producer of the year: Farmery Estate Brewery
Brothers Chris and Lawrence Warwaruk launched Farmery Estate Brewery as a way of sharing locally grown barley with communities both near and far. Since 2011, they have been brewing GMO-free premium lager sourced from the prairies, growing barley, wheat and hops. Though producing ingredients locally requires more man power, using homegrown grains is at the core of their values.
Barley grown from their farm at Arden Ridge outside of Neepawa is used in Farmery’ s flagship beer and Farmery Flour Collection. This has earned Farmery Estate Brewery Ciao! magazine’ s 2015 Good Food Manitoba Producer of the Year award.
Now part of the breakfast table, the Farmery Flour Collection launched in May, made to educate customers on what can be created with the same barley used in Farmery beer.“ We wanted to create a product that most people( beer drinkers or not) can support, understand and make on their own,” says Chris. The line includes Whole Grain Pancake Waffle mix and Harvest Beer Bread, which can be mixed with milk or with a Farmery beer for added complex, malty flavour.
Their journey started from the family farm to opening two restaurants including the city’ s first gastropub. Moving west one province at a time, Farmery recently launched in Alberta after operating for three years in Manitoba and two in Saskatchewan. As the business grows, supporters from major cities and rural towns share their enjoyment through social media.“ We can’ t expect everyone to always come to the farm to see what’ s new, so today’ s technology allows the world to have access to our farm,” states Chris.— KC
inthekitchen
dietary need.
Today, three campus locations dish out hot meals and snacks, and Elements, a full service restaurant open to the public as well as students, adds table service to the school’ s dining options. Diversity’ s operations have expanded to catering events all over the city, from coffee-andmuffin corporate meetings to white-napkin affairs, managing Fort Whyte Alive’ s Buffalo Stone Café, and launching a line of take-away, deli style eats, available at Vita Health locations and Crampton’ s Market.
Kramer’ s role has evolved into that of a mentor. Bright young chefs Aron Epp( chef de cuisine at Elements) and Kelly Cattani( who has taken the mantle at Buffalo Stone Café) are in the trenches executing the company’ s vision daily, while Kramer manages menus and projects.
High-profile gigs like RAW: almond and annual fundraisers like Grazing in the Field and 100 Mile Dinner have provided the opportunity to propagate eating local,
“ Our core values don’ t change... whether we’ re serving fine dining or a cafeteria burger.”
winning hearts by filling stomachs. In 2014, Diversity provided food for festivalgoers and backstage for performers at the Winnipeg Folk Festival. It went so well, Kramer signed a five year contract with the fest.
This sense of fun and community spirit is a by-product of the same force that provides the drive for sustainable food: love of the land. Though the company may have grown, the same philosophy informs each new venture.“ Our core values don’ t change,” Kramer notes,“ whether we’ re serving fine dining or a cafeteria burger.”
Diversity has excelled in taking this idealistic, scratch-made cooking style and scaling it up. Chefs like Cattani, who won the prestigious Gold Medal Plates competition in 2013, apply experience as well as creativity to the task. The respect for the craft that these taste-chasers share
10 ciao! / aug / sep / two thousand fifteen