In today’s competitive market it is essential for small business to find avenues to add value to their operations to be profitable and sustainable. With 30% of food produced on farms being thrown out before it leaves the farm, value adding is a perfect way to utilise this waste and reduce food waste.

Diversification of Crops

One effective way we found to add value to our small operation is by diversifying the range of crops we grow. At Lakeland Produce we grow papaya, passionfruit, limes and bananas along with smaller amounts of other seasonal fruits and vegies for our preserves. This provides us with a range of seasonal fresh products that can be harvested all year round.

As organic farmers we harvest our crops every week of the year, rain or shine. Our papaya, bananas, passionfruit and limes are sorted, packed and then transported to market. With each crop there is always unmarketable fruit that is perfectly edible but does not meet the requirements for the market. Unmarketable produce is fruit with too many marks on the skin, is too ripe or is too big. This produce is still edible and perfect for making preserves or drying.

It is very discouraging as a farmer to work so hard every day and not be able to sell your produce because it is not the right size or has too many marks on the skin. Value adding provides avenues to use and sell this fruit and for us this is most rewarding. To be able to turn what is considered a waste product into a delicious condiment that we have hand made is what gives us the strength and optimism to continue farming.

Value-added processing

Value adding in agriculture is the process of transforming raw agricultural products into more valuable and desirable products for consumers, processors, and retailers. It provides some certainty in the return of your produce. As organic farmers we have no control over what we are paid for our fresh produce. By creating value added products we can make a return on unmarketable produce and have some certainty on our returns.

The journey of producing our organic value added products is still evolving. 

Up until now with the help of FNQ Food Incubator,  we have tweaked our recipes, learnt alot about food processing, food safety, labelling and business planning. 

We achieved organic certification with Southern Cross Certified for processing of our jams, chutneys, sauces and dried products and we have council approval of our processing kitchen. The cooking and bottling is the fun part.

Once we have harvested and sorted our fruit we take the not so perfect fruit to the kitchen for processing. Because we harvest every week of the year we produce our preserves in small batches. The fruit is hand peeled, diced and cooked with other organic ingredients to create our delicious range of preserves. Once cooked to perfect temperature and consistency it is sealed into sterilized jars, allowed to cool and then the labels are applied.  Our dried fruits are sliced and dehydrated in low heat dehydrators for 8-10 hours. The dried fruit is then weighed and packaged into sealed pouches ready for deliveries.

Living in a remote area means we have to think ahead and order our jars and other ingredients ahead of time to be stored on the farm so we have them available when we are ready to cook and bottle our products. Delivery of goods can take anywhere from one to two weeks because of distance and weather. We have learnt to live with the challenges and enjoy our farming life.

By transforming our raw organic farm produce into a range of packaged goods we can reduce food waste and provide a quality product with a longer shelf life that is available all year round for our customers.

Our value added organic preserves and dried fruit can be used in a variety of ways in cooking, flavouring, decorating and they also make the perfect gift. Everyone loves homemade local preserves especially when they are naturally grown without chemicals and preservatives.

To create a product that is healthy for you and the environment is rewarding in itself and to know that we are not wasting food is an added benefit.

Value adding to our small farm business requires a combination of true commitment, innovation,sustainability and community engagement. By diversifying our crops, and exploring the value-added process we have been able to build resillience for long term success in a competitive market and create a premium product that is genuinely healthy for you, the environment and our community.