There’s something about eating in the country that makes you appreciate your food a little more.
Maybe it’s meeting the person who grew the apples in your pie. Finding out your breakfast honey came from thousands of beehives across NSW. Or wandering through an olive grove before sitting down to taste the oil made from the trees in front of you.
Across Central NSW, a new generation of growers, makers, farmers and producers are doing just that: inviting travellers to get a little closer to where their food comes from.
From truffle hunting in the Oberon highlands to picking cherries outside Orange, sipping cool-climate wine in Millthorpe and filling the esky with some of the region’s best lamb, here are 10 Central NSW producers worth putting on your road-trip list.
Meet the makers of Central NSW
1. The Beekeepers Inn, Bathurst
Between Bathurst and Orange, tucked inside an 1859 former Cobb & Co changing station at Vittoria, you’ll find The Beekeepers Inn.
And yes, there are bees. Lots of them.
The family behind the business runs around 12,000 hives across NSW and Victoria, producing the Goldfields honey sold in the farm shop. But this is much more than a place to stock up on honey.
There’s a working apiary, live bee display and free honey tastings, plus a café serving an all-day breakfast menu with appropriately bee-themed dishes including Queen Bee pancakes, honey jumbles and Devonshire tea.
There’s even an on-site brewery, because apparently honey and beer are both good reasons to pull over.
Why stop: For a proper introduction to the world of honey, plus breakfast and a country-road-trip-worthy farm shop.
2. The Second Mouse Cheese Co, Orange
Good cheese requires patience. And, in the case of The Second Mouse Cheese Co, a rather significant career change.
SJ Pienaar swapped engineering for cheesemaking and now produces hand-crafted continental and Mediterranean-style cheeses using single-origin, grass-fed milk from a dairy near Dubbo.
The signature double-cream brie is a good place to start, but the real appeal is getting to know the maker and the thinking behind each batch. The milk is gently pasteurised rather than subjected to high heat, helping retain some of its seasonal character.
You can find The Second Mouse cheeses at delis and provedores around the region, as well as places including The Agrestic Grocer, or meet SJ at farmers markets throughout the Central West.
Why stop: Because a road trip through Central NSW without a serious cheese purchase feels like a missed opportunity.
Visit The Second Mouse Cheese Co
3. RedGround Australia, Oberon
Oberon is one of Australia’s great truffle destinations.
At RedGround Australia, Jill O’Grady and her team make the most of the region’s climate in the winter months, which is particularly well suited to producing intensely aromatic black Perigord truffles.
The best bit? You don’t just have to buy one in a jar and head home.
Visitors can join truffle hunts with trained dogs, heading into the oak trees across the 60-acre property in search of the prized fungi. And if you don’t feel like leaving once the truffle hunting is over, there’s RedGround Cottage farmstay accommodation and truffle-inspired tasting lunches at RedGround Lodge.
Basically, it’s a very good excuse for a weekend in the country.
Why stop: For truffle hunting, country air and the kind of long lunch that makes you wonder why you don’t escape to Oberon more often.
4. Glen Donald Estate, Weddin
At Bumbaldry, near Grenfell, Glen Donald Estate is a working family farm where the produce comes with a side of very good country hospitality.
Natalie and Robert Caruana produce Australian extra virgin olive oil, garlic and other farm-made goodies, with visitors invited to get involved in the seasonal rhythm of the property.
Farm tours include everything from picking olives and collecting eggs to tasting produce from the orchard. You can also meet the resident alpacas, sheep and goats, and take in the olive grove from the property’s viewing platform.
And, naturally, there’s the option to stay. Mulberry Cottage makes a very pretty base for slowing down and enjoying the farm at a slightly more leisurely pace.
Why stop: For an actual working-farm experience, rather than simply looking at one from the car window.
5. Angullong Wines, Blayney
Wine country is one of the great pleasures of Central NSW, and Angullong Wines is a particularly good stop if you like a little history with your tasting.
The Crossing family has been farming here since 1950, with Ben and Heidi Crossing now at the helm of the four-generation family business.
