Fermentation may be one of the world’s oldest food processes, but in Tasmania it’s set to become the foundation for a new wave of food innovation.
At the centre of it is FermenTas, (Fermentation Tasmania) a pioneering venture using the science of fermentation to transform produce, people and place. In just a year, it has attracted 136 expressions of interest from producers eager to collaborate – from traditional kimchi makers and probiotic innovators to those turning food waste into animal feed and clean energy.
Co-founder Kim Seagram, a guest on Women Transforming Food, the monthly podcast from G100 and Inside FMCG, says the real magic will happen when these makers begin working side by side, sparking new ideas that could influence the future of food.
While fermentation might sound like a “back to the future” idea, Seagram believes it’s really about reviving what was deeply good about the food system for generations – and adding in modern innovation. It’s all about embracing those traditional skills and combining them with today’s technology, science and sustainability thinking, she says.
Women Transforming Food’s co-hosts, Amie Larter, CEO of Octomedia, the publisher of Inside FMCG, and Angeline Achariya, Asia Pacific chair of the Food Systems Innovation and Resilience Wing, G100 Mission Million talked to Seagram about the fermentation project, future food trends, and the importance of provenance that helped establish Tasmania’s reputation as a regional food hub.
For Seagram, FermenTas is the culmination of decades spent championing Tasmania’s food identity. Her journey began in the late 1990s, when she noticed that locals were travelling to Melbourne and Sydney for the kinds of dining experiences that should have been possible at home. Fresh from travelling through Europe and Canada, Seagram recognised that Tasmania already had world-class produce – it just needed the story of provenance to bring it to life.
Working in restaurants, she set out to put Tassie on a plate, creating menus and wine lists that celebrated local ingredients and small producers long before “farm to table” became a trend. It wasn’t always easy; awards judges once rebuffed a wine list for not featuring enough international wines. Now, regional wine lists are a mark of distinction – proof, she says, that leadership often requires being a little bit brave and flouting tradition.
That spirit of persistence and local pride also underpinned the creation of the Harvest Launceston Market, which she co-founded and has grown into a vital economic driver attracting 7000 people each week. Seagram says it’s a reminder that understanding your consumer – and placing them at the centre of every decision – is the key to long-term success, whether you’re a micro business or a multinational.
“Just understand that the micro businesses are the ones in the market talking to the consumer every single week. They know the products that they like. They know what they want to consume and what they’re happy to reach into their pockets and pay for. I think that the larger end of town can really learn from that, to really understand what people want. Yes, you can put innovation out there and have that first-mover advantage and all of those exciting things, but if you really want to satisfy the consumer, know what they want.”
Within a year of its launch, the Harvest Launceston Market was winning awards as among the best farmers’ markets in Australia. “To be able to take this incredible produce and put it in front of the locals and just have them stand up a bit straighter and be a little bit prouder of what we’re doing here was pretty critical,” she recalls, especially as the launch was around the time a forestry business in the state closed, with 500 jobs eliminated.
A grounding in restaurants helps identify trends
Prior to the market’s arrival, Seagram considers herself lucky to have had the “front row seat” to understand consumer preferences while working in restaurants.
“Having to make a quid out of serving food on a daily basis is no mean feat. One of the things that we would assess constantly is what was selling on the menu and what consumers really wanted and were paying for. Then looking at that next tier of dishes: What were those bits and pieces that you knew you just needed to describe a bit better, to be able to promote a little bit more, to be able to go up that echelon of favourite dishes on the menu?
“Then there were the ones the consumer didn’t want and, as precious as our beautiful chefs can get, sometimes you just have to ditch those dishes because they were a drain on the business itself.”
Today, Seagram notes a strong trend showing through restaurant menus: A growing demand for healthy foods. “Starting to understand what people want going forward is going to be a bit fraught because everybody is going to have different needs from the food that they eat or different preferences of different foods.
“It’s not just preferences anymore, it’s now intolerances, and allergies, and some intolerances do pose as preferences, but I’m not going to judge at this point in time. With what’s happening trying to find the ideal diet for each person and that precision nutrition, we’re also seeing influences of the GLP-1 injections.
“People aren’t eating as much when they’re on these injections and they’re not feeling as excited about eating anymore and that comes with challenges, but it comes with opportunities as well because I would really hate to see all of these trends start to damage our food system.”
- Listen to the podcast to hear Seagram share her vision for bringing Australian foods to the fore at the Brisbane Olympic Games in 2030, the dangers of ‘flash fashion’ in food trends, and a valuable lesson she learned cooking and serving a New Year’s Eve dinner in Canada.
