Woodlane Orchard
Absolutely no food waste. That’s the mission of Kelly Johnson – owner and founder of Woodlane Orchard, based on the Murray River near the small township of Mypolonga.
Who are Woodlane Orchard?
Kelly’s hobby of dehydrating food to take on Scout camps with her kids—has now (almost by accident) expanded into a booming business.
She creates her own style of fruit and vegetable products for a loyal (and growing) customer base. In late 2018, Kelly was simply helping out a friend and local farmer to sell some of his peaches. She simply dehydrated them in her kitchen, dipped them in chocolate, and watched demand boom. In 2021, her product list has expanded to 44 different items, with everything from soup and ready-meal packs and fruit straps to dried citrus to ginger gin punch.
Now she sells to more than 30 wholesalers in SA, and online to customers in all seven states of Australia. And she’s not slowing down, with plans to open a new tasting room at Mypolonga in partnership with other local producers (including PomiGold, Bakehouse Farms and Rio Vista Olives).
One thing I love about my business, is that I can tell my customers exactly where the ingredients come from.
Kelly Johnson
Why you’ll love their produce…
It’s impossible to not be inspired by the Woodlane Orchard story. Kelly’s mission is to support local farmers with integrity and passion—using local fruit and vegetables that otherwise would’ve gone to waste.
Her values-based approach is only complemented by the sensational home-style taste of her food, and the great Mypolonga district is benefiting from this story. Kelly sources all of her fruit and vegetables from as close to home as possible—and in 2020 she came across a nearby farmer who had four tonnes of pumpkins that he couldn’t sell. So of course— she bought them and created new dishes using dried, sliced pumpkin—and now her ready-made soups, stews and meals are being sold, and talked about everywhere
Her fruit straps are another popular item, but the dried citrus has gone from strength to strength thanks to the gin and spirit boom in Australia—with the Woodlane difference being the ‘wafer-thin’ style of slicing it. Local families rave about her apricot curry and chill con carne as simple, nutritional and tasty dinners that everyone loves.