The vineyards sit on fertile volcanic slopes beneath Mount Canobolas, producing cool-climate wines from grapes grown entirely on the estate.
Head to the historic Old Bluestone Stables cellar door in Millthorpe for a guided tasting of the Angullong and Fossil Hill ranges, and you’ll get to meet the family behind the bottles while you’re at it.
Why stop: For cool-climate wine, a beautiful historic cellar door and a family story spanning four generations.
6. Hillside Harvest, Cabonne
If you have even a passing weakness for fruit picked straight from the tree, put Hillside Harvest on the list.
The Charnock family has been growing fruit near Borenore, just outside Orange, for more than 75 years. Today, fourth-generation growers Paula and Allan Charnock oversee an orchard producing cherries, stone fruit, apples, pears, figs and berries across the seasons.
There’s a farm shop and café, but the real draw is the chance to pick your own fruit straight from the tree.
And then there’s the apple pie, made with apples grown just metres away.
Honestly, we’re sold.
Why stop: For seasonal fruit, old-fashioned orchard charm and the rare joy of eating something you picked yourself.
7. Breakout River Meats, Cowra
Cowra Lamb has become something of a local institution, and Breakout River Meats is one of the producers behind it.
The family-run business, headed by Chris Cummins, produces Cowra Lamb alongside Watervale Beef and Chiverton Pork, with more than three decades of experience behind the operation.
The business takes its name from the Lachlan River and Cowra’s history, with the ‘Breakout River’ a nod to the Japanese prisoner of war breakout during World War II.
You can try the produce at venues around the region including the Imperial Hotel and Oak on Kendall, as well as at food and wine events such as the Long Lunch on the Lawn at Barryrennie House.
Why stop: For a taste of the produce that puts Cowra firmly on the Central NSW food map.
8. Aussie Biscuit Factory, Forbes
A biscuit factory is already a pretty compelling stop on a road trip. But the story behind Forbes’ Aussie Biscuit Factory makes it even more worth the detour.
Behind the ANZAC biscuits, jam drops and shortbread is a workforce built around creating employment opportunities for people with disability.
Visitors can tour the factory floor, meet the team and see how a biscuit-making business has become a genuine community initiative.
And yes, there is an extremely good chance you’ll leave with a box.
Why stop: For biscuits, obviously. But also for a feel-good local story that goes well beyond what’s in the tin.
9. Ploughman’s Hill Olives, Parkes
It all started with a few olive trees.
Peter and Shirley Michalk planted the first olive grove on their family farm in 1995, pressing their first oil four years later. Today, Ploughman’s Hill produces award-winning extra virgin olive oil alongside olives, flavoured oils, vinegars and even olive-based cosmetics.
It’s a proper family-grown Parkes story, with the products available at shops and stores throughout the Central West and the family regularly appearing at local markets.
Why stop: To stock the pantry, meet a local farming family and take home a bottle of Central NSW sunshine.
10. Condo Quality Meats, Lachlan
Sometimes the best regional food experience isn’t a fancy cellar door or a carefully curated tasting menu.
Sometimes it’s a really good butcher.
In Condobolin, Daryl Nairn and the team at Condo Quality Meats supply locals and travellers with premium beef, lamb, pork and chicken, alongside sausages, rissoles, stir-fries, grazing boxes and food platters.
It’s the sort of place to visit when you’re stocking up for a weekend away, loading the esky for a camping trip or planning a very good barbecue.
And given the agricultural scale of Lachlan Shire, where the region produces around 17 per cent of NSW’s wheat crop alongside sheep, wool, beef and cotton, there’s plenty of local produce behind the counter.
Why stop: For the road-trip essential that never goes out of fashion: a good snag and something to throw on the barbecue.
Visit Condo Quality Meats via Visit Lachlan Shire
Go meet the people behind the produce
Central NSW is full of the kinds of places that make a road trip worth taking slowly. There are food and wine trails, farmers markets, country towns, cellar doors, galleries, museums and plenty of gorgeous roads where the only real agenda is figuring out where to stop next.
So next time you’re heading west, don’t just eat your way through Central NSW.
Meet the people who grow it, make it, bake it and bottle it.
