Jeff Halacas was just two months-old when the Castlemaine fruit and veg store he now co-owns first opened its doors.
“I grew up saying ‘I’m never going to be in it’, but I just love food and I love doing it,” he says.
Business profile: Jeff Halacas
Established 33 years ago by Halacas’ parents, who migrated to Australia from Greece in the late 1950s, Castlemaine Fruit Supply has now become much more than the average fruit and veg shop.
“We’ve got a bakery and a deli section, just like a little grocery store,” Halacas says.
“We predominantly use as local as possible, so we have our own bakers that bake for us, we do our own cakes, muffins, jams, dips and stuff like that out of our own kitchen.”
“Then out of the orchard we grow all our own apples, pears, cherries, peaches, nectarines, stone fruits, quinces,” which he says are a hit with both the locals and the hoards of weekend tourists that flock to the foodie country town.
“We’ve also got Greek Firikia and Koudoula apples that we grow ourselves,” he says, adding that his family might be the only Australian producers of the Greek varieties.
“My grandfather, when he bought the orchard [in the 1960s], he grafted them,” Halacas says. They’re now available at several Melbourne markets including St Albans and the Queen Victoria Market.
The whole operation continues to be a family affair too, with Halacas crediting the close cooperation between his relatives as a key reason for the business’ ongoing success.
Among a staff of about 30, Halacas and his cousin Dennis run the shop while mum and aunty take care of the kitchen duties, Uncle George is out in the orchard, and dad and another uncle head to the markets.
“Having so many family members working well together, that’s probably been the main key,” though he also points out that it’s important to maintain a point of difference in the market.
“Our main thing is that we do grow a lot of our own stuff, we do bake and make a lot of our own stuff, and then whatever else we have in terms of honeys and coffees is as local as possible,” he says.
“We branch out and are constantly changing the business, reinventing it. At the start it was purely a fruit and veg shop, whereas now it’s become so much more. Anything you need, any food or ingredient, we’ve got it, or we will get it.”
Halacas says the soaring demand for exotic ingredients is a result of the expanding taste buds of the local population.
“When dad first started we basically sold spuds and carrots and stuff, and it’s just moved so much with the times where even things like galangal and kaffir lime leaves are things that are on the shelf now, whereas before they were things that people asked for.
“So there’s nothing really that we don’t have. Even Asian food has gone huge, so we’ve got a lot of sushi stuff and all those sorts of foods,” he says.
He also credits an unexpected source for the recent development in the local palette.
“Thank God for Jamie Oliver!” he exclaims, “because without him people wouldn’t be so open to so many different foods, and he does push for local stuff, so I do think that these sorts of shows like MasterChef have got a big part to play.”
The Halacas family have further capitalised by introducing Mediterranean specialities straight from their own kitchen into the 12,000-strong largely Anglo-Australian local market.
“Being a Greek family in such an Australian community, which is not as diverse as in Melbourne, people relate to the product because we’re making it,” Halacas says.
“Falafels, pestoes, tapenades, all that sort of deli stuff. Then, now with Easter we made a heap of tsourekia and sold a hell of a lot of those. Kourabiedes and all the different Greek biscuits as well,” he says.
Above all though, Jeff Halacas says it’s important to be honest with your customers and your product.
“Keep things fresh, keep them local and consistent. We really rely on quality and consistency in our product,” he says.
Castlemaine Fruit Supply can be found at 73 Mostyn Street, Castlemaine and is open Mon-Fri 7.30am-7pm, Sat 7am-4pm, Sun 10am-5pm. Ph: (03) 5472 2793.