Gourmet Garden spreads its wings

These two men had wanted to find a way to maintain the flavour of fresh herbs when extending their shelf life, something that drying them did not do. Their process of storing fresh chopped herbs and spices under refrigeration with no alteration to taste was tested from the mid-1990s and commercialised by the Botanical Food Company in 1998. Gourmet Garden launched a year later, with its range of stir-in herb and spice pastes in tubes. In 2006, Gourmet Garden moved into a new purpose built processing plant, which gained organic certification by the Organic Food Chain in 2009…

 

…And Gourmet Garden’s Lightly Dried Herb and Spices range, in its resealable pinch pouches and convenient fridge holder, appeared in Woolworths and some IGAs in April 2014. 

So, how did that go? Well firstly, the company now exports its ranges to the US, Canada, the UK, Europe, New Zealand and Asia, and expansion into further international markets is currently being explored.

And secondly, Gourmet Garden has undergone a multi-million dollar expansion at its Sunshine Coast herb prepping facility to keep up with consumer demand.

Sales that were achieved greatly overreached expectations for the launch phase. And Gourmet Garden has created 50 new jobs.

Expectations for the next phase, which involves a clever click-n-stack packaging concept, are high. The click-n-stack packaged range will go into Coles stores nationwide this month.

Gourmet Garden chief executive officer, Nick White, stated, “We’re delighted with the response we’ve had to the new products so far, which has exceeded all expectations.

“We believe that busy cooks have welcomed the range because Lightly Dried has filled a gap in the market between fresh herbs that don’t last and dried herbs with diminished flavour.

“The feedback from our customers has been excellent and we’re excited to see how they respond to the new click-n-stack offering.”