Produce Awards

Tassie’s best organic cream.

Is there such a thing as a happy cow? Tasmania’s Elgaar Farm says yes. The 2020 delicious. Harvey Norman Produce Awards winner has herds of them, grazing on pristine pastures and producing outstanding milk, cream, yoghurt and cheese. Here they share their story.

AT A TIME when milk consumption is in widespread decline, one of Australia’s most awarded dairies is proving that the cream always rises to the top.

The family-owned Elgaar Farm is famous for its full-flavoured certified organic milk and cream, and locals can’t get enough.

“This is the kind of milk you want to drink straight from the glass,” says Joe Gretschmann, who owns and runs Elgaar Farm with his wife Antonia and four of their six children and their partners. “The flavour changes every day depending on where the cows are grazing. You can taste the sweet lush grass in spring, while in winter there’s a bit of aromatic hay in there. It’s always different and always fantastic.”

Elgaar Farm’s organic milk has won two gold medals in the delicious. Harvey Norman Produce Awards, while its organic cream took out last year’s national trophy.

Built from the ground up by Joe and Antonia, Elgaar Farm is located in the mid-north coast of Tasmania on the rolling foothills of the Great Western Tiers mountain range. The 106-hectare property is home to about 95 Jersey and Guernsey cows that spend their days grazing on chicory, shepherd’s purse, yarrow, fennel, dandelion and chamomile.

“We recently counted all the herbs, grasses and clovers, and there are 38 different species,” says Joe. The multi-species herbage adds subtle flavour variations to the sweet, creamy products, but it’s not the only reason why they’re so highly prized. “It’s not just one thing, it’s the grass, soil, the ways the cows are raised, all these things are reflected in the milk,” he says.

The products mark a departure from the sameness of the standardised milk cartons and yoghurt tubs that line supermarket shelves.

“Commercial milk has become degraded. It’s all about high-production methods, and the milk is plucked apart and reconstituted by the time you get it.”

Joe prides himself on taking a different route. “We love the little changes in our milk over the seasons. We’re not looking to push limits or anything. When you do that you lose the taste, as well as the health benefits and the happiness of being a farmer.”

“WE LOVE THE LITTLE CHANGES IN OUR MILK OVER THE SEASONS.” – JOE GRETSCHMANN