One of the largest Marron farms in Australia was the first stop in the jam packed Pulse event last week. Located in Capel and owned by South West locals Jordan Parker and Scott Bell from Aquafarms this incredible solar powered facility including state of the art hatchery supplies over 90 farmers across Western Australia to produce over 60 tonnes of ultra premium marron to food businesses domestically and internationally. We saw how they manufacture their high quality marron and fish feed, and were lucky to get a sneak peek at the stunning views from the building works that will see them become an international and national tourism and education destination. With demand of marron outweighing supply and sustainable farming practices in place for this groundbreaking, complex operation there are plenty of exciting opportunities for innovation, R&D and collaboration ahead!
Next the group headed to 100% off grid brewery Rocky Ridge, Australia’s first Certified Sustainable & Carbon Neutral Brewery and WA’s largest beer exporter into the south east Asian market. It was impressive to hear from co-owner Mel Holland about how their fast growth was coupled with early adoption of innovative tech to see a 30% reduction in carbon footprint per litre of beer produced, on their way to achieve their commitment to Net Zero emissions brewing process by 2025. A site tour included their brewing and canning operations in action plus CO2 recapture plant, solar and new battery system, hybrid vehicles, responsible packaging, produce from their local first supply chain, biodigester, waste water recycling, and their first to market carbon neutral 100% traceable malt. What an incredible journey of growth, innovation and sustainability by Rocky Ridge in 5 short years!
Guests then headed back to Busselton to hear from global experts in maritime innovation and regenerative agriculture, and panel discussions with leading seaweed growers and supply chain sustainability experts, to then participate in facilitated breakout sessions to dive deeper into sustainability topics.
The day concluded with networking over nibbles & drinks at Shelter Brewing Co., where we heard from an industry leader Ben Cole about Dirty Clean Food, the food brand of leading regenerative food and agriculture company Wide Open Agriculture, their innovation team and exciting new protein products.
Thank you so much to AquaFarms and Rocky Ridge Brewing Co, and speakers and panellists Birgit M. Liodden, Ben Cole, Cameron Scadding , Margie Rule, Pierre BOUVAIS, and Sophie Teede.
This event brought together the Blue Gravity initiative and Connect Sustainable Industries program, supported by For Blue, Innovation Cluster, Department of Jobs, Tourism, Science and Innovation, Busselton Jetty, and Shelter Brewing Co
