Published since 1986
JULY, 2020
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www.farmernews.com.au
Forest company wins awards PAGE 6
Bees are Liz’s business PAGE 12
PAGE 17
That Eureka moment The Smoked Egg Company revolutionises the food industry
By EMMA OLIVER
STILL DETERMINED: Leigh Woodgate has come back from a horrific horse accident, a coma and 26 years of rehab to find herself back in the saddle – the one place she has always belonged. To this day Leigh remains the only woman to have ever won the Great Mountain Race, and is regarded as a bush-racing legend. Turn to pages 14 and 15 for Leigh’s story.
THIS is a story about Julie and Paul Kos, born and bred Geelong locals, who started a free range egg business fifteen years ago and did incredibly well with their enterprise, and thought quite contentedly that this was it, this was the change from their day jobs that they had been seeking. Kossies Free Range Eggs are premium quality, pasture raised produce, renowned for their creamy texture, and highly sought after throughout Geelong and Melbourne, appearing repeatedly on Master Chef as egg of choice. Situated on 36 acres on the Barwon River in Stonehaven, 10 kilometres west of Geelong, the Kos’s were told they wouldn’t be able to make a living from their small acreage farm, but Julie and Paul aren’t the type to listen to naysayers. Accommodating 750 chickens comfortably to each hectare, Julie and Paul embarked on their business, setting up mobile shedding for their flock that numbered 5000 in total and they began egg production. Labour intensive, it was a shock to the system at first, but they worked together and worked hard, and would have been quite happy to just continue
with the farm, if it hadn’t been for an experiment in smoking food that would have massive implications for the future of the food industry. Now Julie is a caterer by trade, she likes to cook and she’s very good at it. The smoker was ostensibly a gift to her husband, and as all good chefs have a penchant for experimenting with flavours and techniques, a chef who is also a chicken farmer has an inclination to experiment with eggs. It was a bit of fun at first for Julie and Paul trying to smoke eggs without effectively cooking them in their shells. There was a fair bit of trial and error, and numerous eggs that came out of the smoker without the smoke permeating the shell, but then there was success - a batch of eggs that held the smoky flavour. “It was a marriage made in heaven,” Julie said. “It was this absolutely incredible flavour, and the first thing I did with those eggs was make a quiche. “Now my husband hates quiche, but as soon as he tasted it, he was gobsmacked. “’Look what I’ve created,’ he said. “But I made the quiche was my reply.” ■ Continued pages 2-3
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