The Cain family is making a break from tradition taking their best oats directly to consumers
GROWING oats is generally big business, but the Cains have made a break from tradition to take their best directly to consumers.
FOURTH-GENERATION oat farmer Maurice Cain has grown the crop for 55 years – nearly his whole life.
But, until last December, he had never eaten his own farm-grown oats.
Maurice regularly tucks in to a steaming bowl of porridge in the morning, but it is never just the echidna oats he grows with 33-year-old son Matthew on their 800-hectare cropping and sheep property at Natte Yallock, west of Bendigo. Their annual 350-tonne oat harvest has always been sold off to large processors and mixed with other growers’ oats, then made into cereals, breakfast bars or stock feed for domestic and export markets.
An innovative business plan, hatched last May by Maurice’s other two children, Alicia, 28, and Peter, 31, changed things.
The plan was to sell the top 5 per cent of their dad’s oats directly to customers with a business model built on the concept of “single origin oats”.
“The initial idea started when we were having a glass of wine,” Alicia says. “Behind the brand you understand where the wine is from and how it was made.”
The discussion centred on a simple question – if people care about where and how wine grapes are grown, why shouldn’t they feel the same about oats?
“Dad has always grown really good oats and won several awards in the past,” Alicia says. “We thought it would be great to take the product from paddock to plate and tell the story of where it’s from and how it’s made.”
Peter knew they found a gap in the market.
“People are looking for fresh healthy alternatives from the farm,” he says. “So, the market opportunity is well and truly there for not just us, but every other farmer.”
And so Dad’s Oats, named in tribute to Maurice, was born.
“We surprised Dad,” Peter says. “He didn’t know the name until he saw it on the box.”
Now, a year in, Alicia and Peter have processed 10 tonnes of oats under the brand in 500g bags of traditional, quick and unrolled oats, known as groats. They sell at farmers’ markets for $9 a pack, or four for $27, with 10kg tubs for sale to cafes.
They launched an online store last month, financed by a Pozible crowdfunding campaign which raised $19,300 – almost double their target of $10,000.
Dad’s Oats swiftly transformed from brainstorm to business in less than a year.
FOR the best oats, they rely on the expertise of Maurice and Matthew.
Matthew, an agronomist, and his wife, Kate, moved back to the property in December to manage the farm as partners with Matt’s parents, Maurice and Ruth.
The oat crop’s top 5 per cent is determined primarily on grain weight, but also colour and smell, Matt says.
He looks for a paddock with grains “as big and plump as they can be” and the least amount of small grains.
Maurice has been using low-till farming techniques for 20 years, disturbing the soil as little as possible when sowing and harvesting to retain ground nutrients and decrease erosion.
Matt’s passion for ag has led to further advances including deep blade precision seeding with a machine that plants seeds in a single path, all at exactly the same depth.
“We don’t have to cultivate,” Matt says. “The seeds are always perfectly at the depth we want them. The crops, whether canola, wheat or oats, all emerge at the same time.”
Regular soil testing and targeted applications of lime and gypsum are also part of his regime.
With Matt and Maurice taking care of the oats, Peter and Alicia, who both studied commerce at the University of Melbourne and work full-time in Melbourne, focus on logistics, marketing and sales.
With the initial plan to process just one tonne, the pair went in search of a processor.
“We soon realised it was too small for big processors to even talk to us,” Alicia admits.
So, after adjusting to a 10-tonne batch, they settling on a processor and Dad’s Oats’ first shipment of packaged oats returned to be stored in a warehouse, awaiting the next business step.
“We had to get serious about scaling it up,” Peter says. “We had a lot of product to sell.”
Alicia took on the role of chief designer, attending a one-day computer graphic design course so she could take control of everything from the Dad’s Oats logo to packaging design.
“We collected up a lot of packaging that we really liked and went for a box design that would stand out,” Alicia says.
Alicia used Google to find a supplier to print her modern logo on clean white boxes in eye-catching red and green.
Their method of inserting packs into the cardboard sleeves is slightly less inspirational.
“This batch is packed by hand,” Peter says, laughing. “We literally pop them up and slide the pack in. We might automate that eventually.”
Though the two ooze confidence and business acumen, it’s their willingness to work hard and learn on the hoof that has helped them succeed.
“No one else we know of is doing what we’re doing, bringing a single origin oat product to the market,” Alicia says. “I guess we’ve discovered why … it hasn’t been easy.
“Even the Dad’s Oats name, for example. We had to trademark it. Just working out how you would do that was a challenge.”
Hard work has set the selling phase of their business plan off to a sound start.
Peter built a website and promotes Dad’s Oats on social media with stunning photography, a compelling story explaining where and how the oats are grown, recipes created by mum Ruth and a video featuring the Cain family.
They sell at Fairfield, Collingwood Children’s Farm and Abbotsford Farmers’ Markets, enchanting customers by encouraging them to roll groats into oats using a hand roller.
“You see people blink,” Peter says. “They say, ‘Wow, I’ve eaten oats every day of my life for the last 30 years and I’ve never given it a thought that that’s how the rolled oats are made’.”
The buzz at their stall converts to a steady stream of sales and a confidence boost for the siblings.
“It reinforces why we’re doing what we’re doing,” Alicia says.
Matt and Maurice agree Dad’s Oats’ greatest achievement has been to reconnect people with their food, and farmers with the people they feed.
“The biggest thing Dad and I have enjoyed is going to the markets,” Matt says.
“On a farm level we don’t get exposed to that very often. It is a fairly big supply chain. So being able to go directly to the customer and get feedback, we go home with good ideas.”
DAD’S DOMAIN
MAURICE CAIN ON DAD’S OATS
Brand name surprise
“I did feel humble and proud. It has sanctified us as a farming family.”
Father-son partnership
“We’ve been working on a succession plan for five years. Matt has been an agronomist for 11 years now, is well experienced with growing crops and has been helping around the farm all his life. I’m happy to have him working on and running the farm.”
Direct blade seeding
“I dabbled in a little bit of direct drilling, but not as sophisticated as the machine Matt has brought in. It is amazing how you can sow every seed the same depth and it comes up so evenly.”
Market opportunity
“As a farmer you don’t sometimes realise the market. We’re removed. Alicia and Peter saw that demand and I didn’t, but I sure do now. I helped at the producers’ day at Daylesford and I was blown away by the interest. I spent all day talking to people about how oats are grown and working the hand roller. I think, as farmers, with a lot of our products, we don’t understand the market whether it’s lambs or grains or wool. We are too far removed from the actual customer.”
Seaweed offers new wave of feed
Dairy cattle on a seafood diet? A seaweed supplement is making a big difference to methane outputs in Tasmania.
Quality, not quantity the key to success
When it comes to award-winning crops, plant health is everything, as these Kyabram brothers can attest.