Andrew Smith happily admits he gets excited about apples, but then he is a proud fourth-generation apple farmer who is lucky enough to live and work in one of Tasmania’s most beautiful places.

“We get excited about everything that has apple,” grins Andrew, who keeps expanding his apple farm and alcohol brand, Willie Smith’s, to keep up with demand, boosting production and expanding into new products like apple cider and brandy.

And this year, he’s partnered with Woolworths in yet another expansion to create Christmas fruit mince pies filled with vine fruits, apple and citrus peel that have been macerated in Willie Smith’s Apple Brandy.

His family orchard in the Huon Valley, south of Hobart, was first planted in 1888, and has survived many ups and downs over the generations through his ancestors’ sheer determination and ingenuity.
 

But within the legacy, it’s Andrew who possibly made the biggest improvement of all when he transformed Willie Smith’s into an organic orchard in 1997, before also expanding into cider and brandy production.

“Our first-grade apples go to Woolworths as a Macrobranded product, and the rest of the product is juiced, ultimately turned into cider, and some of the cider product is then put through a distillery and turned into apple brandy,” he says.

Willie Smith’s award-winning farmhouse-style cider is brewed using authentic techniques from northern France and matured in French oak, and then distilled to make Willie Smith’s Apple Brandy.

Andrew says his 18-year partnership with Woolworths has seen Willie Smith’s organic production of apples quadruple, and created such a success story that it’s even helped “put my kids through school”.

“Woolworths is integral to the survival of our business,” he says.

“They’re the largest supermarket chain in Australia. They have high-quality products and allow us to be able to get to more consumers than we could possibly get to through any other business.”
 

Andrew says he hopes everyone gets to taste the fruit mince pies in the Woolworths Gold range that are packed with flavour from Willie Smith’s Apple Brandy, which has hints of caramel, baked apples and fruitcake.

“I can see people sitting around the table digging into these pies, tasting the apple come through and the brandy, and really celebrating what is a great time of year,” Andrew says.