Artisan butter maker may soon be seeking shelf space at Woolworths

Monica Cavarsan, Lard Ass, Ocean Grove, makes hand-crafted, cultured butter.

She's taking part in the Cultivate program, run by Hobart-based Seedlab Australia, with the aim of selling her products through Woolworths.

Seedlab is a national incubator and accelerator program for Australian and New Zealand producers of value-added food and non-alcoholic drinks.

Ms Cavarsan said she did the six week SeedLab Bootcamp, before moving onto the Cultivate program, which runs for four months.

"It's a more intensive program, to finesse your product and enable you to get it into Woolies," she said.

"I always thought I would never been in a supermarket, but I changed my mind and thought I can't fight the big guys so I might as well just join them," she said.

Her product did not have to go into every Woolworths store but could be confined to the Bellarine Peninsula and Geelong - "that's still a lot of stores, in that catchment alone," she said.

"That would be a good stepping stone but it seems so overwhelming and daunting to be in a supermarket."

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Lard Ass was one of a number of businesses, that had problems in getting their products delivered by Australia Post.

Lard Ass products are currently available online, through farmers markets and in independent grocers and fruit and vegetable stores from Warrnambool to Ballarat and Wangaratta, as well as in Melbourne.

"Because we are an artisan product, it would be really good to put ourselves against the commercial products and show the difference," she said.

"There really needs to be an awareness and education around the fact butters are not all made in a big factory.

"There is a space for small batch products, you just have to educate people about them."

Ms Cavarsan said Lard Ass currently produced one tonne of products a week but was currently in the process of scaling up.

"Now we are double factory, we have a dedicated churn and forming room and we have doubled the footprint of our cool room, as well," Ms Cavarsan.

A 2000 litre churn, currently being installed, would enable Lard Ass to make five tonnes of products a week.

"I wouldn't go into the program knowing I couldn't supply them (Woolworths) - you only get once chance at this," she said.

The company has been running for seven years and it was time to show it was a mature and viable business, Ms Cavarsan said.

"We've ridden that wave of being a funny name and a good product, but that tends to run out after a while and you have to start showing people you are serious about what you do," she said.

SeedLab chief executive Hazel MacTavish-West said Lard Ass could be featured in the dairy cabinet at Woolworths by the end of the year.

Seedlab was supported by Woolworths, with an additional $2.3m funding provided until June 2024.

"It's free, real-world support, we don't take shares or equity in the businesses," Dr MacTavish-West said.

The course enabled businesses to get "retail ready" and pitch their products to Woolworths.

"We spend time working with the businesses, helping them communicate their unique value proposition and understand what the category manager in Woolworths would be looking for," she said.

"We help them communicate that, in a meaningful way, with a promotional plan, getting the appropriate margins set and understanding how and when to do promotions.

"The big thing is how to set themselves apart from the competition, because there is only a limited amount of shelf space and they have really got to have something unique."

Woolworths wanted more small producers to sell through their stores, she said.

"Often, they are looking for businesses in various regions to be local suppliers - Monica is a great example - that gives them a point of difference from their competitors, as well."