OLD Beach Berries is one of the latest agriculture and tourism operations that have been improving their business through Seedlab programs.
Cathryn Maloney and David Wareing purchased Old Beach Berries in 2019, making the short trip across the River Derwent from Glenorchy to their new 6ha property.
Since then, they have begun to shape the farm and orchard towards their vision.
Avoiding the use of chemical sprays for weeds and their fruit, Old Beach Berries is aiming to establish itself as a well-known organic orchard less than 20 minutes from the Hobart city centre.
“One of our selling points in getting people here is being a local, organic farm.
It is something we’ve been working on and developing through Seedlab, to come and experience our story and our brand.”
The farm has also opened as workplace for people who may have difficulty accessing work.
The farm typically produces approximately 5.5 tonnes of blueberries in a season as well as cherries and some olives.
The majority of the produce across the summer picking season is sold frozen from the farm gate, a move that came about from a sort of happy accident.
“In our first season, as we did our first big pick, we had our freezer malfunction overnight and freeze all our fresh berries, but it turned out people loved it, so we’ve done it deliberately this year,” Ms Maloney said.
Already selling eggs from their heritage-breed chickens to visitors, the couple believe future of Old Beach Berries lies in customers engaging in the picking and the cooking of produce from the farm.
“We’re going to put in a commercial kitchen to make baked goods, and ultimately have a café where we can sell our value-added pro