Locals rally behind small businesses wiped out by fires
Raffles, donations and other fundraising efforts are underway for more than 80 businesses devastated by the fire in Harcourt, from wineries to cafes, distillers to ciders.
As the small Victorian town of Harcourt recovers from Friday’s shock devastating fires Neighbors of these men in Castlemaine had already taken action, as they destroyed homes and the town’s cooperative, which housed more than 80 businesses.
A fundraiser was quickly organized by winemakers Boomtown, and on Sunday afternoon a fundraiser was held at the winery in the Castlemaine’s Mill area, featuring an auction, raffles and beverage sales to raise support for Harcourt residents.
Two participants claimed more than $130,000 was raised. Boomtown was contacted to confirm the figure.
More than 50 structures, including homes and workplaces, were destroyed in the town of Harcourt, famous for its cider-producing apples.
Harcourt’s Co-operative Cold Stores, which houses 80-odd businesses, was reduced to ashes and shattered metal by Friday’s Ravenswood fire.
Local Gilles Lapalus ran two businesses from space. Wine business Maison Lapalus lost all its stock and equipment, while Maidenii vermouth business’ equipment, stocks and raw materials were also destroyed, including rare items such as a 10-year-old solera system. A solera is a stacked arrangement of barrels used to age sherry, wine, spirits and more.
Since its launch in 2013, Maidenii has become the vermouth of choice for many of Australia’s top bars and restaurants.
The loss of raw materials, including locally harvested herbs that are key to making vermouth, means Maidenii will not be able to produce a vintage in 2026.
“This leaves us with a gap where we have zero revenue next year,” Lapalus says.
“But it’s more than that. I lost half my pension. That job was my pension.”
Although he has received offers of support from the local and international hospitality community, he cannot decide to get better yet. “The fire is still burning, the wind will change this week, we will probably face more disasters.”
Lapalus owns a home near Chewton, about nine kilometers from Harcourt, and evacuated as the fire approached on Friday afternoon. When the wind changed direction, the fire spread to Harcourt.
While her house was being donated, she received a text at 8pm that night saying the cool stores in town were sold out.
“I feel lucky compared to Henry of Harcourt, for example. They lost everything: the house, the job, the orchard, everything.”
Henry of Harcourt is a family cider business that has been operating for over 25 years.
“This could mean a pretty serious blow to Henry of Harcourt because I can’t go through another 10 years of tree growing to start the range of varieties we have,” cider maker Michael Henry told this imprint on Saturday.
Conna Mallett, co-manager of Castlemaine brewery Love Shack, was also affected by the damage to Coolstores in Harcourt.
“All our stock was there. Our stock for six weeks – 1,500 plates, 450 barrels… it’s all gone. That’s a pretty heavy blow, especially for a small business that’s barely scraping by most of the time.”
“We need to start brewing seven days a week… we want people to buy Love Shack but we can’t keep up with the demand… so we may have to get a little creative. But there’s a lot of people out there who are struggling even more than we are. A lot of businesses have warehoused their belongings [at Coolstores] and I lost it all.”
He added that Love Shack lost about $200,000 worth of inventory consisting of sheets, barrels and packaging materials that were not covered by insurance.
“That’s a pretty heavy blow, especially for a small business that’s often scraping by.”
Conna Mallett, co-manager of Castlemaine brewery Love Shack
Jacqueline Brodie-Hanns, chair of local peak body Business Mount Alexander, said: “It is surprising that so much amazing local produce has disappeared [at the Coolstores]. This is before it even reaches fruition.”
The Harcourt cafe Cool Store, located in a separate building from the cooperative Coolstores, was also demolished.
Farther east, Fowles Wines in Avenel was destroyed by the Longwood fire Thursday.
Castlemaine businesses like Superhero Banh Mi are offering to feed anyone sheltering in town. Others are encouraging the public to buy wine directly from affected wineries to help with cash flow.
In Melbourne, restaurants such as Horn Please in Fitzroy North and Bibi Ji in Carlton are holding their own fundraisers for those affected by the bushfires. Both restaurants say they will donate $1 from every pot of curry sold over the next seven days, with the funds going to families, firefighters and volunteers.
Other fundraising efforts include the Victorian Bushfire Appeal (which will be active from Tuesday), the Victorian Farmers’ Federation Disaster Relief Fund and Blaze Aid.
Lapalus says messages, fundraisers and offers of help from the community are keeping him afloat.
“This is just humanity at its best. But unfortunately, [the fire’s] “It’s not over yet and there are a lot of unknowns right now.”
Emma Breheny- Emma is Good Food’s Melbourne dining out and restaurant editor and editor of The Age Good Food Guide.
Emily Holgate- Emily is the Associate Producer of the Good Food App at The Age. He has previously written for magazines such as Broadsheet and Urban List.Connect via email.
Bianca Crovat- Bianca is Good Food’s Sydney dining out and restaurant editor.
