We’re all in it together
It is something that often surprises visitors to Orange; that local food and wine businesses are just as quick to recommend a competitor’s product as their own. Visit any cellar door and you will be offered tips on where to visit next, restaurants to eat at and more.
“I’ve said for a long time, the smart people in Orange work together,” said James Sweetapple from Cargo Road Wines.
“You won't come to Orange as a tourist if there is only Cargo Road Wines or only Small Acres Cyder. You also need Sweet Sour Salt, Pioneer Brewing, Charred, Ross Hill, Phillip Shaw — you need everybody. You are not just going to go visit a one trick town.”
“Yeah, we’ve always been on-recommending each other and sending customers to each other’s cellar doors,” said James Kendell from Small Acres Cyder.
“So there has always been a collaboration, the big difference has been how do we bring that online.”
Like others in the industry, Cargo Road Wines and Small Acres Cyder have been forced to turn their attention online to engage with their customers and, hopefully, make a few sales.
But from the beginning, James and James set about working together and through their weekly videos they have extended that collaboration to other local producers and restauranteurs like Pioneer Brewing, Origin Chocolate Sweet Sour Salt and Charred.
“We were doing it beforehand, this is just in a different way I guess,” said James Kendell.
“Everyone was saying get online and do virtual tastings, which is kind of fun and is great to see, but we also felt that, on the other side of this, we needed to be promoting Orange as a region. If we get people coming back to Orange, James and I will benefit but then everybody benefits… motels, restaurants, pubs, cafes — we are all in the same boat.”
“We've got to look big picture,” said James Sweetapple. “It is fantastic to think we'll get orders straight away from an interview online, but it doesn't happen. But doing this, people can see these guys are working together and be hopefully we’ll be front of mind when people start travelling again.”
And more than just the business side of things, the weekly collaborations have been just as much about looking after each other.
“There has been a great mental health aspect to this,” said James Kendell. “I'm now at home by myself, my wife and two children are stuck in the UK. So, to be able to safely, once a week, meet up and discuss not only business, but ask, ‘How are you doing?’ Asking the question has been a very valuable aspect to the whole thing as well… It’s bloody tough for everyone.”