der's work with the SAKGF enhances her
position as a culinary leader. Alla Wolf-
Tasker released her fi rst cookbook Lake
House A Culinary Journey in Country
Australia in 2006, and is regularly called
upon to comment on food and regional
issues in the media. Her most recent ap-
pearance was after the Victorian bush-
fi res this year, when she asked tourists to
keep visiting those regions unscathed by
the fi res. "Thankfully the Daylesford area
remains gloriously pristine and fresh, but
the drop in visitation from people having
been scared off is likely to have consider-
able consequences for businesses across
our region."
undertook media training early. "I am shy,
as are a lot of chefs, and we're all a bit
paranoid about the media; bad reviews
are death to any restaurant. But everyone
wants to speak to the chef, so I had to
learn to deal with it." She writes regularly
for several publications,
and believes a growing
global food media such
as Network TEN's Mas-
terChef programme will
broaden opportunities for
savvy food professionals.
media, Edye adds. "Word
of mouth is a very effective way to build
a profi le, and social networking sites are
increasingly popular in business. Online
forums and a blog on your website are all
good, cheap ways to connect directly with
customers," she says.
says: competition can broaden your mar-
ket overall by attracting more consumers
to the category. The way to meet it is by
remaining consistent to your brand and
diversifying your offerings. Wolf-Tasker
consciously fostered local tourism along-
side her own business, while Donna Hay
is a constant innovator, conscious of
the competition in food magazines. Hay
opens her fi rst General Store in Sydney's
Woollahra this month, and launches a
range of homewares for Royal Doulton
later this year.
its life, don't be afraid to let it go, Edye
says. "Sometimes it is better to take some-
thing off the market rather than letting it
die a slow and painful death." The up-side
to this is the opportunity for change.
of glory although times had been get-
ting tougher towards the end. These days,
her energy is inspiring a different culi-
nary revolution: the Stephanie Alexander
Kitchen Garden Foundation aims to teach
children how to approach fresh food with
confi dence and knowledge. "It is my belief
that the earlier children learn about food
through example and positive experienc-
es, the better their food choices will be
through life," Alexander says. And when
Stephanie Alexander speaks, people lis-
ten: In 2006, the Victorian state govern-
ment announced grants of $2.4 million
garden programs in state primary schools
over following three years.
footing, she was gutted, but it gave her
the incentive to downsize. "That was a
pretty dark hour but all that understand-
ing has made it possible to do what I am
doing now," Claringbold says. "My back-
ground is in fi ne dining but a lot of the
places that thrived in the 1980s were run
on passion, and were not necessarily seen
by their owners as a means to make mon-
ey. We've all had to grow up a bit, I think.
Passion is incredibly important, but if you
want to survive, you also need to have
an understanding of marketing, costing,
public relations and recruitment. You
have to be good with people, understand
your produce, deal with suppliers and
have a reasonable understand of business
accounting and computer skills."