Episode 15: Entrepreneur harnesses fermentation to fuel food innovation in Tasmania

In this episode, Amie and Angeline chat to Kim Seagram, co-founder and chair of FermenTas, about the fermentation project, future food trends, and the importance of provenance that helped establish Tasmania’s reputation as a regional food hub.

Transcript

Amie:

Welcome to Women Transforming Food, a monthly podcast brought to you by G100 and Inside FMCG, exploring the stories of inspiring women shaping the food industry. Today, I'm joined by my co-host, G100 Mission Million, Angeline Acharya, Asia Pacific Chair of the Food Systems Innovation and Resilience Wing, and Kim Seagram, a member of the order of Australia, recognised for her significant service to tourism and business in Tasmania. Kim co-founded Harvest Launceston farmer’s market, which became Australia’s most outstanding farmer’s market and now chairs FermenTasmania, a world first fermentation innovation facility that received over 100 expressions of interest before even opening its doors. Kim’s superpower lies in her ability to spot where consumer demand meets industry opportunity and to tell the stories that bring Tasmania’s food producers onto the global stage.

Welcome ladies. 

Kim:

Hello Amie

Angeline:

Hello Kim and Amie. 

Amie:

Kim, let's start at the beginning. You have an incredible ability to see what's next. So the gaps and the opportunities you've launched several initiatives in Tasmania's food system from harvest, Launceston farmers market to the ferment Tasmania facility. Can you take us back to when you first recognised there was a gap between what consumers wanted and what the food system was really delivering in Tasmania?

It's something that I didn't consciously do. It's actually something that just happened. You know, I saw people leaving the state to have these incredible food experiences across in Melbourne and Sydney. And I actually saw some of the best produce in the world being produced at our doorstep. And I just joined the dots. I just understood that if we could start putting Tasmania on a plate and understand this was back in the 90s, you know, late 90s when we opened in 2000. So, you know, people that were restaurants were French, they were Italian, they were Greek, they were Vietnamese, whatever. And, you know, it was just the opportunity to really start claiming that Tasmanian space. know, I had the great fortune to travel Europe and I knew the story of provenance so deeply from those travels that I kind of knew Tasmania was going to benefit from a provenance story. And it was a really exciting time to put Tassie on a plate. And much like we did with our menu, we also did it with our wines and then putting an incredible wine list together of all of the fabulous local drops that people could not get anywhere else. And that was a real draw card to be able to say, hey, we've got something that you won't be able to taste anywhere else other than at a restaurant. However, there's a bit of a caveat, a bit of a warning here because there's a bit of a challenge that can happen when you're sort of leading the charge on something that's a little bit newer.

And unfortunately, when we started entering our wine lists, for example, in wine list awards, we kept getting knocked back for not having enough international wines on the list. And yet now, you know, we win, or they, yeah, I shouldn't say I'm no longer involved, but they win, you know, regional wine lists of the year. And so you've always got to be a little bit brave when you're putting yourself out there.

But if you read the consumer and what's going to be really special to live in that consumer experience, you can deliver something pretty incredible.

Angeline:

Kim, the Harvest Launceston market has become an unexpected economic driver with 7,000 weekly visitors. Wow. I didn't realise that when I first attended it myself. What did this consumer behavior tell you about the appetite for provenance and authenticity when it comes to food ingredients? And are you seeing the same demands influencing how larger food businesses need to operate?

Kim:

Yeah. And it's interesting. Timing is everything. And one of the things that I recognised early on in the piece is to make sure you're talking to your consumer and understanding what they want. My girlfriend and I had actually explored putting a farmer's market together a decade before we actually put our harvest together and realized there just wasn't that buy-in to be able to access local produce that we needed to be able to make it-

Amie:

Right, there was not the appetite there then.

Kim:

There just wasn't the appetite there to really make it a success. At least we couldn't leave our day jobs to be able to  do that. So what we did was really hold fire. And when absolutely amazing, crazy mom, Jen Edis, had just moved to the state, and bless her cotton socks, she put herself through the TAS Leaders program and created a business plan while she was in that program all around a farmers market. I got this phone call from this incredible woman at about 10 o'clock in the morning one day and she said, Kim I hear you're a real advocate for local produce and I want to start a farmers market and I said, bloody brilliant. I said we investigated this a while ago and it just wasn't making sense. I said, well listen we've done all of the community surveys, everybody's really excited about it, let's do it.

