Craft cider brand Incy Wincy Cyder has moved to Orange from Wollombi in the Hunter Valley.
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The business started seven years ago and the brand's owners, Peter Ross and Merryl Naughton chose the area due its vibrant food and beverage culture and in recognition of it being a prime destination for foodies from across Australia.
Both Mr Ross and Ms Naughton work remotely for corporate jobs based in Sydney and Canberra and manage the craft cider brand in their spare time.
The move to Orange will help them grow the business and move towards full time positions fermenting the cider and managing a cellar door.
For now, apples will continue to be sourced from Batlow NSW, as their labour intensive, hand crafted cider approach has an annual crushing cycle that's about to begin. Future cycles are expected to feature the high quality, locally-grown produce.
At the recent Cider Australia awards Incy Wincy Cyder picked up a gold medal and best in class for Huntsman 2020 and a bronze for Huntsman 2018. Both in the New World Cider Dry class.
At this stage their focus is to establish themselves in Orange. All product is now warehoused in the area and they are looking at cellar door and distribution options.
Once a year, the company produces between 3000 and 6000 litres of cider, which is fermented over five months. Most commercial cider fermentation is just weeks.
Before release, the finished cider is held in the bottle for eight to 12 months, on lees, before release.
With help from family and friends, the couple do the whole production, bottling (canning), labelling, packaging and distribution. Although they now have assistance of Aramex couriers in Orange.
Getting the fire started
A search for sustainable alternatives to petroleum smelling commercial fire lighters has led an Orange woman to start her own product range.
Candi Oliva started Pyromania.botanical this year in time for the cold weather using recycled materials, along with herbs, spices and foraged botanicals including flowers, leaves and gumnuts.
"It's been in my head for a lot longer than that," Ms Oliva said.
"Obviously it's a winter product.
"My children have fires and they have been using commercial fire lighters and we didn't like the lingering smell that was around."
She said they thought it was also not the best thing to have around their children so she started to make homemade fire starters.
She said an initial online search listed flamable items found around the home such as dryer lint and toilet paper rolls.
"Me being me I just wanted to make them pretty," Ms Oliva said.
She said family and friends helped her test her creations and gave feedback and ideas before she took the business online.
Feedback so far has been positive on Orange-based buy swap and sell sites.
"We've had quite a few orders, quite a few repeat orders," she said.
"Local feedback is wonderful.
"The general thing is 'they are too pretty', or 'they look like cupcakes'."
She said as well as aiming for something that will help people light their fires as well as looking and smelling nice trying to find organic local items was also a priority.
The fire starters are for use in fireplaces and fire pits.
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