Pukara Estate saw an opportunity to diversify their offerings beyond traditional olive oil, and took it.
For the husband and wife team behind a product fast becoming an Australian household staple, Pukara Estate's success has been forged off an acute understanding of farming principles.
"Agriculture shouldn't be a mono mentality. It has to be a continuous roll to take the seasonal peaks out," believes Pukara's patriarch Steve Goodchild.
To make it stack up commercially, you have to be generating cash monthly.”
Today, the Pukara name is renowned for producing a premium olive oil product available in restaurants, food fairs and supermarkets, but the Muswellbrook headquarters has branched out into other areas of agriculture.
The business uses lambs to graze amongst the groves, rather than taking heavy machinery through, and then sells the lambs to restaurants in the Hunter Valley region.
While it is a great brand fit, there are practical incentives at play too.
"If it isn't the olive crop, it's the hay crop or the fat lambs rolling through seasonally. It works, it's good," says Mr Goodchild.
While diversifying their offering has been important, at its core, the Goodchilds have always looked to maintain quality control of their main offering - olive oil.
"We can do as many products as we can. It is not being the biggest, it is being a viable credible product on the shelf," says Racquel Goodchild.
It's a sentiment echoed by her business partner and husband.
"Australian olive oil is a small industry. There is no doubt you could sell out in two months. But it is about creating value and keeping ourselves passionate and interested," says Steve.
One way to stay ahead of the curve and to keep the passion burning for the process is to continually create new offerings.
Pukara sells more than a dozen varieties of olive oil. More
Photo : Steve and Racquel Goodchild, Owners of Pukara Estate