VENTURING into the world of farm cafes isn't easy.

There's council permits, food handling regulations and staffing issues, not to mention the fact someone has to learn how to operate an espresso machine. Properly.

But according to three farm cafe owners, the business of food and drink can be the perfect complement to farming, providing an ideal venue for people to sample your produce, just the way you want it served, drawing in new customers, expanding your sales and in some cases, if you get the balance right, even providing another avenue of income.

MOUNT ZERO

RICHARD Seymour has been running Mount Zero Olive farm and cafe for six years.

His parents bought the 90ha property in 1993 and in 2006 they decided a cafe would help them showcase their products - olives, oils and tapenades. It was a move that paid off.

"On a busy day we can make up to 100 coffees and serve 60-plus meals," Richard says.

"The cafe is about promoting ourselves and exposing people from places such as Halls Gap and Horsham to our produce, who will hopefully become loyal customers," he says. "It's not so much about selling lunches as providing a great experience and creating a destination."

The entire enterprise - the farm, the produce shop and the cafe, are run by Richard, his parents Jane and Neil, and cafe manager Rob Richards, originally a picker who was on a working holiday from Canada. He and his partner, Melanie, live on the property and run the cafe four days a week, year-round.

The pair prepare the food which is all olive related with a focus on regional produce such as lentils, chickpeas and grains. The menu includes a tasting plate, olives and oil, side salads, toasted sandwiches and other basic gourmet items, with plans to add mini pizzas to the menu.

"We use as much local produce as possible, especially grains, lentils and pulses," Richard Seymour says. The cafe was set up on a tight budget and is housed in what was once the Great Western Sunday school.

The Seymours bought the 150-year-old building for $10,000 and transported it to their property. The cafe has a light-filled, rustic interior, furnished with second-hand pieces collected from antique stores over the years. It has seating for 18 inside and 45 in the courtyard, with views of the Grampians and olives groves.

"There's been investment over a number of years, but I expect the cost would be at least $120,000 all up," Richard says.
 
When the cafe first opened, the Seymours struggled to run it as well as operate the farm. Richard says it was not until they employed permanent staff for the cafe that they started doing it justice.

"The cafe has been erratic in its operation due to floods last January and road closures, as well as problems with attracting staff to a remote location," he says. "Knowing that consistency is key to any business we invested in a chef and shop manager in July and have been running profitably since August. Now we're giving it the attention it deserves and people are recognising that."

Richard, Rob and Mel travelled to Melbourne to train at the Australian Barista Academy, another move that has paid dividends. "This is one of the smallest but best investments we have made as I truly believe we serve some of the best coffee in the region," Richard says.

The farm produces about 80 tonnes of olives a year, which they sell to, among other places, almost 200 Victorian restaurants

Richard says he hasn't encountered too many setbacks with the cafe. "On the whole, council has been supportive in relation to the cafe and shop," Richard says. "The main bureaucratic problem was and continues to be access. The farm's dirt roads can be pretty ordinary at times and, as most visitors enter from the Grampians National Park, signage is a real problem - Parks Victoria does not like to place signs for commercial entities within the park boundaries."

Richard works closely with other tourism businesses in the region. "Being 40km from the nearest shop, it was always going to be a challenge for lots of reasons.

"But there is a lot of truth to the saying 'build it and they will come'. We will continue in a similar way, simple yet great food that is reflective of the region. The best part is sharing with others one of the most beautiful parts of Victoria."

SUNNY RIDGE

WHEN Mick Gallace inherited Sunny Ridge, a berry farm at Main Ridge on the Mornington Peninsula, in the 1990s, his first priority was to build a cafe.

"It was an extension of our business and allowed us to expand into retail," Mick says.

The cafe opened on the 142-hectare farm, best known for its strawberries, in 1997 and accompanied the farm's existing pick-your-own service, produce shop and berry plant nursery.

Mick says the cafe has been the perfect way to test his produce and evaluate products.

"It's a good way to trial varieties and keep in touch with the consumer,'' Mick says. "Customers try the berries and get excited and we ask them to tell us if we're on the right track. The cafe was also an insurance policy to make sure there was regular money coming in the off season or if crops were damaged by weather.''

The cafe's main trade is in ice cream and sorbet made on the premises from raspberries, blueberries, blackberries and more than 100 different types of strawberries. Other menu highlights include chocolate fondue and Belgian chocolate-dipped strawberries.

"We started with wine and jam to sell as a hobby initially, then moved to ice cream," Mick says. "We've focused on our product, which is sweet. We don't do lunch or savoury food. I think that's where we have an advantage over the market - we keep things specific."

