Bundy Limes may only have 800 trees, which could be considered small by industry standards, but Linda Vickers and family have expanded through value-adding.
“I guess we could be called a boutique business,” Linda said.
“We are very different to some of the big commercial businesses around the Bundaberg Region in that we’re very small.
“We’ve been going about eight years now and about four years ago I realised that there was more to lime farming then just farming the limes, so I diversified into a number of different products, everything from lime salt to dried products and freeze-dried products as well.”
This expansion has seen them grow their market from Bundaberg to Brisbane and an online store.
“We use Bundaberg Refrigerated transport so we can give them a call in the morning and have the limes on the truck and down to Brisbane within about 12 hours,” Linda said.
“It works very well for us because we don’t use wax on the fruit and there’s no need for cold rooms.
“Once the limes are picked, they are packed then onto the truck and off to Brisbane for the market the next day.”
People cooking at home with Bundy Limes
In these days of COVID-19 restrictions and more people staying at home and experimenting with cooking, Bundy Limes’ products have been popular.
“Our products include lime salt and we’ve expanded to 10 different varieties of lime salt.
“We use local products in our lime salt and people love the fact that they’re personalised.
“We’ve got one, in particular, named Kate’s Choice, which features turmeric and lime.
“It’s named after Kate Rehbein who runs Bunda Ginga and One Little Farm and the source of the fresh turmeric for that particular salt.
Dehydrated limes are also a popular product line, along with freeze-dried limes.
“They’re named after my brother, so they’re called Stevo’s bLIMEy’s,
“You put them in the top of a beer bottle and my brother, Steve was the inspiration for them as he’s known to enjoy the occasional cold beer on a hot day.”
Linda attributes a lot of Bundy Limes’ success to the generosity of local farmers sharing information.
“I came into this farm eight years ago, a total farming virgin; I knew nothing about farming or limes,” she said.
“The agricultural community in this region has been so wonderful, there’s no other way to describe it.”
The region’s retailers have also been a large part of Bundy Limes’ success.
“I’ve got fantastic retailers and outlets that I’ve had since I first started and they’ve stuck with me.
“They make a phone call and I deliver to their door; those sorts of personal relationships are priceless.”
The other key factors have been climate, soil and water
“The climate is perfect and where we are at Gooburrum, the soil is ideal,” Linda said.
“We have sandy loam, different to other parts of Bundaberg, but for citrus that’s perfect.
We’ve got a great water source, we’ve got a bore that also runs to the house, so we drink the same water that the limes do.
“There’s nothing that’s a negative as far as the Bundaberg Region goes for this type of business.”
To keep up to date with Bundy Limes follow their Facebook page.
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