Seafood Smokery putting Bundy on the culinary map, restaurant menus

If you told Lincoln Kirchner in 2017 that he’d be supplying some of the region’s top restaurants and taking out top gongs in Sydney, he probably wouldn’t have believed you. But he and his team are doing just that.

If you told Lincoln Kirchner in 2017, when he and his cousin Luke Traunt started their business, The Seafood Smokery Bundaberg, that they’d be supplying some of the region’s top restaurants and taking out top gongs in Sydney he probably wouldn’t have believed you.

But fast forward to 2021 and the boutique business is doing just that.

Recently the local business’s award-winning product was featured on the menus of restaurants at the Relish Food and Wine Festival on the Fraser Coast and even had a stall at the recent Farmer’s Markets which were part of the Taste Bundaberg Festival.

Mr Kirchner said they first sent their products to the Sydney Royal Show in 2019 as part of their Fine Food Festival.

“We literally sent some products away to see what the acceptance would be with what’s already out there, basically to see where we sat,” he said.

“We ended up with seven medals and a champion ribbon and trophy and it was quite surreal.”

The Seafood Smokery Bundaberg supplies a number of restaurants in Bundaberg, Fraser Coast and down to Brisbane.

With a variety of different smoked seafood products and a swag of awards for them, Mr Kirchner said he treated each batch as “test batch number 500” and continued finicking and experimenting.

“I’m always finicking with little bits to improve little areas, I am a person who will make stuff at the drop of the hat,” he said.

“I always keep my ear to the ground or finger on the pulse, I think if I can create something I’ll give it a go and I’m constantly experimenting.

“The moment I lose that inspiration to make stuff that little bit better, I’ll move on.”

Mr Kirchner said it was amazing to see what different chefs could create using their products.

The flavours that go into the smoked products are local with the fish caught locally by local fishermen.

Some of the wood used for smoking also comes from local macadamia farms.

The macadamia wood is used as a “spicing timber” with other Queensland hardwoods.

“It’s the one that inflicts the colour on the product and the general rounded flavour that goes with it,” he said.

“It’s also a nice add-on to the marketing side using the macadamia, but it all works as a genuine package so it was something we tripped over that happened to work, it’s a happy accident as I like to call it.

“The fishermen who supply me play just as much a part in the product that I do, they go out of their way to try and look after the fish to get it as best quality as possible so I’ve got the best product to start with.

“It’s amazing to see the respect they have for the animal.”

Mr Kirchner said it was a proud feeling to know local restaurants around Bundaberg and the Fraser Coast felt their product could add to their menu.

“It makes you very proud you get restaurateurs, in their own right, who attract clientele and feel your products can add to their menu it gives you that warm and fuzzy feeling inside that you’ve got something to offer no one else has,” he said.

“I supply restaurants from Bundaberg right through to Brisbane, they all use a different line and it’s really interesting to see how chefs use the product in the different ways.”

The flavours that go into the smoked products are local with the fish caught locally by local fishermen and local macadamia wood used for smoking

After a successful weekend at the Taste Bundaberg Festival’s farmer’s market and with products on the menu at Relish Food and Wine Festival on the Fraser Coast, Mr Kirchner said such events were important for smaller producers in the region.

“People who turn up to these food events are people who are usually genuinely interested in food, it’s more to do with the on-target market of people trying to expand their culinary experience,” he said.

“Then you have restaurateurs and chefs put your stuff out there on display at one of these events which is just another feather in the cap.”

The smokery offers a range of products including Spanish mackerel hams, sea mullet, mullet roe, blue mackerel, cold smoked longtail tuna, as well as paté.

You can find out more by visiting The Seafood Smokery Bundaberg website or facebook page.