The town of Batlow was one of many devastated by bushfires in early January, but local people and businesses are looking to bounce back and rebuild their town.
At one point the RFS described Batlow as “undefinable” but locals and RFS Fire Fighters fought hard and managed to reduce the destruction to 20 homes and 20 per cent of the region’s apple orchards being lost.
The destruction was significant for Australia’s fruit bowl, with Batlow apples making up 55 per cent of all apples produced in New South Wales and 11 per cent Australia-wide.
Over the past two months Batlow Cider has been offering Karma Kegs to key venues across the country. To date $27,000 has been raised, with more to come. Key venues in support include The Salisbury, Applejack Group, The Whitehouse Group and many others across the east coast of Australia.
Now a further fund-raising initiative is underway with the first box of the new season of Batlow apples being auctioned through eBay.
At the time of publishing this story bidding stood at $1025, and with the auction not due to close until 5pm on Friday 6 March, there is still plenty of time to get involved – you can bid on the box of apples here.
Batlow apple grower Greg Mouat said the picking, production and delivery of new season Royal Gala apples is testament that the Batlow community is getting back on its feet and is on the road to recovery.
“There are more than 20 apple growers in Batlow who supply to Batlow Apples and almost all of them had their orchards damaged in the bushfires,” Mouat said.
“Some suffered damage to about five per cent of their orchards, while others had up to 40 per cent damaged.”
Batlow Cider said that the first have had limited impact on its fruit supply, but they called for continued support from venues and the public at this time, as drinking Batlow Cider and eating Batlow Apples flows directly back to the local community.
If venues are keen to put on a Karma Keg and support, they have a limited quantity available. All supported via the Batlow Cider Instagram (@batlowcider) and Point of Purchase materials. More broadly, people can support by purchasing any of its three ciders, Premium, Cloudy or Saison on or off-premise.