And I said, happy to help. And I said, is there any chance I could meet with you for half an hour before we go into council to ask for their support? Because I didn't know her from a bar of soap. So yes, I realized she was crazy good, not crazy bad. And that started a journey of over a decade of getting that farmers market up and running. And within a year, we were winning best farmers market in Australia. And I think it was that thing that allowed us to really showcase what we're producing here and the quality of what we're producing here, but understand one of our major forestry industry companies had just folded and 500 jobs had been lost from town. So to then be able to take this incredible produce and put it in front of the locals and just have them stand up a bit straighter and be a little bit prouder of what we're doing here was pretty critical. 

And I really think, you know, understanding your consumer, putting that consumer at the center of your decisions will help lead the businesses to success, regardless of whether you're a little micro business or all the way to a multinational. And just understand that the micro businesses are the ones at the market talking to the consumer every single week. They know the products that they like. They know what they want to consume and what they're happy to reach their hand in the pocket and pay money for. I think that the larger end of town can really learn from that to really understand what people want. Yes, you can put innovation out there and put, you know, have that first mover advantage and all of those exciting things. But if you really want to satisfy the consumer, know what they want.

Amie:

It's such a success story. I'm keen to understand you've obviously got this very, it's a front row seat to changing consumer habits across generations. You've connected people with their food. What shifts in what consumers value have most surprised you and how should food industry leaders be responding?

Kim:

When I was really lucky to have that front row seat to the consumer through the restaurants and having to make a quid out of serving food on a daily basis is no mean feat. One of the things that we would assess constantly is look at what was selling on the menu and look at what the consumer was really wanting and obviously wanting because they were paying money for it. Then looking at that next tier of dishes.

What were those bits and pieces that you knew you just needed to describe a bit better, to be able to promote a little bit more, to be able to sort of go up that echelon of favorite dishes on the menu? And then were the ones who the consumer just didn't want. And as precious as our beautiful chefs can get, sometimes you just had to ditch those dishes because they were just, they were being a drain on the business itself.

And then it also allowed innovation of new dishes to come in to be able to replace those ones. And again, it was really interesting to be part of that whole forefront of what you're putting onto the menu. And in fact, we created a whole separate business based around what was the most popular item on the restaurant menu? Beef. We put together a steak restaurant, it's still running to this day. It's still highly successful.

I guess one of the trends that I'm seeing right now, and although I'm not involved in the restaurant directly anymore through the ferment headquarters, I'm actually seeing the whole health movement taking a really forward step and starting to understand what people want going forward is going to be a bit fraught because everybody is going to have different needs from the food that they eat or different preferences of different ones. You this started for me on my journey, my food journey back in the 90s when I was in Canada and I was serving a New Year's Eve dinner. And I think it was the 98, 99 New Year's Eve. But I was creating a beautiful dish with a potato galette with a beautiful grilled piece of tenderloin on top and some caramelized onion jam and a blue cheese sauce. Okay, fairly simple little salad on the side, nice dinner, some beautiful wines. 

Of the nine people we had sitting around the table, I think I had to do it seven different ways because somebody didn't eat carbs, somebody didn't like dairy, somebody didn't like blue cheese, somebody didn't like onions. I mean, it was just, it was fraught. And I hate to say it, but it's really starting to shift now because it's not just preferences anymore, it's now intolerances and it's now allergies and some intolerances do pose for preferences, but I'm not going to judge at this point in time.But  you know, with what's happening with the with the trying to find the ideal diet for each person and that that precision nutrition, we're also seeing influences of the GLP-1 injections. 

And you know, people aren't eating as much when they're on these injections and they're not feeling as excited about eating anymore and things like that and that comes with challenges but it comes with opportunities as well because I would really hate to see all of these trends start to make, start to do a bit of damage actually on our food system and the challenge, the ability to sit around the table and break bread because I think that's one of the things that is missing in a lot of conversations that are happening these days is the ability to share a meal and really develop a relationship and solve problems and doing all those things that are just happening in our world right now. But again, if you want a successful business, you really need to listen to what the consumer wants. And I wanted everybody around that New Year's Eve dinner table to have the best New Year's Eve dinner they could have, so I made seven different versions of that dish.

Angeline:

So, congratulations on the recent launch and the opening of Ferment Tasmania. It's certainly creating a demand as a new wave of innovation and you've already had 136 expressions of interest for in the one year. You're tapping into this significant momentum now.

What patterns are you seeing in what food entrepreneurs want to create? What does this reveal about the food industry and where it's heading next? You touched a little bit already, so I'm keen to build on that.

Kim:

And I think one of the things is the diversity of the products that people want to make, which is really exciting for me. You know, the range of products that our makers at Ferment HQ will produce is absolutely astounding. It's a range from sort of traditional ferments that are based around a grandmother's family recipe for kimchi that has come down through generations through to probiotics, through to the future of fermentation, precision fermentation, through to fermenting waste products, to creating animal feed and energy. You know, it's so exciting. 

