with managing the business. With a focus on consistency and quality this Victorian treasure continues to become a household name.

Alex's passion for food and his skills with the Cost-i-mator make him the perfect fit at My Local Foodie.

Alex will be working closely with chefs helping them cost out great recipes and menus.