The great news is Australians are strong supporters of small businesses. According to a recent Fiverr report, six of ten Australians report they would support a small business over a larger company for the same purchase. The disruption of 2020 has pushed buying local, with 97% of respondents saying they will continue this habit into 2021. It seems connections to local neighbourhoods have strengthened. We have certainly been grateful for a huge lift in online sales, our version of "buying local"!

Talking of support, we are asking for a favour - we need your VOTE!

We are thrilled to be a finalist in the Back to Business initiative with Kochie Business Builders (in partnership with Yellow Online and eBay). There are some great businesses sharing their tips for getting back to business in 2021. We hope you will vote for the Garlicious Grown tip, as the prize is a fantastic opportunity to be featured on KBB TV aired nationally on Channel 7.

Please go to https://www.kochiesbusinessbuilders.com.au/back-to-business/ You can see the Garlicious Grown back to business tip and then further down the page vote for us. Just a little tip, click the circle above the Garlicious Grown image then enter your email address to validate your vote. Thanks in advance for your support!

We have chatted previously about the opportunity we have as part of the Farmers2Founders program. We are now alumni (very posh we know) and still benefiting from their tremendous support. The latest is featuring in their case study program, detailed on their website here. The image is from a Pitch Night held in Melbourne at the end of the formal F2F program. All the involved businesses (food and agritech) pitched their business opportunities to a keen audience. 
Our business coaches at F2F continue to link us up with industry experts, opening doors that have initially appeared "very closed". We are exploring the use of black garlic as an ingredient (developing a larger scale supply channel as part of our artisan business). Hard work may pay dividends, but it certainly helps to have friends with great contacts! - thanks F2F.

Excited to be welcomed into the family of the World Black Garlic Association based in the Amori prefecture in Japan. This followed on our participation in the World Black Garlic summit this year and marks a great end to a terrific year. We look forward to doing more in Japan and learning from the excellent standards of black garlic produced there. Thanks Mari for facilitating our connection.

Thrilled to be one of 10 innovative and inspiring businesses from across Australia that have been hailed ‘Regional Online Heroes’ in the annual competition run by the Regional Australia Institute (RAI) and Google Australia. 
The Regional Online Heroes competition recognises small to medium sized businesses who have successfully expanded beyond traditional bricks and mortar, using the internet to grow nationally and in some cases internationally. 
Super exciting to be able to attend Google headquarters Sydney for a Masterclass and individual consultation on our digital approach to business.   Cocktails on Sydney Harbour sounds fine too.
Thanks to RAI and Google, along with our families, friends, customers and colleagues. This will certainly be the office Christmas outing! 

Thrilled to let you know our black garlic cloves have been awarded a gold medal with 94.67 points of 100! We entered as part of the overall Regional Foods part of the competition featuring 23 classes. Our score was the highest in any class of this part of the competition and we feel is a true endorsement of the quality of our black garlic. 
​Our smoked garlic powder also scored a silver medal which was terrific too. The new packaging is working well on retailer's shelves and we are grateful for all the support from fellow garlic growers, retailers and food service buyers. 

We are thrilled to be part of this announcement: we were awarded two gold medals in the recent Sydney Royal Fine Food Awards, one for our Rosemary and Black Garlic Powder and one for our plain Black Garlic Powder. The announcement below from the RAS highlights the strong competition - of 1500 entrants 99 gold medals were awarded and we got two! Thanks to all our retailers, supporters and families.

From the RAS on 26th September 2016:
Congratulations to our Sydney Royal Winners!
Last Friday evening, The Royal Agricultural Society (RAS) of NSW celebrated quality, innovation and excellence in agriculture. We proudly acknowledged the achievements of Australian commercial producers in the Callebaut Sydney Royal Chocolate Show, the Sydney Royal Spring Fine Food Show and the Sydney Royal Beer & Cider Show.

These competitions offer producers the opportunity to benchmark themselves within the industry, encourage excellence and reward those who achieve it.

More than 1500 exhibits were judged across the Shows, and we awarded 41 Champions with a coveted Sydney Royal Medal and a further 99 Gold, 366 Silver and 469 Bronze winners announced. Discover the results of your favourite producers from the following Shows below:

Callebaut Sydney Royal Chocolate Show
Sydney Royal Spring Fine Food Show
Sydney Royal Beer & Cider Show

To our Exhibitors, expert Judges and Stewards and our Supporters and Sponsors, thank you for making 2016 another wonderful year in agriculture!
 

Thrilled to be invited to show our black garlic in the Winning Tastes pavilion at the Melbourne show this Friday and Saturday. This is a reward for our gold medal in the Australian Food Awards and takes place in the Masterchef building (hoping some of that talent will rub off!)

It is a terrific thrill to let you know that we entered two products in the Royal Agricultural Society Sydney Royal Fine Food awards held in Sydney this month: our black garlic cloves and our lemon myrtle and black garlic powder. As you can see, we scored two silver medals!

Since its inception in 1822, the RAS has dedicated itself to the pursuit of excellence in agriculture. It has been an influential voice in setting benchmarks and raising the production values of Australia’s primary industries. Our black garlic has been judged by high-profile, highly skilled personalities who are recognised as experts within their profession.
We particularly want to thank Gilles Bonin and Victoria Clutterbuck for their mentoring of us as accidental garlic growers and their supply of luscious garlic. Thanks also to our community for all the support: all our garlic is locally grown (some on our farms but all in Braidwood) and feedback from customers has been essential in giving us the courage to enter this award. Thanks to our retailers who took a punt on stocking our products - we look forward to a great next season.