Poachers Pantry is a family business located on a farm between Canberra and Yass. The Bruce family and their team manufacture a range of artisan smoked meats for the retail and foodservice sectors. Also located on the property is a vineyard from which a range of premium cool climate wines is produced.
The two product ranges are brought together and showcased in an onsite restaurant, cellar door and farm shop. As such, tourism is used as a way of building brand awareness and has allowed the Bruce family to create a valuable interface with end-user customers.
The team at Poachers Pantry have recently undertaken a branding review and used the cellar door as a way of gaining customer feedback. One issue the team found, was that customers were looking for environmentally friendly packaging and artisan-style regional produce. With this information, their creative company were briefed to develop packaging that met the market demand.
This customer driven change yielded exciting results, with Poachers Pantry attracting new distributors for both the wine and smoked meats product lines. This has consequently led Bruce family to reconsider entry into the export market.
Susan Bruce, Founder of Poachers Pantry, urges business owners to always keep in touch with customers. While Susan admits this is not always easy for rural-based businesses, she insists it is critical to keep listening to customers in order to stay abreast of market trends and demands. Susan expands on this by pointing out that by doing so, small business owners can be nimble and respond quickly to feedback and changing trends. Susan also cautions business owners to not expect that what they are doing today will always be the right course. Flexibility and the ability to act quickly are advantages afforded to small business owners.
Susan encourages business owners to employ good people. Once the right people are in place, Susan advises to let them grow by giving them the responsibility to make decisions. She also encourages business owners to listen to the advice of their employees. Susan offers ‘Although the buck will always stop with the owners of the business, we cannot expect to always have the right answers’.
Phone:02 6230 2487
Email: unwind@poachers.com.au