Chefs talk a lot these days about using local produce on their menus…….some of them even do.

Some do it for the freshness and quality, to save carbon miles and support the local economy.

Some use local produce because that’s what their customers want. To know the story behind the food they’re eating and feel connected to it.

Some chefs say they use local produce and then just buy it all from a wholesaler who gets it from anywhere.

A local strawberry farmer once told me that if everyone who said they were using her strawberries on their menus were actually using them she’d be a millionaire. Sadly that happens a lot.

There are a lot of challenges for chefs when it comes to buying direct from local producers. For a start, instead of having four or five suppliers to order from, you might have twenty or thirty.

There’s the issues of the quantities available to you from week to week, or weather events effecting supply or quality. There’s seasonality which you need to be ready for so you can change menus quickly as produce fazes in and out.

And then there’s the hardest part. The logistics of actually receiving the product without driving all over the countryside to get it, or it being uneconomical for the producer to deliver it to you.

When I met Brad and Melinda Murnane on their 430 acre property in Lower Wonga, west of Gympie a few years ago, they had forty Large White x Landrace breeding sows and at any one time had around 250 pigs in the paddocks.

Three years on, as well as having a fourth child, they now have 150 breeding sows, 800 pigs, a whole lot of new fencing, a sea of piggy bungalows and a shiny new processing facility where they can cut, mince, smoke and package the pork they produce themselves.

And upscaling hasn’t affected their ability to maintain their philosophy of producing pork ethically with an emphasis on their animals well being. If anything it’s only improved.

So now Rhodavale Pork has plenty of consistent product, they can produce any cuts of pork, mince, sausages, smoked ham and bacon.(Melinda has even mastered the art of nitrate and sugar free small goods)

They have great systems in place so there’s a good supply all year round.

Their pigs go to the abattoir on Fridays, and come back on Mondays. Wholesale orders are taken on Mondays and processed on Tuesdays for delivery across the coast on Wednesdays. As well as wholesaling to restaurants and butchers across the coast, they take orders from the public and have drop off points on Wednesdays as well.

So that covers all the issues involved in using local produce that I discussed earlier.

Quantity, quality, freshness, consistency of supply and delivery. Melinda will even call or text you every Monday for an order if that makes things easier.

So whether you’re a chef, restauranteur, cafe owner, butcher, or just a committed locavore looking for great free range pork to eat at home, I would highly recommend that you get in touch with Rhodavale Pork and get some of their product featuring on your menu. It couldn’t be made easier for you.

Contact Melinda on 0409234790 or email info@rhodavalepork.com.au