And then think of what will happen when the makers themselves have worked together in there for a while and know and trust each other and the innovations that'll come from those collaborations. It's gonna be spectacular. It's kind of just a larger microcosm of what happened at the harvest market. While fermentation is a bit back to the future, I like to think that we're embracing what was deeply good about our food system for many generations and wanting to recapture it and innovate with it. We also need to identify what is a trend or just a little fashion blip and where wholesale change is actually happening and you can really make some impact.

We also still have a sector of the population whose food literacy is limited and they really don't know how to nourish themselves. Addressing this and getting them back into the kitchen to create beautiful food for themselves, their family and their friends will help bring them back around the table again to reconnect and increase their culinary literacy because there's no good knowing how good something is for you if you don't know how to prepare it and make it yummy. And it's the same thing with all these fabulous community gardens and things like that. You know, there's no sense growing all this stuff if the poor kid takes this thing home to their parents and they have no idea how to put it on a plate.

Amie:

It's so true challenge accepted. I'm very good at the growing part in the garden. Not so good at knowing what to do with it. But something I am very good and passionate about is very much storytelling Kim and a key part of your success in your approach. 

You've mentioned that storytelling and keeping the consumer at the center is one of your superpowers in practical terms. How has this helped shape your business decisions throughout this fantastic journey, especially when the easier or more conventional path might have been different?

Kim:

Yeah, and the easier, more conventional path is one that I was going to when I first arrived in Tasmania. So I had applied for a job with a local hotel, a fairly well-known local hotel. And they had advertised for a sales manager. And I put my CV in thinking I would be a shoe in because I'd just had three years in a very senior sales position with one of the top hotel chains in Canada. So I just thought I'd be a shoe-in.

Well, when they hired a used car salesman rather than myself. I sort of thought, okay, different part of the world. We're going to have a bit of a change here. So what I ended up doing was working very closely with my husband. He is an entrepreneur from his core. And I realized that his businesses were his businesses. But what I could do is actually start working on the ecosystem around those businesses. So when we had the vineyard, I worked on the Vineyards Association of Tassie and put together the marketing and comms arm and really helped build that industry up. When we transitioned our tiny little cafe over in Stillwater restaurant, I worked on the ecosystem and the tourism ecosystem because I really wanted us to become the first destination dining experience in the state and we did. You know within a year we were winning national awards, we even beat Tetsuya in 2001, which was pretty exciting. And you know, the interesting thing is it was our wine list that tipped us over the edge. 

Amie:

Well done.

Kim:

So, you know, there was somebody out there recognizing that we were doing something pretty exciting. But, you know, I think you also have to go back to understanding when you're talking to your consumer, what's just a flash fashion, you know, something that's going to come and go and it's like those tops that you bought, the midriff-bearing tops that you bought, you think, yeah, no, that's not good. They go out of fashion. But is this a true trend that's going to have legs and go into the future? Is there something you want to put onto the market that is just going to capture that fashion moment? Or is there something that you're developing that's really going to help drive that trend towards what the consumer wants?

Angeline:

Wow, you've spoken pretty candidly about not doing it alone as well and surrounding yourself with experts along the way. How do you build teams that complement your consumer facing strengths, your superpower as we know it, and what advice would you give to other leaders about playing to their strengths to build something bigger?

Kim:

I think that's a really important point, Angeline. I don't care how good you are. No one person is good at everything. And as we've discussed, my superpowers are in marketing and PR and storytelling. And yes, I'm financially literate, but it's not my wheelhouse. And so I've worked on many projects with a dear accountant friend, and we have moved mountains together. My husband is also the CFO of our businesses and my life.

So over the years, we have collaborated with many people who are very good at what they do or what they make. Because with the finance, with the marketing and sales and somebody good at what they do or they make, it creates success for everyone. And everybody talks about growth and wanting to grow. And if you want more of the pie, rather than taking a bigger slice of the pie, make the pie bigger. And to grow our businesses and our team, we started up a second restaurant, Black Cow Bistro, specialising in Tasmanian beef. Again, looking at what the consumer wanted, we looked at the sales from our restaurant. What was the most popular item on the menu? The steak. So let's develop a restaurant around the steak. You know, fortunately in Tasmania we have legislation. So we had free range, grass-fed artificial hormone and antibiotic free beef and according to WeChat, the best steak in the world. 

But it was all just that Tasmanian legislation that allowed us to put that on a plate. So it's a very natural food system with the, and we just had to tell the story and put the evidence on the plate. But this allowed us to expand our offerings and build more capacity in our ownership team and take a smaller slice, but from a much bigger pie. So it was a bit of a win-win for everybody.

