What Brought Us Here

The Millett Road Maker is here because our community (our friends, family, and networks) encouraged us to jump off the cliff.  To leave Simon’s employer and go it alone.  To chase what frustrated Simon about our disconnected and duopoly-driven food chain.  To be a part of the community working at the grassroots saying ‘we can do things better’.

Simon is one of those people who says ‘yes, and…..’.  He is easily excited.  He has not followed your ‘traditional’ career path - whatever that is these days.  He worked in hospitality during school, at hotels upon graduating, opened a coffee cart in the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art whilst studying at uni, volunteered at Engineers Without Borders to see if he wanted to ‘be an engineer’, and worked in employment training in Sth Africa, only to return to Australia to work for a man who inspired him. 

He collects hobbies and interests like a bee collects pollen – relentlessly and with a hoarder’s bent.  For a while, it seemed to be anything beginning with ‘b’ – baking, bread-making, bee-keeping, bbq’ing, brewing…. It has now extended to growing, jamming, preserving, welding, designing, and well, anything involving ‘making’.

Every time we stepped into the artificial lights of a supermarket we cringed. Walking along the aisles looking at out-of-season produce, artificially coloured meat, ‘bread’ first baked in Europe, and prices so low I wonder just how many people have been screwed on the journey to eye level shelf height.

As Simon’s collection of hobbies grew, we found ways to visit the supermarkets less. The growth of farmers markets put us in direct connection with those growing produce. We made our own bread and cooked big meals of local produce to last us through the working week. We moved to be the farm managers of Mossy Willow Farm and opened a small farm gate to sell eggs, veggies, fruits, preserves, jams, and meat.  We met Meneka from The Common Good Store – a woman so frustrated by the lack of supermarket alternatives that she opened her own organic grocer. 

And after two years working on Mossy Willow Farm, chasing all the things that Danny, Berry and Simon were all excited about – we were pretty exhausted.  Simon’s back bulged – literally.  He cut grass, weeded, tended, picked, pruned, watered and delivered during the day, and preserved between the hours of 11pm and 1am, before waking at 5am to bake bread.  We needed to step back and focus our energy.

We moved off the farm, and moved back to the house I grew up in Gisborne.  To a place, not many outside of the Macedon Ranges know of.  To the community that I knew and loved.

So with a man so excited about everything, what does he focus on?

We talked about his process of learning each hobby.  How it took a great deal of online research, workshop attendance, importing, and trial and error before he felt confident with each new activity. He talked of how intimidating it was walking into a homebrew store to ask for hops for his first brew and be asked ‘fresh, dried, pelleted, or frozen. Magnum, Saaz, Cascade, Golding or another….?’ accompanied by rolling eyes. 

How it was so hard to know where to start, and what the best tools were. How it was so hard to find someone to ask.

So we started planning a presence (retail or online) for him to share what he has learned – a place where people can come and talk to someone who has done it before, can lead them through the process, can show them their favourite tools and products, and they can leave with all they need to get started.

A place to be a comfortable beginner.

A place to be equipped with the tools to help you do it yourself.

The idea for the Millett Road Maker was born.

Simon started listing all the products he wanted to sell.  The list was impressive. The list, at over 200 products, was too long for our non-existent start-up budget.  ‘Imagine the stock cost’, I said!  And the lease, or freight costs! 

Besides, our market was untested.

So we talked about our options and decided to focus on one of his passions.

Bread.

Sourdough to be exact.

He has always loved the process – and we’ve had starter culture in our fridge for five years. He had all the tin options trialled and tested, dough scrapers sorted, culture processes tested, and books browsed. He’s experimented with humidity, moisture content, grain type and loaf size.

And everyone loves bread.

So we’re starting small. We registered our home kitchen with the council. We bought the largest oven that we could power.  We registered with the wholesale market in order to buy brilliant organic and biodynamic grains from a co-op we know and trust. 

Simon is baking sourdough five days a week and we sell wholesale and retail to our community. 
He’s started running sourdough workshops and includes his favourite tools in the goodie bag taken home by participants. Soon there’ll be an online store, and then we’ll think about what’s next.

With his bowerbird like ability to collect all the shiny things he needs to make his latest passion fly – I know there’ll be a ‘next’. 

Another ‘yes, and….’

But for now, this is our version of starting small to supply our community with quality food that is made in small batches with love.

Of trusting our gut.  Of being inspired by those around us – our community.

And that makes us pretty excited.