They say you should never mix family and business, but alumnus Ryan Hartshorn (BCom 2007) likes to do things differently.
After all, the Tasmanian entrepreneur has made his mark turning sheep whey into a world-class tipple.
Hartshorn’s success story began with a move from the sunny climes of Queensland to Tasmania two decades ago.
His mother, Diane, had purchased 40 acres in Birchs Bay, 40km out of Hobart, and started an organic sheep dairy and cheesery, Grandvewe.
“Back then Tassie wasn’t known as the cool destination it is now and I was studying in Queensland, so I said: ‘Good luck with that mum’,” recalls Hartshorn.
He jokes that as a former psychologist, she “knows how to mess with her children’s brains”.
“She told me if I moved down I could help manage the business and put my education into action.”
It was too enticing to resist.
“I transferred my Bachelor of Business Degree from UQ to UTAS and I found the course here really refreshing: at the time it was the only one in Australia offering an entrepreneurship course.”
He credits his education with teaching him the skills to save the now renowned Tasmanian cheesery in the face of crippling challenges in its infancy.
It has also underpinned his own business endeavours. In 2018, he launched Hartshorn Distillery. It began with a small copper still, purchased online, and a boiler made from a beer keg.
“The distillery was going to operate alongside the cheesery, but then I had this ‘genius’ moment, which was to use the sheep whey to make the alcohol.
“It didn’t impact on the cheese production and it allowed me to turn waste into a new product.
“I also took a big gamble and decided not to filter the vodka.
“I thought: what's the point in starting with such a unique ingredient base and then having it taste like everything else on the market?”
After a period of intense experimentation, he devised a top drop.
In 2018, Hartshorn Distillery won the World’s Best Vodka.
“Six years later and we are now the largest producer of vodka in Tasmania,” he said.
Hartshorn’s products are now sold in every state in Australia and overseas, but his entrepreneurial spirit is insatiable with plans for a new product underway.
The family business has also been expanding. His sister Nicole Gulliver has launched Ewecare, which turns milk unfit to be made into cheese into cosmetics.
Written by Lucie van den Berg for Alumni Magazine Issue 54, 2023.
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Top of page: Ryan Hartshorn, Hartshorn Distillery and Grandewe Cheeses | Photos: Jess Oakenfull