FLINDERS Island Fresh could soon be a household brand name for restaurants across Tasmania and Victoria and its residents.

Flinders Island residents Samantha Gowthorp, better known as Sammi, and Jo Youl have partnered to create the Flinders Island Fresh label to promote what the island's producers are doing and give them time to focus on what they do best - produce.

About a dozen products are being marketed under the banner already, including Flinders Island Meats, Unavale Wine, Brymworth Farm Garlic, Straitwater, The Lettuce Lady and Furneaux Coffee.

All products are produced and made on the island.

Ms Gowthorp said being a small community, residents needed to come together to promote the island.

"It's hard to try and do it all," she said.

"We are working with the producers to help them on the marketing side of their business so they can focus on being the producers."

Ms Gowthorp has a background in multimedia film video, so she is using those skills to help show off what the producers are doing by video and online.

Ms Youl has a Bachelor of Rural Business Management and a strong interest in Agri Marketing and Brand Management.

The pair are already having success promoting the island.

A Flavours of Flinders Island event was held at Melbourne's prestigious food and wine venue Eureka 89 in March.

Ms Gowthorp said the event featured a range of the island's products, including a new wasabi ice-cream developed by White Rabbit Gourmet.

"I sent some over for the chef to try ... and he loved it and ordered five litres for the dinner," Ms Gowthorp said.

"It's those sorts of opportunities that help. So instead of the chefs or restaurants having to speak to 10 different people, they can just speak to us (Jo and I).

"We're that one point that people can come to."

An old shack, which was originally a self-service supermarket built by Don Bailey in Lady Barron, has been revamped and made into the Flinders Island Fresh headquarters.

Ms Gowthorp said the shop would be a place people could come, see and taste products being made on the island as well as look at art made by locals.

"We're going to do some wine tastings here too, so we're trying to get our liquor licence," she said.

"We might have different (art) exhibitions throughout the year of different work, but the basis will be that it will be a place people can come taste local produce, buy local produce and enjoy the view (out to the river)."

Ice-cream tasting is on the 'for-the-future' list and Ms Gowthorp would like to offer catering opportunities on the island, including providing hampers for holiday accommodation.

As well as promoting other producers, Ms Gowthorp and Ms Youl are developing their own line of product incorporating different Flinders Island produce.

A "the island kids" range is also in the making.

"That will be targeted at kids and for healthy eating," Ms Gowthorp said.

"They'll be things like a kids curry paste, which will be using Sophie's garlic and we've got someone who is growing some ginger on the island too.

"We've got lots of people growing apples and pears, so maybe we might have some dehydrated fruits too."

Flinders Island Fresh was launched earlier this year and more information can be found at flindersislandfresh.com.au.

WHAT started as a hobby to fix a bad day at work has turned into an obsession and successful garlic business for the Mark and Sophie Pitchford.

The couple owns Brymworth Farm at Emita where they grow 25,000 organic garlic bulbs.

Mrs Pitchford said another woman used to grow small amounts of garlic on the island and had often asked "why don't you start growing it?"

"It literally started as a bad day at work and I said can I come and see you and she gave me some bulbs and that's where it started eight years ago," Mrs Pitchford said.

"I planted 300, then I went to 3000.

"I got the taste of it, so I went to 15,000 and then went up to between 90 and 95,000."

The family soon realised 90,000 was a bit much and have settled with 25,000 bulbs.

Flinders Purple Garlic is the main type of garlic the family grows.

They use it to make dehydrated garlic, including chilli, rosemary and thyme and lemon and garlic flavours and are experimenting with smoked garlic.

It is a tough job for the family of five, especially when Mr and Mrs Pitchford work full-time.

Mr Pitchford runs the family's THP Transport business, while Mrs Pitchford is the Flinders Island Council corporate services co-ordinator.

Their children Tom, 10, Harry, 8, and Poppy, 6, are learning the ropes of planting and harvesting with Tom doing all the racking when the garlic was planted this year.

