A PASSION for local food and a simple belief that they should eat what they grow was what led a farmer from Merredin to start her own granola brand using oats grown on the farm.
Estelle Madaffari, alongside her husband Paul, started Merre Granola in 2020 as a way of harnessing all of the incredible produce, including their own, which is grown in Western Australia.
Oats have been growing in WA for more than 100 years and on average, 650,000 tonnes are now produced each year in the Merredin region which is predominantly shipped overseas.
As someone who was passionate about local produce and good food for her family, it was frustrating for Ms Madaffari to see so much of it getting exported and knowing that they weren't eating their own grain.
"My aim was simple - to offer a quality, handmade breakfast cereal celebrating Western Australia in just one bowl of golden goodness," Ms Madaffari said.
"To make our granola, we take freshly rolled Wheatbelt oats, Wheatbelt honey, premium nuts from the South West, olive oil from the Great Southern, chia seeds from the Kimberley and hemp from the Vasse region.
"On occasions, good quality substitutes are sourced within Australia, but by using premium fresh ingredients from fellow farmers in our State, you can really taste the difference."
The idea was originally formed in mid-2019 and took almost 12 months to come to fruition.
The majority of that time was spent developing the recipes, with a lot of trial and error over the course of six to eight months involved in making them commercially viable.
To help with that process, Ms Madaffari employed a food consultant, who she accessed through the AgriStart program, which helped her to balance the flavours and produce a range of products.
Now, there are three different products available - farmhouse blend, original beauty and overnight oats.
The first consists of toasted freshly-rolled Wheatbelt oats with pecan, walnut, pistachio, chia seed, honey and cinnamon.
Original beauty is similar, minus the nuts and with a larger addition of a hint of vanilla, while the overnight product, which is more aligned with current trends, contains raw rolled oats with chia seeds and hemp hearts which make it an excellent choice for a high protein, high fibre breakfast or snack.
Developing a brand, logo and packaging which represented the product and its WA origins was also a key focus for Ms Madaffari.
"Surprising to some, wrens are not just found in the Great Southern, but in fact across the State including the blue-breasted fairy-wren right in our backyard of Merredin," she said.
"Just like Merre's golden bird, the wren, our ingredients are also found right across all regions of WA.
"Through illustration, the brand also captures WA wildflowers, breathtaking sunsets and the oat plant from our region reflecting its beauty, uniqueness and its food produce."
For the first six months, Ms Madaffari hired a kitchen in Merredin which allowed her to get the first products out on the market.
However, that wasn't sustainable long-term so she started looking at other options both around town and onfarm.
With building regulations being quite restrictive, the decision was made to buy and kit out a trailer as it also provides the flexibility to go to events.
That trailer now includes a commercial oven and mixer, as well as a filling and sealing machine, with more than two tonnes of oats having been processed.
"We sell the oats to a reputable grain processing facility in Perth, they sell it back to us rolled and from there I source all the other individual ingredients," Ms Madaffari said.
"I cook up one big batch a month onfarm, in the trailer, and package that up.
"From there it is distributed to over 30 outlets including cafes, hospitality venues and retail stores both in Perth and throughout regional WA plus online direct sales through the website."
While the granola business has become her passion, Ms Madaffari is a farmer first and foremost and runs the farm alongside her husband.
It's a mixed operation with sheep for wool and meat production, along with an extensive cropping program which includes wheat, canola, lupins, triticale and of course, oats.
"Specifically, we grow Bannister and the Bilby variety of oats depending on the season, the paddock and soil conditions," Ms Madaffari said.
"However, we'd really love to be part of further research into determining which variety is best for breakfast cereal."
For her part, Ms Madaffari looks after anything office-related which includes the books, health and safety policies and most critically of late, human resources.
She is in charge of all of the hiring and sourcing of farm staff which has been very challenging and has had an obvious flow-on effect to the granola business.
Ms Madaffari said the ag industry was suffering with limited access to a labour force impacting both of our businesses.
"In addition, regional towns are diminishing and COVID has certainly added further strain onto the industry," she said.
"Our once reliant backpacker labour is now in very short supply, with them having higher expectations on wages and working conditions but only bringing limited skills onto farms.
"It's simply not sustainable for business prosperity and while there is some hope with sponsorship opportunities, that's another long process."
However, that's not stopping her from pursuing business growth and demand certainly isn't slowing down.
In fact it has only increased, especially after the exposure it garnered having won the Best Regional Start Ups Exhibit award at the Dowerin GWN7 Machinery Field Days last year.
Ms Madaffari said the retail market for granola was saturated and she was still trying to figure out where she fits.
"There's an upward trend in local food and people wanting to know the story of where what they're eating has come from," she said.
"Our unique selling point is that we're like no other as it's all local ingredients, but that does obviously attract a price premium.
"However, we're getting repeat customers and that's really exciting and tells me we're on the right track."
Looking to the future, Ms Madaffari wants to expand more into the tourism industry as it's the perfect way to showcase the fantastic food that comes out of WA.
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