Gold standard of regional produce

CELEBRATING the region’s producers and makers, speciality store Gold Clunes recently opened its doors to the public.

Supporting local artisans to preserve traditional methods and heritage, owner William Bled said through the store he hopes to bring back endangered professions to the centre of our day-to-day lives.

“My partner Mel and I opened around two months ago and before, I was always working with artisans in Europe, buying furniture and that kind of thing,” he said.

“When we moved here I was fascinated by the history of the town, particularly that it was the first gold town in Victoria and I’ve always been passionate about supporting small artisans and protecting know-how and history.

“We found this place at the end of Fraser Street and thought what a good space to organise pop-up events, festivals and bring the community together and now that we can’t really bring anything in from Europe, I started concentrating on the local things.”

Having grown up as an Australian in Europe, Mr Bled said he wanted to incorporate both the French and Aussie cultures and blend it in with local products.

“I’m trying to mix art and food, making it a bit fun and trying to bring back the spirit of the gold rush years ago when there were thousands of people in this town and thriving looking for good,” he said.

“We’re trying to encourage people to come and look for gold in the form of the best producers and artisans because everything is handmade, good quality and made by makers who are passionate.

“I want to bring everyone together here to do workshops, educate people and get people excited to come back to Clunes.”

While offering a variety of baked goods, spirits, chocolate, pickles, art and other artisan products, Mr Bled said they also offer the option of creating your own custom packs.

“We also do hampers to try promote, and put the spotlight back onto, these guys, as well as actual little gold nuggets from the region,” he said.

“We’re constantly changing our range because a lot of the products are seasonal, so for the hampers, it’s a matter of contacting us, we’ll send through the list of producers we have and we let them mix and match.

“We have I Knead You Tonight which is traditional bread that takes 48 hours by hand, Adsum Family House do an amazing job growing and pickling their own vegetables, and Basil from Hepburn Distillery – who just won an award for the best vodka in the world.”

By selling some of the area’s best and traditional artisan products, Mr Bled said he hopes to provide contact between the creator and the consumer and that the store can be a stepping stone for each producer to open their own shop.

“I wanted to have a space where people would be welcome at any time, free to pop by, because we live and work here as well,” he said.

“We try to make it a big day for market days like the Talbot Market days, it brings a lot of people into town and although we are pretty much open every day, every Saturday we bake to order.”

Check out some of the region’s offerings at, facebook.com/goldclunes.