The garlic is usually planted between March and April. The family weeds and waters most of the year, before harvesting, drying and packing in November.

"It becomes addictive after a while," Mrs Pitchford said.

"Mark often tells me to stop looking at every single bulb I pull out of the ground because I'm always amazed.

"The most rewarding part is the customers coming back and saying we want more."

The product is sold at Launceston's Alps and Amici close to Christmas and on the new Flinders Island Fresh website throughout the year.

Mrs Pitchford said the family was still working out what to do into the future.

"Whether we go bigger with organic and employ someone or whether we do the other side of the farm without organic, we'll wait and see," she said.

The family would also like to test out growing almonds and has drawn up plans to build two modern accommodation "shipping containers" on their property.

DAVID Madden knows he and his son James are onto a winner with their Flinders Island Meats company.

"We've got to breed sheep with 10 legs because we can't get enough," Mr Madden joked.

In fact, the Flinders Island Meats co-owner believes the whole island is onto a winner with how it is progressing.

Mr Madden bought the dilapidated abattoir in Lackrana, just out of Lady Barron, four years ago.

With the help of his son James, the pair have built up the company into one of the biggest boutique meat processors in Australia.

James is based in Melbourne and runs the distribution side of the business.

Six staff work for Flinders Island Meats in Melbourne, on top of the 15 at the abattoir and three in the butcher shop, in Whitemark.

One wallaby shooter is employed full-time and two are part-time.

"It's certainly growing all the time," Mr Madden said of the business.

"The beauty is that every time we get to where we think the abattoir is getting to a peak production, the efficiency of the people go up and we keep doing more and more."

The majority of meat, which is cut by hand in the abattoir, is sent to top end restaurants in Melbourne.

Salt-grass lamb is the company's signature product, but it also sells a lot of wallaby, beef and wallaby and lamb blood.

Lamb skins are sent to China to be used to make ugg boots and similar products.

Mr Madden said every chef wanted something different.

"Chicken necks we used to feed them to the dogs," he said.

"Now what we do is we cut the necks and take the neck fillet out and it is one of the most sought-after products around."

Because boutique quality meat is becoming so sought after, it could mean Flinders Island Meat will expand.

"The only issue is that the abattoir at some point in the future will reach capacity," Mr Madden said.

"Then you need to make a decision as to whether you spend $10 million on building a state of the art facility to handle the employees.

"I'm confident if that happens down the track we would be able to get enough producers on board to supply enough lambs."

Mr Madden said the whole island had a good vibe about it.

"Since I came here four years ago, we're getting a lot more young people and getting a lot of people who are really clever and eager to drive the economy," he said.

"In the next five years, I think we'll end up having lots of new and innovative agricultural enterprises."

THE first year the Watsons planted a vineyard on Flinders Island they lost half the vines due to "inexperience".

"We mucked around with vines down the driveway to begin with," Roger Watson said.

That was 16 years ago but the family has now found their wine-making feet.

Unavale Vineyard grows and makes chardonnay, cabernet, pinot noir, riesling and sauvignon blanc on seven acres near Lady Barron and they plan to grow more.

Mr Watson, who also owns the Furneaux Tavern, said he initially moved to Flinders from Mount Direction about 25 years ago to manage the hospital.

A nurse initially, Mr Watson helped establish the Launceston General Hospital's rehabilitation unit before moving to the island.

The vineyard is his retirement job, although it is clear Mr Watson is a very busy man.

The growing, making and packing is all done on the Watson's property, with the winery being in the family's shed.

School children often help bottle the wine and family and friends help pick at Easter.

"Involving the younger generations makes it worthwhile doing," Mr Watson said.

About 6500 vines are planted at Unavale and Mr Watson would like to plant more.

"It'd be nice to double our production to a regular 10 to 12 tonnes," Mr Watson said.

