From a small portable kitchen in Kwinana, the Carbone family is churning out Western Australia's only artisan butter using locally sourced fresh milk.
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It is a small example of what can be achieved with value-adding in the dairy industry, with their product gracing the tables of top Perth restaurants and the shelves of upmarket retailers.
Trading as Devoted Artisan Butter, Paul and Renee Carbone produce small batches of beautifully packaged roll and bulk products each week.
Not having a background in the dairy sector isn't a barrier to success, with Mr Carbone learning how to make butter from friends in the industry.
He has a background in hospitality and crayfishing and his wife's career has been in podiatry.
The couple initially struggled to find a commercial kitchen premises for butter making, so they decided to custom-design their own.
This is a portable toaster van manufactured by RV Solutions and it has been placed on their Kwinana property.
"It is basically a 16-metre long food truck," Mr Carbone said.
"It fits well on our property, which is a big corner block where we grow fruit, vegetables, herbs and other native plants that are used to flavour the butter.
"This includes lemon myrtle, rosemary and garlic."
The Carbones have been producing their artisan butter since 2020, blending traditional handmade techniques with modern flavours.
Mr Carbone drew on the experience of butter makers in Europe, especially France, and Canada and made his product to their special recipes.
"I am always learning and changing the formula and everyone continues to love our butter, which has a unique rich and creamy flavour," he said.
Mr Carbone sourced two butter churners from Europe and it is understood these are the only commercial churners in operation in WA - and possibly Australia.
He said they bought fresh cream direct from a WA dairy farmer and processed about 50 litres at a time.
The churning process takes about 45 minutes which includes washing the butter with iced water and extracting the buttermilk.
This buttermilk is sold to restaurants that mostly use it in deep frying.
Mr Carbone said removing the buttermilk gave the butter a longer shelf life, which for Devoted Artisan Butter was three months.
"Our product is fully tested by biologists and they have given us the green light for a three-month shelf life," he said.
As per traditional butter making, the product is weighed and then hand shaped with wooden paddles.
It is made into 150 gram flavoured rolls and 225g natural rolls for retail and farmers market customers.
These are hand wrapped.
Restaurants take bigger blocks of butter, with three leading businesses in Perth using it regularly on their menus.
Mr Carbone estimates his weekly butter output is about 30 kilograms to restaurants and 100kg to retailers and wholesalers.
He said there was also a busy trade at four main farmers markets around Perth, covering north and south locations, where the Carbones take their butter every week.
"We are kept very busy with farmers markets and they are a valuable contributor to our thriving business," he said.
During the COVID lockdowns, the Carbones tried a new marketing strategy.
They teamed with a local breadmaker to offer "bread and butter" deliveries direct to households.
"We are always seeking ways to innovate and get our product out there," Mr Carbone said.
At present, black garlic flavoured butter is proving to be a big hit with consumers.
"I get the garlic from a local producer and put it through a cooker that almost ferments it," he said.
"This process takes four or five weeks and it comes out black and soft with an amazingly sweet flavour."
In WA's truffle season, truffle flavoured butter walks out the door.
"We always want to use locally sourced ingredients in our butter," Mr Carbone said.
"We have a passion for simple, honest food that is rich in flavour.
"We want to craft butters for our customers to enjoy every day and on special occasions.
"Our butter suits those people who appreciate the tradition, effort and detail that goes into its production."
Mr Carbone said the appetite for locally-made produce, such as Devoted Artisan Butter, was definitely growing.
"We see a lot of people coming back for it week after week at the farmers' markets and with our restaurant trade," he said.
"I think this is a reflection that people want to know where their food comes from - and that doesn't happen when you shop at a big supermarket.
"The supermarkets are also getting increasingly expensive."
When it comes to fussy chefs, Mr Carbone said the Devoted Artisan Butter went down a treat and they were struggling to keep up with demand as word of mouth spread.
"WA chefs are looking for WA-made butter, not butter that is imported, and they want to support local producers and manufacturers," he said.
