In Western Australia’s South West, the art of cheesemaking has found an unexpected partner – distilling.
At Harvey Cheese, waste whey from production – once a disposal headache – is now the foundation for a small-batch spirits label, St Duke’s Distillery.
It’s a perfect illustration of what happens when creativity meets collaboration: turning what was once 90 percent of lost milk volume into a new stream of value and flavour.
Owner Pieter Lottering laughs when he says the family “went from mining to making moonshine”, but the ingenuity is no joke.
“If we can get the factory to full production, we’ll have almost no waste,” he says.
“That’s the goal – complete value from every litre of milk.”
St Duke’s is one of only a handful of distilleries in Australia producing alcohol directly from whey rather than imported ethanol.
The result is a silky, textural base for gins, vodkas and liqueurs – homegrown, honest and unmistakably West Australian.
It’s a mindset that extends well beyond the stills.
Harvey Cheese collaborates with local dairy farmers – from cow to goat to buffalo – helping others bring premium, small-batch cheeses to market.
“We’re all stronger when we work together,” Pieter says.
“Our real competition isn’t each other; it’s the sea of imported products that don’t tell our story.”
It’s exactly this kind of ingenuity that shines at Meet the Buyer™, Western Australia’s only dedicated food and beverage trade exhibition, delivered by the Buy West Eat Best program.
Each year, the event brings together hundreds of local producers and trade delegates – from wine and spirits makers to chefs, grocers and distributors – for a single day of tasting, talking and deal-making.
For winemakers and growers, Meet the Buyer™ is a marketplace of possibility.
It’s where the state’s best food and beverage producers showcase what’s next – new ingredients, fresh pairings, export-ready products and local innovations that shape the menus, cellar doors and tasting flights of tomorrow.
In 2025, the event marks its fifth and largest year yet, hosting more than 500 WA-made products and attracting buyers from across Australia and 12 international markets.
Among them are restaurateurs and sommeliers looking for distinctly regional pairings – the kind of provenance stories that make wine sing on a menu.
For growers, it’s a chance to connect directly with retailers who champion local, and with producers who share a commitment to sustainability and collaboration.
From boutique cheesemakers to distillers, bakers and olive oil artisans, the diversity of exhibitors offers inspiration for cellar-door experiences, regional food events and co-branded releases that deepen the wine tourism story.
As Pieter points out, “We would love to have more conversations with restaurants and wine venues about putting local cheese and spirits on their menus.
“We’re competitively priced and our quality is much higher than imported products flooding the market.”
The atmosphere at Meet the Buyer™ is unlike any other trade show – relaxed, open and collaborative.
Delegates wander between stands sampling everything from truffle salt and dry-aged beef to small-batch gin and artisanal cheese, often sparking partnerships that continue long after the day ends.
Independent evaluation of the 2024 event found that 67 percent of participants engaged with new buyers or contacts they hadn’t accessed before, 83 percent discovered new products, and more than half secured tangible commercial value through new partnerships or relationships.
It’s proof that these are not just conversations – they’re catalysts.
And for winemakers, they’re opportunities to find local collaborators who can elevate their experiences and extend their reach beyond the bottle.
Imagine a Harvey Cheese x Margaret River Chardonnay pairing at your next tasting.
A St Duke’s whey vodka cocktail at a vineyard sundowner.
A cross-regional gourmet trail that pairs your cellar with the best of WA’s producers.
At the 2025 event, Pieter will showcase his latest buffalo-milk cheeses – including brie, blue and the Wensleydale-style Buffalo Baron – alongside the St Duke’s range of spirits.
For him, it’s about more than exposure.
“Meet the Buyer™ isn’t just a trade day,” he says.
“It’s a chance to tell your story to people who care about quality, provenance and connection.
“Every great product starts with a great relationship – and this is where those relationships begin.”
For WA’s wine industry, that’s an invitation worth heeding.
Because while the state’s vintners are world class, their next chapter may be written not only in barrels but through collaboration – with cheesemakers, distillers, growers and chefs who share the same soil and the same ambition to make Western Australia’s produce the best it can be.
So if you make, pour, pair or grow wine, Meet the Buyer™ is your opportunity to see what the future tastes like – and to help shape it.
• Meet the Buyer is an industry and trade event at Crown Perth on Tuesday 21 October 2025. The exhibition floor is sold out, but anyone involved in the wine industry still have until Friday 17 October to snap up tickets to all things tasty and terrific – and local!