You can send just about anything in the post these days, but who would have thought you could send fish?
Ann Vicary concedes it's a bizarre proposition, but that didn't stop her from trying. She's been selling her smoked trout online via the Farmhouse website for three years now, and says she's rarely had an issue.
"Nine out of ten times I think [it's fine] - I've done about 800 orders and I think we wouldn't have even had one percent problems."
The Farmhouse website, which allows customers to buy products straight from farmers and food producers, now makes up to 20 percent of Ann's business - not bad, considering her only other income stream is a farmers market in Canberra, which she travels to each weekend.
Her premium smoked trout has since made it onto plates across the country - "from Cairns down to Victoria," she says.
But figuring out how to viably send fish in the post wasn't easy. "There are not many people you can consult, because there are not many people in this line of business. "
Ann smokes each piece of trout in its own individual tin Source: Supplied
After some trial and error, Ann settled on a system that works - using frozen gel packs and a polystyrene box to pack her orders. In there, her trout can last four to five days.
But all that material means shipping costs total $25 per order - something Ann admits some customers baulk at.
"But as someone pointed out to me, if you lived in the city, had to go in [to a store] and park your car and pay parking, it would be equal to it."
And none the less, there are still many buyers happy to pay extra for Ann's premium product. Whereas most smokers smoke dozens, sometimes hundreds of trout at a time - which Ann says result in flavour variations - Ann smokes each trout individually. Each piece is placed in a small metal box and placed over its own individual flame, and there's never more than six trout on the go at any one time. "So therefore I have a really unique product which is a kind of boutique thing that people like," she explains.
Ann smokes her trout in her shed in in the NSW Riverina Source: Supplied
And the recipe for the brine she soaks her trout in is a closely guarded secret too.
"It's like Kentucky Fried Chicken, you can't have the ingredients," she smiles. "But they are Nordic spices, sugar and salt," a traditional recipe borrowed from her late husband's Swedish family.
Each piece trout is soaked in a special brine for several hours before being smoked Source: Supplied
Transport Troubles
Once the trout has been soaked, smoked and packed, the last step is to get the orders out the door. But sometimes that's where the biggest challenge lies.
On the day we visit, heavy rains have recently swept through the area. Ann's farm is off a dirt road, which is now impassable for all but the heaviest-duty vehicles.
As a one-woman operation, there are no other employees to ask for help.
Thankfully, her neighbour Colin is happy to assist - and has a truck big enough for the job.
Does it ever make her re-consider living alone in such a remote area?
"No I love it here, it was always the dream," she says. "A few disasters along the way - but nothing too detrimental!"
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