FOR EMILY Wilson, a perfect afternoon in the country consists of good company and even better food.
After moving to the Walgett region over a year ago, Emily said she fell in love with the rural town and the people who lived there.
Since moving to the town, Emily has attended events across the region ranging from local shows to races to campdrafts and has eaten a steak sandwich at nearly every single one of them- all due to a lack of option.
Recognising the necessity of having a fresh food option at rural events was what first sparked Emily’s idea for Silo and Co.
Silo & Co is Emily’s newly found catering business, which hooks up to the back of her car as easily as a horse float.
It’s never made sense to me that people from the country have had to miss out on beautiful food just because of where they live.
- Emily Wilson, Silo & Co owner
Inside, is a coffee machine that makes Toby’s Estate blended coffee and space for Emily to sell the food she’s started to make fresh for rural events across the state.
Emily said it always bothered her when she attended an event that there was rarely somewhere to buy a good, quality coffee and something fresh and healthy to eat.
When combining her love for cooking, the business degree she got at university and her desire to travel more of regional Australia, starting Silo and Co seemed like the obvious choice.
The travelling stall was made from scratch by Emily’s partner Joey Fleming from Ulah Engineering, in just under six weeks.
They were then able to debut the business at the Australian National Field Days in Orange two weeks ago and Emily said the response was overwhelming.
During the entirety of the field day, Emily provided visitors with savoury food options ranging from bacon and egg pies, fresh gourmet wraps and sandwiches.
She also had a range of freshly made cakes and slices partnered with on the spot made coffee.
“The response was amazing,” she said.
“It goes to show how much people appreciate fresh food.”
A driving force of attracting customers to her stall was social media, which Emily said had been a great marketing tool for her new business.
After announcing she’d be debuting Silo & Co at ANFD, her page was liked 422 times in the space of an afternoon.
From now, Emily’s plan is to try and take the Silo & Co stall to as many events as possible as she said she wanted to provide more options to rural people.
“It’s never made sense to me that people from the country have had to miss out on beautiful food just because of where they live,” she said.
Making her business mobile was extremely important to Emily, as she didn’t want to be restricted to a shop front.
She also wanted her business to be accessible to anyone, whether they lived in the main street or down a 40km dirt road.
This has meant she’s been able to introduce the idea of catering for locals and their events who live out on properties, such as wedding recoveries, luncheons and bridal showers.
Emily said her catering aim was to produce fresh , homely food to her customers that everyone enjoys eating, without having them to do it.
She also wants to ensure she assists the industry that she’s become so fond of whilst living in Walgett, agriculture.
Emily said a big aim of the business is getting to know the regions she visits and using the ingredients produced by locals, such as Little Big Dairy Co, a family owned Dubbo business.
With harvest about to kick off across the district leaving little time for farmers and their families to prepare home cooked meals, Emily is preparing to step in.
Over harvest, Emily will be accepting orders for home cooked meals that can be delivered straight to the paddock.
Emily said she was very aware how busy farming families get over harvest and she wanted her business to enforce they still had options for convenient, healthy meals even though they didn’t have time to make them.
Frozen meals are also an option for people who want to buy lunches and dinners in advance.
Emily said doing things like providing harvest meals was very important to her when she decided to start a business in a small rural town.
“You have to do things that support the people that support you,” she said.
To get in contact with Emily about harvest meals, event catering or bringing the float to your next function, visit her Facebook page.
The float can be transported to any location- site power or water isn’t needed.
