Cream of the crop
Tommerup’s win delicious. state title again
- Tommerup Dairy Farm in the Scenic Rim is the Queensland winner in the From the Dairy category of the 2022 delicious. Harvey Norman Produce Awards.
- What’s produced at this gorgeous 6th generation family farm – Double cream, crème fraiche, cultured butter, cultured butter with red gum smoked salt, cultured buttermilk, full cream natural yoghurt, full cream natural yoghurt with bush honey and ice cream.
- In 2022, the delicious. Harvey Norman Produce Awards has shifted the focus to shine more of a light on the way food producers grow, cultivate, harvest and catch the produce they supply to Australia’s leading chefs and establishments. The NATIONAL 2022 delicious. Harvey Norman Produce Awards winners will be announced in the September issue of delicious., on-sale nationally on August 18.
- Tommerup Farm will host a stunning entrée event for the Scenic Rim Eat Local Week this year Breakfast with the Jersey Girls, on Sunday June 19 from 7am to 11am – a celebration of the farm’s beautiful produce over a long table at the barn, showcased in a champagne brunch exquisitely prepared by Wild Canary, with the view a window to the Lost World; it’s an intimate full-circle food experience as guests join the herd in the dairy. All detail here: Breakfast with the Jersey Girls – Scenic Rim Eat Local Week
A Scenic Rim dairy farm steeped in tradition and authenticity has taken out the delicious. Harvey Norman Produce Awards state title for the third year running. Sixth generation Tommerup’s Dairy Farm in the Kerry Valley is the Queensland state finalist in the dairy category of the 2022 awards. The tiny farm with a big heart is proving there is room in the market for producers of all sizes to survive and thrive.
Kay and Dave Tommerup milk just 20 cows on their 200-acre property in a deliberate bid to focus on quality over quantity and regenerate their farm for generations to come. Kay said, thanks to the support of conscious consumers, there was no waste on the farm.
“It’s becoming more of a focus with chefs, how they can be part of that whole cycle by taking vealers and therefore allowing us to raise all our calves and not sell any as bobby calves and allowing us to focus on the production of cream products by taking our milk-fed pork which uses the waste product of skim milk,” she said.
“We’re not wasting any animals, we’re not wasting any product that comes from the creamery and to tie it all in, we’re rotating all those animals around the farm to have a positive impact on the land itself, repairing the land.”
Kay and Dave made the bold decision to leave processor Norco on 2 January 2021 after establishing their Tommerup’s Jersey Girl line of boutique dairy products in 2019.
It was a decision they did not take lightly, having supplied Norco since 1984, when the company took over the former Logan and Albert Co-Op. Kay said they hoped to encourage others to have confidence in their product and their ability to succeed without a middleman.
“It’s really important that we encourage other farmers who might be thinking, ‘we can’t keep doing this’, that we let them know there are other ways to do it,” she said. “There’s support out there and there’s a community of people who are going it alone who will support each other, for it to be viable.”
She said the award was a win for the Scenic Rim and for conscious consumers everywhere.
“This award means so much because not just recognition of the quality of our product, but also recognises the extra effort that goes into making a clear choice to regenerate our farm for future generations,” she said.
“By building these relationships with our customers, and chefs in particular, we are able to show the real value of our product. When they are using our product they remember those connections with us, our story, our farm, our animals.
“When a higher value is placed on products coming from farmers choosing a regenerative journey, it allows more resources to be allocated to those regenerative practices and helps us to continue down that path.
“The whole story, from raising calves right through to the end product, means something more than just being about the product and taste.”
Tommerup’s now proceed to the Produce Awards national judging in Sydney in May, where a panel of Australia’s leading chefs and restaurateurs will judge the 2022 trophy winners.
