Anna Terry first gave a tour of her family's truffle farm to visitors at 13-years-old, and was admittedly "not much chop".
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Now more refined, her tours with The Truffle Farm have surged in popularity and has opened the door to her being recognised as Young Achiever by Tourism Tasmania.
She said her tours started after a couple were interested in how the farm worked and what they did.
"I was like 'oh, that's a bit weird', someone wants to see that," Ms Terry said.
From there, she said the business grew organically in a natural progression.
"That's probably why the tours have the demand they do and work the way they do, because it's grown very, very organically," she said.
"From me being quite young and thinking ... I just like showing off my dogs to people.
"I think it's quite special that it's evolved like that."
While agri-tours often presented a polished version for guests, Ms Terry said they'd become known for showing the farm's real-deal.
"If it's drizzling, if it's raining, if there's been snow on the ground, we still have to go out truffle hunting because we need to get these guys out of the ground," she said.
"So if you want a proper experience, like you're watching the farmer do their work and you're coming along with the farmer. It's not like you're watching it through a screen."
Learning the tricks of the trade working alongside her father as a child, she said it was "nice to be the teacher now to show other people and get them involved".
"I guess I pay homage and respect to everything that mum (Adele) and dad (Tim) went through to start the industry up here in Australia and to be able to share that story is nice as well for them," Ms Terry said.
The Truffle Farm also took out the excellence in food tourism award last month.
Ms Terry said she was pretty adamant they weren't going to stand a chance up against strong competition in her first time at the awards.
She said she was "very chuffed" with both awards.
"I have worked really hard, my whole heart and soul is in the truffle farm, I've been truffle hunting for as long as I can remember and that's been our family farm," she said.
"I've grown up there and to share my parent's story and my story, I have a huge amount of pride in doing that.
"I genuinely put everything into these tours, it is a business at the end of the day but it's also sharing our livelihood."
The magic of agritourism was showing people where food comes from and the farmers behind it, she said.
"Farmers are different people as well a little bit in terms of humour and sarcasm and all the things that farmers need to have to keep them sane," she said.
"And I think that's really refreshing for people that have come from inner cities to come meet that."
Truffle tours were a way to break the stigma around the fungus in that it was pretty handy to use in cooking, Ms Terry said.
One example of their use was mash potatoes.
"It's not that expensive, you don't need to be a Michelin star chef. You just need some cream, some butter and some spuds," she said.
"To take that away is great for us as a business, hopefully good for the industry as well just in terms of making it more accessible for everyday people to want to buy it and have a try."
Molly Appleton
Molly Appleton is a senior journalist at The Examiner, having formerly worked at The Advocate as a news and sports reporter. She brings a passion for storytelling and knowledge of Tasmania across the three major regions. For any story ideas contact her on 0448 184 160.
Molly Appleton is a senior journalist at The Examiner, having formerly worked at The Advocate as a news and sports reporter. She brings a passion for storytelling and knowledge of Tasmania across the three major regions. For any story ideas contact her on 0448 184 160.
