Gordon Farmgate goes digital

COMMUNITY initiative, the Gordon Farmgate recently added its regional produce and offerings online.

Due to the pandemic, Gordon Farmgate president Susanna McPherson said the project was put on hold temporarily and had to adapt to move forward.

“We were fortunate enough to get a grant through the Ballan community bank to support us in purchasing some point of sale equipment and fridges, which was fantastic,” she said.

“But we still didn’t have the money to buy stock in advance and fill up the shop as much as we would like to so it was easier for us to chat to the volunteers online and get the website up and running.

“The way it works now is that we have asked producers if we can pre-sell their products on our online store.”

Ms McPherson said paying in advance through the online store provides volunteers with the resources to compensate the producers and pack all the orders beforehand.

“We have a cut off on Tuesday 5pm for customers to get their orders in,” she said.

“That gives our producers between Wednesday through to Saturday to get their products to us and then we make them available for our customers on Saturday mornings.

“We don’t do delivery yet, maybe down the track we will get enough money for a van, but we do pack all the orders ready for the customers to come in and pick up and browse through the limited stock we have in store.”

Having only recently opened the project up to the public, Ms McPherson said after last year’s lockdown, people are eager to support local now more than ever.

“Everyone wants to chat, they want to learn about the project and get involved, as well as learning about the producers,” she said.

“The pandemic highlighted the importance of supporting local, and that’s what we do, we source all of our products from within 60 kilometres from Gordon.

“We’re also about supporting the local business within Gordon and making it more of a destination, and once we’re established, the profits that we will make will go back to community projects too so when people buy online from us, they’re supporting their own community.”

With a growing list of regional producers and suppliers of offer throughout the physical and online store, there’s an opportunity to

support local growers and makers while having access to quality, home grown products.

To explore Gordon Farmgate online and order your own package of local produce, visit gordonfarmgate.org.au.

Here’s just some of what Ms MsPherson has to say about a few of the products sold through Gordon Farmgate’s online store.

Logan Berry Forest

“Located in Mount Edgerton on a little permaculture farm, they harvest their own seeds and seedlings which we sell through the website as well as a wide range of fresh vegetables.”

Enbom Honeys

“Their products have been really popular. They are located in Dunnstown, it’s a great mother and daughter team who they do all things honey.”

Karon Farm Coffee

“Karon Farm Coffee is a family operated boutique coffee business. They sell us whole bean coffee beans in a range of varieties and they also stock Grounded Pleasures Chocolate as well.”

Zed and Co

“Zed and Co do pork and beef in Gordon and they do it well. It comes from a small production farm using heritage breeds of pigs, so they grow things more slowly which leads to more flavour.”

Goldfields Farmhouse

“They are our fantastic cheese makers, we love all the variety of cheese they provide us. They’re located in Alfredton and they are such lovely people and we’re so grateful because they continue to deliver, even when it’s the smallest amounts.”