IN THE second part of a series on emerging rural industries, DAVID McKENZIE profiles some farmers who've cashed in on the demand for culinary herbs and spices.
Coriander wasn't a word on John Pahl's mind when he bought a small hobby farm south of Leongatha in Victoria 10 years ago.
- Emerging Rural Industries Part 1
- Alternative farming worth $900m
- Sheep dairying catching on
Mr Pahl had a dry cleaning business in town, and he and his partner Bev Schawalder viewed the farm primarily as a place to live.
"But we needed some income to help pay for the place," Mr Pahl said.
"The answer was coriander." Ms Schawalder was doing the books for Freshzest, a local herb-growing operation supplying Woolworths, which operates Safeway supermarkets, with a range of fresh herbs.
"They asked us to grow and supply them with coriander," Mr Pahl said.
He and Ms Schawalder started with a single polythene hothouse using hydroponics, allowing them to produce all-year round.
"We thought it was going to be a hobby, but it grew into a full-time business."
There are now 13 hothouses covering about 1.2ha of their 16ha property, a cool room, packing house and store room, and they recently started about 2ha of outside plantings.
Mr Pahl has ditched the dry cleaning and both he and Bev work in their Herbit Herbs business, along with six full-time staff and a team of pickers who come in two-three days every week.
"It's been learning by doing, but we still see it as a lifestyle thing - although the income's pretty reasonable as well."
Apart from establishment costs, water is the main input.
"We have a medium-size dam which runs the whole show," Mr Pahl said.
Most of the water is recycled, with net usage of about 28,000 litres a week.
As for pests, "nothing seems to bother coriander, except shore flies which only do aesthetic damage." The outside plantings will mean more water, extra equipment, fertiliser, and variable weather.
Freshzest's Robert Hayes, whose company uses eight contract suppliers as well as its own growing operations, says there's still enormous potential.
"It's been driven by the internationalisation of our taste buds and all the lifestyle cooking programs, but we've still only touched the sides," Mr hayes said.
He said the first things a budding herb grower had to do were organise a "channel to market" and food-safety accreditation.
