delicious produce awards
NATIONAL WINNER in the ‘from the paddock’ category
We attended the 2023 delicious Harvey Norman Produce Awards in Sydney last night and left NATIONAL TROPHY WINNERS of the 'From the Paddock' category for Torello Farm's Belted Galloway beef and Dorset Down lamb.
National judge, chef Andrew McConnell said, "Torello Farm is a deserving winner of this award for their incredible commitment to nose-to-tail butchery and heritage breeds. Their Belted Galloway grass-fed beef and Dorset Down free range lamb have as much integrity on the plate as they do in the way they are reared and supplied to the consumers."
We are so grateful for the recognition in winning this award. Selling whole animals week after week is a lot of work, but we are so lucky to have team of incredible humans who make our small scale, nose-to-tail heritage meat production sustainable, including our beautiful customers.
There are so many people to thank who have helped us get here. This starts with the late Ethel Stephenson who taught us the importance of growing heritage breeds and helped us rescue our original flock of Dorset Down sheep. Colin and Margaret Chapman run the oldest ongoing Dorset Down stud in Australia and they have provided us years of ongoing support and guidance.
Our Belted Galloway beef journey began with Allen and Lizette Snaith from Warialda Belted Galloways who introduced us to their incredible beef and taught us so much about animal husbandry and marketing ‘nose to tail’ carcasses. The Snaiths were instrumental in working with us when we first opened Torello, and we have learnt so much from their pioneering approach to directly selling their beef.
Outside of the Peninsula, we have been supported by the Belted Galloway Association and registered breeders to acquire animals to grow out. Thanks to Kerry Haezlewood, Zoe Holt and Hettie Biersteker.
We now run cattle and sheep on eight other local Mornington Peninsula farms alongside our own in Tuerong and we thank each of these growers for their commitment to our beef and lamb production. This includes Marshall & Sarah Scott (Flinders), Bill and Jenny Mole (Main Ridge), Beth & Andrew Phillips (Main Ridge), Tim Dixon (Flinders), Tara & Dean Goudie (Moorooduc), Libby & David Booth (Red Hill), Doug & Kellie Law (Bittern) and John & Liz Mathews (Shoreham).
Selling whole animals week after week is not straightforward and you need a special kind of butcher to partner you. Stewart Crossley from Peninsula Bulk Meats is an exceptional craftsman with a shared curiousity, and a great deal of patience. Thank you Stewie, we love your work.
The Torello farm gate staff, in particular our Operations Manager, Monique, work so hard every week to make sure whole animals, nose to tail, are appreciated by our customers. Our recipes by Fiona Hammond inspire people to try cuts outside their usual repertoire, and our legendary farmhouse kitchen team, headed up by Nicole Lang, turn excess cuts into take home meals like lasagnes, ragus and braises.
A huge thank you to chef Simone Watts who nominated us for this Award. Simone is a tireless advocate for the Mornington Peninsula farming community and we can’t wait to see her dream restaurant, a 40-seat greenhouse space at Barragunda Estate in Cape Schanck come to reality in 2024.
And a final shout to our customers who support Torello Farm - coming together in our beautiful community of curious locavores. Without your support, week in, week out, we simply could not produce the quality of beef and lamb that we do. And we would like to especially thank those folk who are always willing to try merlot or denver steak over an eye fillet 😉
PS. And if winning the Award wasn't exciting enough, our Tuerong neighbours - Tuerong Farm - were awarded National Winners of the 'From the Earth' category. Legends in the small grains scene in Australia who grow, mill and bake small parcels of heritage, ancient and interesting modern grains.
With two out of the four delicious Produce Awards' National Trophy Winners from the Mornington Peninsula there is much to celebrate!