Cheese Berry Wine
SACE Word is derived from art
which is a creative concept; No machines so not standardised; Versus machinery, where there is no human input;
Evolving cheese around differences in milk; Creating, experimenting all the time
It’s basically a perception; … a lot of Tasmanian products sell the perception that it’s cuddly, cute, friendly, home-made product, so, rightly or wrongly we all say it…
Wine making is an art as well as a science (website); Goal to be producers of hand-crafted wines, rather than alcohol beverage producers; Five generations of Lubiana family winemaking; “creative core”
ESACE Hand-made;
Machine versus hand cutting marinated fetta squares; Cheese making is an art; 100 gram units of cheese each handled ten times before gets to customer.
Unsure of definition; and then asked if hand- made versus mechanised and answer yes
A good winemaker puts art into the science of
winemaking;
Science can’t tell you that (e.g. how long to leave it in wooden barrels)
“Producers of hand-crafted wines” rather than large quantity beverage producers; the cap on production so another winemaker was not required; and, the need to employ extra staff because their business operations are more hands-on/manual-based were all mentioned by the Wine SACE during the interview.
The hand-made component was most evidenced in the Cheese ESACE products by the fact that each 100 gram unit of cheese is handled ten times before it is sent out of the factory. A factory tour revealed fetta squares being hand-cut by employees, rather than the use of machines/production lines. The mentioning of problems getting trained cheese makers who knew how to do more than push buttons (as is the case in the larger factories) aligns with the hands-on component. In reference to the art form component, the female principal stated the need to work around differences and the unknown in the raw product:
when you’re processing your own milk you know exactly what you’re doing and what the milk will do and how it changes at different times of the year, so it becomes a little bit more tricky when you’re buying bulk milk from different areas.
For the Berry ESACE, defining artisanal was difficult. When asked if they were hand-made, rather than using mechanisation, the answer was “oh yeah”. Their on-site kitchen resembles a home kitchen with no production lines or mechanisation. This was supported by the male
principal stating that they did not have the facilities to gain economies of size in their on- site kitchen. Alternatively, the fruit wines and liqueurs are made off-site by the contract winemaker. It was explained that there was a significant amount of experimentation and fine tuning (by both the wine maker and the ESACE principals), which demonstrates the level of human input and creative aspect. The principal of the Wine ESACE emphasised that he is “heavily involved in the wine making process” and referred to himself as “executive wine maker”.
The Cheese SACE produces the raw agricultural product, processes and packages on-site. They even hand built the straw bale milking shed/dairy. There is a small amount of distribution to Hobart, which they do themselves, but the majority is sold to the tourism establishment, which is then on-sold at the farm gate to the customer. Having previous business experience, they, for the most part, handle business activities themselves.
The Berry SACE also grows and processes the raw agricultural produce themselves. However, because of the difficulty of farm gate, their product is sold to a large number of retail outlets around the state. For the Wine SACE producing and processing the raw agricultural produce is an integral part of producing a quality product. They do, however, buy in grapes as a “security” measure; in case they lose their crop (for example, due to frost). They sell nationally and internationally and have a number of distributors. During the interview, the prior employment of a “marketing person” was referred to, and, as mentioned previously, they do have more employees than the other two SACEs.
In 2003, the Cheese ESACE sold their farm. Whilst still in possession of their farm they had 200 goats and were sourcing from six other local farms. Now all milk is sourced off-farm. Despite a number of employees, the principals work full-time in the business and are still heavily involved in product development and innovation (whilst interviewing an employee came out a couple of times to ask for the female principal’s opinion). They employ a graphic artist (for labels and website) and since expansion they have a distributor for the Northern Tasmania region and the Hobart region.
contract winemaker. The product is distributed to fourteen retail outlets around Tasmania. The website was developed by an external contractor. Packaging and labelling for their on- site products is done in their kitchen.
The Wine ESACE produces all the grapes that they process (i.e. from both the Glenora and Cambridge sites). A contract winemaker is responsible for processing and they have distributors for the eastern cities of Australia and overseas. By comparison, this ESACE employs significantly more employees than the other two ESACEs, with eighteen full-time employees and over 100 casuals. The male principal is the Managing Director and the business employs a Restaurant/Functions Manager and a Marketing Manager. Having said this though, the principal is very involved in the business.
Authenticity
As authenticity is a central concept of the study, the principals were asked to define the term. The Cheese SACE stated that is meant “true to stereotype”. This can then be linked back to their self-categorisations and descriptors such as “hand-made”, “boutique”, “hands- on”, and “evolving cheeses around the milk”; reinforcing self identification with the cottage industry and artisanal labels.
For the Berry SACE, the idea of an authentic food product is that the product is what it is reported to be. That is, instead of a jam having more sugar than fruit (having mentioned a larger enterprise’s products); it has more fruit than sugar. The principals explained, “we’re selling on our fruit, you know, on the flavour of our fruit, the naturalness of jams.”
“Care”, “soul”, “naturalness”, “as quality as possible” were all descriptors used when explaining what makes the Wine SACE’s product authentic. The female principal stated a couple of times in the interview that different people have different perceptions in relation to a number of issues, such as authenticity.