Unlike some farm cafes which barely break even, Sunny Ridge is a successful business in its own right, open daily during strawberry season (November to April) from 9am to 5pm and on weekends between May and October.

"Strawberry picking is the biggest drawcard for our business and as the demand is constant throughout the season, we open daily," says marketing manager Joanne Petrillo. "Traditionally we haven't had high levels of visitation during the off season and open only on weekends. However, we have steadily been getting busier in the winter months and the cafe has gained a reputation in its own right so hopefully we will see a time when we open all year."

The cafe employs 10 people full time in the off-season, and up to 30 people during the busiest times. An additional 80 to 100 packers are employed over summer. "January is the busiest time and our busiest week is between Christmas and New Year," Mick says. "The staff are trained in all areas so must be able to make coffee and desserts, use the cash registers and do wine tastings."

Mick has employed a manager to provide much needed help with the cafe's workload - they can serve up to 200 coffees on a busy day. The cafe seats 30 inside with extra outdoor seating, and was purpose built in front of the packing shed surrounded by strawberry fields. The farm and cafe has a steady stream of local visitors and bus tour groups to international travellers from as far afield as Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore.

The farm produces about 2500 tonnes of strawberries each year, along with other berries, which are sold to green grocers, farmers' markets, supermarkets and at the farm gate.

About 5 per cent of the produce is picked by visitors, and a surprising 25 per cent of each season's yield is lost to birds. But according to Mick, it's simply the cost of doing business.

"We have the best fed birds in the state,'' Mick says. "But people come out here to see rolling green fields, not nets and tunnels. I'm very aware of the aesthetic element that people want.''

NICKELBY

FOR alpaca farmer Angela Betheras, a farm cafe isn't an easy way to make a dollar.

"I didn't get a lot of change out of $350,000 when I built the cafe," Angela says. "The cafe doesn't make any money. It covers costs but I couldn't pay my mortgage off it."

Angela says it is simply about the numbers. "The annual council rates for the cafe cost $470. I have to sell 72 coffee and cakes at $6.50 just to pay the council fee for the right to have a cafe. I own my coffee machine now, but the lease used to cost me $217 a month - that's another 33 coffee and cakes.

"So it's not about making money. It's about getting people to come out to the farm and my shop for something other than just spending money. And then they might buy something. I know people who have come out for coffee and bought a scarf or a rug as a direct result."

In 2005, Angela decided she would trade in an 18-year career as an international trade and supply chain manager for Coles Myer to return to her farming roots. She grew up on a beef farm at Labertouche in Gippsland, where her mother, Pat, lives, and has always yearned to get back to the country. In 2007, she bought 27 hectares in Darnum, not far from Labertouche, and started breeding alpacas.

In 2008, the economic downturn forced Angela to look for alternative ventures to bring customers to her property. Food seemed the obvious way to pique people's interest, so she set about gaining planning approval. She soon discovered her land fell within agricultural zoning.

"First, I was told by council that it couldn't happen,'' she says. "So then I spoke to the Baw Baw Council CEO at the time and said 'this is a bit ridiculous, you can't say no to people's dreams like that'. In the end the planning committee were fantastic. They could have followed the letter of the law and said no, but they helped me out. Eventually I got planning approval for an 'interpretive centre'."

This classification allowed Angela to open a cafe attached to the shop, where she she sells alpaca products and can teach people about alpacas and alpaca products. She also runs classes where people can learn, among other things, to make alpaca felt.

Angela uses lemons and limes from the trees in her driveway for her popular lemon and lime cake and also makes a renowned apple and walnut cake from a secret recipe.

She says about 25 per cent of her time is spent on the cafe, from gaining the necessary permits (she has food handling certificates and a responsible serving of alcohol licence), to the daily chores of ensuring her certified kitchen meets regular tests.

Angela says the secret to farm cafe success is reliability. "Because I'm not in a shopping strip, I needed to be a destination. I can't say I'm open then not be, it would create a lot of angst for people and could ruin my reputation very quickly. You have to be there all the time whenever your opening hours are listed, no matter what. If you think, 'oh it'd be a great day for spraying' you can't..''

She says some farm tourism business fail when they advertise "open by appointment" or ask people to phone first. "People won't do that, it's too hard. Rain hail or shine, you have to be open."

Angela says her coffee-and-cake operation, open Wednesday to Sunday and public holidays, works well, and although she admits an extra option such as a pizza on Sunday would increase traffic, she says that's a whole new business plan.

"For anything bigger than this, and to make real money from a farm cafe you have to look at staff, and I don't want to get into that. I have plans to do more classes and get more artists in."

For now, she enjoys the flow of people through the cafe and says working for herself has been liberating.

"I'm having lots of fun, working for myself and doing something I love, and most of all I'm back in the country."