Predrag’s taste for heirloom tomatoes leads to farm business buy

It’s a big leap from sitting in a Sydney office working on investment venture capital platforms for clients to buying a tomato farm in Tasmania, but Predrag Reznic will do anything for the perfect tomato.

The Croatian-born financier was used to directing people into exciting start-ups including farm-based ventures and was contemplating doing the same, possibly in a vineyard.

Then he tasted the tomatoes from Annette and Neville Reed’s Tasmanian Natural Garlic and Tomatoes business at Selbourne and it set in place a transition that neither party could have envisaged.

“I love to cook and I was trying to replicate a traditional Italian sauce recipe that used three types of tomatoes that I couldn’t find anywhere,” Predrag said.

“My research led me to call the Reeds and I couldn’t believe that they not only had all three, but hundreds of heirloom tomato varieties, so I asked them to send some in the post.

“I was so excited I worked from home the day they were due to arrive and my wife and I tasted one after the other - and were absolutely gobsmacked.”

Predrag made a point of visiting the farm on his next trip to Tasmania, in February last year, and became engrossed in the backstory of how the Reeds had developed the largest tomato seed bank in the southern hemisphere while growing tomatoes using organic and biological principles without pesticides or synthetic sprays. 

The rare and traditional cultivars grown in the Meander Valley’s cool climate not only produce exceptional flavour but the enterprise also spawned the much-loved annual Tomato and Garlic Festival.

"I asked them how do you have brown, black, red and green tomatoes and they’re all superb?” Predrag said.

“I said they’re the best I’ve tasted anywhere in the world, and they told me they were winding back operations as they moved into retirement. I just couldn’t let that happen.”

On the last day of his honeymoon back in Croatia, on June 21, Predrag signed paperwork to buy the business with a three-year transition plan that involved mentoring and oversight by the Reeds.

He’s now living on-site and learning about growing tomatoes while developing a new brand and business plan aimed at scaling up production to make heirloom varieties available to the best chefs and gourmet food lovers in the country.

“The average person buys 8.7kg of tomatoes per year, and I believe 99 percent of them come from supermarkets and have been grown hydroponically - and a good percentage goes uneaten,” he said.

“They’re bought based on looks and colour but the taste isn’t there - I know because it had been years since I’d had a good tomato before trying Annette and Nevil’s.”

Predrag has already added 11 poly tunnels to the 19 that were established with plans for further expansion.

“Ideally, we’ll reach the point where we have 1000 tonnes of tomatoes available for dispatch each season,” he said.

For Annette and Neville, who have always been content selling at local markets and catering at the farm gate it’s a heady prospect and they’re grateful that someone has not only appreciated their product but agreed to continue their legacy.

The venture began in 2010, after they grew a small, experimental crop of garlic and 1600 heirloom tomato plants, to produce seed for a Tasmanian seed distributor. 

By 2014, they were both working full-time on the farm and their produce was being discovered by an appreciative public.

“Predrag has taken over the fresh fruit side of things now and we’re just concentrating on seed and the annual seedling sale which is currently underway,” Annette said.

“We’ve got people calling in every day, right through October and November, grabbing their favourite varieties to grow over summer.

“Tasmanian Natural Garlic and Tomatoes will wind down over the next couple of years and morph into the new brand, Seed and Stem.

“We’ll concentrate on getting the rest of the farm up and running - focussing on one area and keeping it low key. Nevil likes his cattle and that’s where we started, and our son is considering moving back here so we won’t stop working altogether but it will be nice to slow down and concentrate on the grandchildren.”

Nevil has also become a poly tunnel expert over the years and runs regular “how to” workshops to help others build quality hothouses on a budget.

These skills have been invaluable as Predrag invests in more infrastructure for the scaling up process.

“In my first year here there will be about 2500 seedlings but ideally I’d add another 1000 the following year and so on until every variety in the seed bank, all 347 varieties, are being grown,” Predrag said.

“You certainly can’t get any more out of the quality, so it’s about quantity, and that will mean employing more seasonal workers as necessary.”

The tomato and garlic festival is now a separate enterprise run by a committee as the Tasmanian Heirloom Festival, held on the third Sunday in March.

In a new home at nearby Quamby Estate and with an expanded format it was well patronised earlier this year.

A three-year contract is expected to see it continue at Quamby in the short term despite the venue going on the market this week.