"Our biggest season was 17 tonne, our low season was about four."

Mr Watson said this year about six and a half tonne had been picked which would make about 5000 litres of wine.

"We're hoping that if we keep working on our quality we'll eventually find a niche that will appreciate what we've got," he said.

Morning Peninsula winemaker Andrew Hickinbotham has helped with the wine-making at Unavale since day one.

Graham Blyth works full-time at the vineyard to keep it looking neat and helps with the wine-making.

The cellar door is currently closed, but could open again in the future.

Mr Watson said wine tasting would soon be available at the Flinders Island Fresh headquarters.

MARKARNA Park manager Darren Grace believes one day there will be a Flinders Island Beef brand just like the well established lamb label.

Markana Park is Tasmania's largest privately owned farm, located at the north of Flinders Island, and will soon get bigger.

Currently 4000 Angus cattle and 7000 first-cross ewes are run on the farm.

Mr Grace said about 1000 acres of land would come into production, on top of the 19,000 already in use, within the next year.

A further 1000 will be added the following year.

"We're hoping to go to about 5000 cows," Mr Grace said.

"That's our aim in the next two or three years and we're hoping to go to 10,000 ewes."

Beef and prime lamb production is Markana Park's main priority, but it also did a poppy trial with TPI last year and grows wheat and oats.

Mr Grace said all the park's cattle were fattened on the island and exported to Greenham at Smithton or JBS at Longford to be slaughtered.

"Fifty per cent of our lambs would be killed on the island with Flinders Island Meat," Mr Grace said.

"The balance would go either to JBS or a mainland export works ... but last year they all went to JBS.

"I'd say this year would be the same."

Mr Grace said all Markana Park's winter lamb supply went to Flinders Island Meats so it was guaranteed supply in the cooler months.

Fourteen full-time equivalents are employed at Markana Park as well as casual staff, making it the biggest private employer on the island.

Mr Grace said there were good cattle around the island, which meant there was great potential for a Flinders Island beef brand in the future.

"A lot of people have lifted their production in the past few years and we've got a lot of progressive younger farmers that are doing a good job," he said.

"I think in the next two to three years, we'll definitely see a Flinders Island Beef brand out there."

HELEN Carnell knows that even on remote islands you can still have your daily indulgences, including great coffee.

Ms Carnell is the woman behind Furneaux Coffee.

The Flinders Island mother of three sources select green beans from specialised coffee growers around the world, including from Byron Bay, Papua New Guinea, East Timor and Peru, and roasts them into single origins and blends.

"I figure if you're living on an island in Bass Strait it's still good to have good coffee," Ms Carnell said.

"Over on Flinders, if you like Thai food and there's no Thai restaurants you end up buying a Thai cook book and teaching yourself.

"It's kind of like that with coffee too."

Ms Carnell and husband Shane Wain, who is a builder, moved to the island when Ms Carnell took up a maths/science teaching job at the school a few years ago.

Being a Melbourne girl, Ms Carnell didn't want to give up her routine of having good coffee.

She read an article about coffee roasting in small communities and got inspired.

"I tried to make my own coffee roaster, which I did use for the first couple of years ... but now I use a commercial roaster," she said.

"People think you live on an island and miss out on things, but you don't at all.

"This is my third year doing this (coffee roasting) and it's definitely growing.

"I started off just making it for my friends.

"There was a few gallery openings, so I set up a coffee machine and started making my coffee for people and it started growing from there."

Ms Carnell has five blend and single origins she usually creates.

Most are sold at her art and local produce store The Purple Swamphen in Whitemark, which she opened about 10 months ago.

Out the back is where you often find Ms Carnell roasting coffee beans and looking after her 8-month-old daughter.

Ms Carnell said her first priority for Furneaux Coffee was making it work on the island so "everyone here can drink beautiful coffee from all different places in the world".

"From there it would be cool to take it to places in Tassie," she said.