Geraldton, about 400km north of Perth, is home to about 70 percent of the region’s population. Just offshore, the Houtman Abrolhos islands are as renowned for crayfish as they are for diving and birdwatching.
Inland, wheat, barley and canola crops roll on for as far as the eye can see, with the latter adding to the canopy of colour that erupts with the native wildflowers every spring.
Here are just five reasons we love the food from the Mid West.
Spectacular seafood
The pristine waters around the 112 islands of the Houtman Abrolhos are among Western Australia’s richest crayfish havens. Brolos Geraldton Fishermen’s Co-operative has been delivering the sweet, natural taste of the region’s rock lobster for decades, creating the WA Crays brand to ensure we all know the difference when we’re buying crayfish. (Try this moreish rock lobster salad with avocado and mango.)
The Indian Ocean also supports other prized catches. Fremantle Octopus sources from the region as part of its commitment to sustainable fishing along the coast, ensuring the octopus that lands on your menu can be traced back to well-managed waters.
Fresh scallops are also highly sought after, for dishes such as this drunken half-shell scallop with spring onion and ginger.
Between the reef and the coast, the region’s fishers reel in everything from whiting to snapper for the likes of wholesalers Coastal Fisheries, feeding a love of seafood that stretches from Geraldton’s busy harbour to tables around the State.
Vibrant vegetables
Behind the coastal dunes, greenhouses and market gardens of the Mid West help keep us stocked with fabulous, fresh vegetables year round.
Sun City Produce is one of the region’s great success stories. Be Nguyen and Nghi Tran arrived in Geraldton as refugees from Vietnam and learned the trade as labourers on local tomato farms before starting their own patch. More than 30 years on, their children – a geotechnical engineer, an accountant and a medical scientist – have returned to the family business, growing a diverse range of vegetables in Geraldton and nearby Walkaway, rotating crops to keep the soil healthy.
They are not alone in their passion for doing things the right way. 4 Ways Fresh Produce brought three decades of vegetable-growing experience from South Australia with them when they put down roots in Geraldton in 2015. Founded by another Vietnamese refugee, Duy Luy, the producer now sells much of the harvest through its store at Canning Vale market.
Growers like these have lifted the region’s reputation for fresh food, keeping us fed with everything from cucumbers to leafy greens and tomatoes.
Liquid gold
The Mid West is one of the State’s great grain-growing regions, producing wheat, barley and canola to feed the country and beyond.
Some of the canola gets a second life much closer to home. Midoxgate, the Mann family’s broadacre property on the Greenough River, produces award-winning canola oil. Block 275 cold-presses paddock-traceable, GM-free canola oil. Each batch is hand-bottled and labelled. No solvents, no heat, no bleaching, just 100 percent natural oil with real provenance. Little wonder it is popular with chefs around the State, as well as buyers such as Rigters’ Stuart Bain. (Try this superb cucumber salad with goat curd and canola for starters.)
This value-added approach to the crops we produce generates another revenue stream for producers, rather than simply exporting grain, and gives us something truly special to bring to the kitchen table.
Bush flavours
Long before Europeans arrived on our shores, this ancient landscape sustained the region’s traditional owners, including the Yamatji and Yued.
More of us are now discovering the unique flavours of their lands, thanks to the likes of Tucker Bush. Founded by horticulturalist Mark Tucek, Tucker Bush champions native ingredients such as Geraldton wax and saltbush from Western Australian regions, including the Mid West.
Whether you add a little Geraldton wax to granita or saltbush to rice crackers, you are sharing the remarkable taste of truly local food – something Mark would like to see as commonplace. (See the Tucker Bush recipe page for inspiration.)
Community spirit
As with all our remarkable regions, there are so many people producing delicious additions to our kitchens, restaurants and foodservice industries. What brings them together is a sense of shared purpose, one that is celebrated every year at the Shore Leave Festival.
Established in 2019, the Mid West Food Industries Alliance works to raise the profile of the region’s food and drink businesses in Western Australia and across the nation and beyond. It helps connect growers, fishers and processors – producing everything from canola to seafood, flour to rum – with the supply chain and each other.
It’s the kind of collaboration that also shines through each year at Buy West Eat Best’s Meet the Buyer™, where Mid West producers rub shoulders with the State’s biggest buyers and amplify their region’s standing with everything they share. From the reef to the paddock, it’s a reputation that will continue to grow, thanks to the ingenuity and passion of our producers and the quality of their produce.
We love all Western Australia’s remarkable regions. Want to explore some more? Read:
- Five reasons we love the Gascoyne’s food
- Five reasons we love Kimberley and Pilbara produce
- Five reasons we love Southern Forests food
- Five reasons we love the South West’s food and produce
- Five reasons we love the Wheatbelt’s produce
- Five reasons we love Great Southern food
- Five reasons we love Southern Forests food.