New crop of Tassie entrepreneurs put to the test

A policewoman-turned-chef is among 13 entrepreneurs accepted into a program, hoping to get her healthy food pouches for dogs stocked in supermarkets around Tasmania. READ ABOUT THE OTHER PROJECTS >>

• Which Tassie eatery can you help out today?
• Boutique spirit producers still on a high

SOUS vide gourmet food pouches for pooches and a snail farm catering for a growing restaurant and beauty market are among the latest batch of food and agriculture start-ups in Tasmania.

Seedlab Tasmania, which receives federal funding and private sponsorship, started in January with the aim of helping Tasmanian businesses get off the ground, scale up, or become export ready.

Policewoman-turned-chef Esther Rupenovic is among 13 entrepreneurs accepted into a six-month mentoring program, with the aim of getting her healthy food pouches for dogs stocked in grocers and supermarkets around Tasmania.

Founder of health dog food start-up Jack & Chelo, Esther Rupenovic with her 15-year-old Maltese shih tzu Chelo. Picture: ZAK SIMMONDS

“I want dogs to eat well and live longer,” Ms Rupenovic said of the ethos behind her brand Jack & Chelo, which has been delivering 200g doggie dinners across Tasmania for the past 12 months.

“Unlike commercial dog food we identify all the ingredients and we have over 80 per cent protein in each meal. Commercial dog food is cooked at really high heat to kill off everything because they use a lot of waste product from abattoirs and then they have to add synthetic vitamins and minerals back into it.

“We don’t have to add any vitamins or minerals into our food,” she said.

Healthy dog food products from Jack & Chelo. Picture: Zak Simmonds

Ms Rupenovic, who starred on My Kitchen Rules in 2011 and spent several years in France working as a chef on super yachts, sources her meats from the Cressy and Longford abattoirs.

She cooks everything once a week from a rented commercial kitchen, before posting off orders to the North of the state in cold packs and hand-delivering around Hobart.

“Everything is human grade. You could literally open a packet of food and eat it yourself. It’s completely different to commercial dog food,” Ms Rupenovic said.

Snail farmer Kylie Rogerson, of Barefoot Organics.

Another Seedlab mentee, Kylie Rogerson, who lives in the North-West, is currently searching for suitable land to expand her greenhouse snail farming operation.

The aim of her fledgling Barefoot Organics is to breed common garden snails (helix aspersa) for Australian restaurants and the global beauty industry, as “snail secretion extract” is gaining popularity as a face cream and make-up ingredient.

Dean Smith has created an innovative business growing oyster mushrooms in a train tunnel at Mt Rumney Picture: LUKE BOWDEN

Two mushroom farms are taking part in the program — Bruny Island Mushrooms and Tunnel Hill Mushrooms at Mt Rumney, where owners Anita and Dean Smith are hoping to convert their 1891 railway tunnel into a viable agritourism venture.

Dean and Anita Smith hope to convert their oyster mushroom farm in an old train tunnel on the outskirts of Hobart into a viable agritourism venture. Picture: LUKE BOWDEN

Botanicals for gin production, walnuts, oysters, mussels, kombucha, ice-cream and cider are also among the latest batch of Seedlab recruits.

Apply for a Seedlab mentorship at www.seedlabtasmania.com.au/