Harvest Experience recognised in GBEAs

DRYSDALE’S Harvest Experience is taking food straight from the paddock to the plate with a unique and personalised approach.

Co-owners Michelle Visser Hodson and husband Greg Hodson moved to the Bellarine Peninsula in 2014 for a “tree change.”

“We built an orchard, vegetable garden, strawberry towers, winery, mini vineyard and my girlfriends used to come down from Melbourne, they’re very urban and used to go out and pick the ingredients and I would cook them a harvest lunch,” Michelle said.

This is where the idea of Harvest Experience was born, with people coming together and spending the day enjoying good food and wine.

Officially opening its doors in 2021, the business offers a variety of cooking experiences where small groups get hands on in the garden and kitchen.

Participants start off in the garden, picking all the ingredients they need for the menu before heading back to the purpose-built studio kitchen where everything is made from scratch.

“We don’t utilise any ingredients or finishings bought from the supermarket or anything like that, we even make our own butter.”

Michelle runs each experience, sharing her passion for the gardens, the cooking and the growing.

The success of the Bellarine business has resulted in it being named as a finalist in this year’s Geelong Business Excellence Awards, sponsored by LBW Business + Wealth Advisors.

Michelle said she was proud to be a finalist in the awards and it was not something she was expecting.

“Starting a business from scratch, where it was just an idea and I didn’t know if it would succeed or it would work.

“It’s been successful from a customer perspective, but now seen as an excellent business in the eyes of other business owners who are the judges is very rewarding.

“Someone saying you’ve achieved something here, a business, with a value proposition that customers want to come and engage, you don’t get much time to sit back and look at what you’ve achieved.”

Michelle attributes the success of the business to people being more interested in experiences and spending time together, something the business focusses on.

“We have a lot of private groups that instead of going out for lunch, they’ll come together and do this.

“People are more interested about their food and growing food and what they’re putting into their body and different ideas like that.”

Adding more experiences to the list of offerings is on the horizon for the business, expanding to add things people may not have done before.

For more information or for tickets to the GBEA presentation event on October 17, head to gbea.com.au