Australia’s first range of free range and sustainable stocks, sauces and bone broths, The Stock Merchant works with local producers who provide free range chicken, grass fed cattle, sustainably harvested shellfish and pristine vegetables and herbs.

The mission is simple: to add a depth of flavour to culinary creations while helping support free range animal farming and sustainable fishing in Australia.

Made the traditional way, with no salt, flavour enhancers, gluten, preservatives or additives, it’s real food made with real ingredients.

The Stock Merchant tell us more.

Who are the team behind The Stock Merchant and why did you launch?

The Stock Merchant is owned and run by Ben and Kate Dutton. We launched the brand in 2010 after being frustrated that there were no cooking stocks available in the market made from free range chicken or beef bones. So we thought – let’s change this! And so The Stock Merchant was born.

What does a day in the life of The Stock Merchant look like?

It’s pretty multifaceted as we own some other food brands besides The Stock Merchant (Ridiculously Delicious Peanut Butter, Dr Kim’s Magnificent Kimchi and Pat and Stick’s Ice Cream). Supply chain, demand forecasting, working with distributors and retailers, marketing, recipes and product development. Oh, and cooking a great meal using our stocks!

What sets The Stock Merchant apart from other stocks currently available?

We are the only brand in Australia that does not add salt to our stocks. We do this for a couple of reasons. First, we want the cook to be in control of the salt in their meal. Second, other producers use salt as a flavour booster – take the salt away and the stock would actually be quite weak. Third, it makes our stocks perfect for people on low sodium diets or for making homemade baby food.

We also don’t add yeast extracts. Yeast extract aka MSG is used by some stock manufacturers once again a way of boosting flavour. We think that’s not on.

Our stocks are the closest available on the market to something a cook would make in their own kitchen. Real food made from ingredients with integrity!

Can you tell us about the nutritional value of The Stock Merchant?

Low in salt, gluten free, MSG and additive free. Good amount of protein and amino acids in our bone broths. Delicious flavour 🙂

With the Paleo diet sweeping the nation bone broths are very popular at the moment, can you tell us more about your bone broths and why those following a Paleo diet eat bone broth?

Paleo is an interesting trend but we have now seen it cross over into the mainstream. Many people are now buying our bone broths because they are trying to fix gut or digestive issues. Or improve their immune system. Or they just want a soothing, calming tonic that is high in amino acids and protein but very low in calories!

A great summary on the benefits of bone broths, can be found here.

The difference between our Bone Broths and others is this – our Bone Broths are made with water, bones, apple cider vinegar, rosemary extract and that’s it! We do not add vegetables as filler ingredients in our bone broths as then…it wouldn’t be bone broth, it would be stock!

Our bone broths are about 2.5 times more concentrated than our Chicken, Beef and Vegetable stocks as well, hence the higher price tag.

What is your favourite recipe using The Stock Merchant products?

That’s a hard one! So many to choose from. But for something suited to our current winter weather, you can’t really go past this recipe for Beef Bourguignon.

And if you are after a vegetarian or vegan version, try this recipe for Mushroom Bourguignon using our amazing Mushroom Stock!

Where do you source your ingredients from?

All of our free range chicken and grass fed beef bones come from local producers in Victoria. Our vegetables come from the Melbourne markets, and at least 50% are organic (we can’t guarantee organic 100% of the time because of price fluctuations).

Based in Sydney, do you  have any tips for us Melbournites for when we come to visit?

Why visit Sydney when you live in the best city in the world?

If you were stranded on an island and could only take three things what would they be?

A hammock, a fishing rod and a container full of red wine.