The Fermentas Board I chair is remarkable. We have a group of highly respected industry experts with a vast set of skills who have lent their expertise, time and energy in a voluntary role to make Ferment HQ the best it can be, literally from the ground up. The respect around the table is remarkable and even when there's an issue, it is torn apart and remade numerous times before a decision is made. But then we are on lockstep when we go forward, when we leave the room. But there's such respect around for what everybody brings around the table. It's quite a remarkable board to work with and I'm really lucky to have them around.

Amie:

That's awesome. So Tasmania is a UNESCO creative city of gastronomy, but the consumer behaviors you are responding to do exist everywhere. And I'm keen to understand what core elements of your approach do you think are transferable? So to other regions or even in larger scale operations looking to build a more connected food system.

Kim:

I was just talking to my colleague at the CSIRO this morning, Leaf, and one of the things that we're really trying to do is connect that food system more nationally. We think everybody is ready for the time for us to understand what role we play in the food system, where our strengths are, and how we connect with everybody else. And you know, again, our, I guess our consumers at this point in time are the makers, the ones who we want to get in to create new products that grow new businesses. So really understanding their needs to help their business journey is really quite essential. You know, get to know your customers as absolutely well as you can and understand their strengths and weaknesses as well so you can help fill those gaps.

I was talking to a colleague up in Queensland at the University of Queensland with Faba and they were lamenting the fact that they wanted to have more Queensland food in the Olympics. And of course my little brain starts going a million miles an hour thinking, you know, let's think about the average tourist coming in, you know.

Amie:

I can imagine.

Kim:

Let’s say a European, a North American, with no real understanding of what Australia has to offer. And all of sudden you've got this tropical cornucopia. How could we really embed that into the Olympics? And then I started going a little bit sideways and said, holy, we could have mango eating competitions and we could have macadamia cracking competitions and just all of these things that sort of create a competition out of the food, but then it embeds the food into it. And then I was sort of thinking, well, you know, rather than your Gatorade and your sports drink, why aren't we going to the ginger company and having them create a really refreshing drink that everybody starts drinking as their refresher? So I, you know, all sorts of different opportunities. And I think it just takes somebody to really want to embed food in that and make that the cause.

On my first trip to Port Douglas years ago, the first thing that I did when landing in Brisbane is actually seek out the local market. And we bought a whole box full of tropical yumminess from sweet to savory and herbs and everything like that. So we wanted to be able to cook with that up there. And then my son looked around in the bush and found some passion fruit that had fallen off of a vine.

And took him three days to get into a coconut because I promised him if he got into the coconut I'd cook it for him So so we did it but but it was interesting on the way up there So we have this box of yumminess and before we even got to our accommodation We saw a sign at the roundabout saying prawn trawler in an old port prawns for sale Okay, well, you know where I'm Okay, so we had straight to number one We had no idea where the old port was so we had to find that, so we found that and came back with this massive box of prawns and this huge box of veggies. And it's like, okay, I'm home now. And it was just really understand there are consumers out there who want to access the stuff and just being able to put the sign in the right spot to be able to point it in the right direction. That marketing and sales side of things is really essential.

Amie:

Good. Yeah.

Angeline:

So Kim, looking at the diverse range of products that you support from FermenTas, from vegan cheese makers to sourdough bakers, what transformation do you hope to see in the broader food industry over the next five years? And what role do you think industry leaders need to play to enable it?

Kim:

I personally would like to see more diversity in the food system from paddock to plate, you know, not only in a multicultural sense, but in an ingredient and produce sense. I would really like to stop the dwindling biodiversity of what's grown for us to eat. They keep narrowing, narrowing, narrowing varieties down to the point where I grow about 12 different varieties of tomatoes just because I can. All heirloom.

Australians are very open to new food experiences and we need to take advantage of that. We also need to ensure we're making as much of our food in Australia as possible. Food sovereignty is essential for the country and I think we certainly had that put very much in our faces during COVID. And I think we also have to value the fact that we go all the way from tropical to temperate, from top to bottom in the country. So we have a huge advantage that most other parts of the world don't have. The other thing is, it's a really exciting, as Angeline well knows, rewarding industry and allowing kids to imagine a career in the food industry and creating those career paths to really highlight the opportunities that are in the industry I think are really important going forward.

Angeline:

Yeah, I love how you contextualise Australia from temperate to, you know, where we are right now sitting here. So many opportunities, I think sometimes we probably just take it for granted and not kind of maximise and leverage it to our best.

Kim:

Sometimes it's the ring-ins that sort of point out the bleedingly obvious.

Angeline:

Absolutely.