How a few curious blokes turned backyard experiments into Australia’s most precise charcoal operation.
We’re a family-run business: two brothers, Xav and Isaac, alongside our dad Paul and this journey started like most great ones do: completely by accident.
One day, we ended up with a pile of leftover charcoal fines.
At the time, we had no idea how charcoal was made, how many types there were, or just how deep the rabbit hole went… but we were hooked.
We started researching. Reading. Testing. Burning.
The first idea?
Turn those fines into natural briquettes.
Xav and Isaac went full mad-scientist, trialling formula after formula trying to find the perfect natural binder ratio one that held its shape, burnt long, and delivered serious heat.
We got close… but not quite there (don’t worry, that project’s still alive and well in our notebooks).
So we pivoted.
We decided to go back to the source: to make our own lump charcoal from scratch.
And that’s where the obsession really took hold.
We started learning everything we could about carbonisation — the science of turning raw wood into pure charcoal.
There were lots of methods, but one stood out: the retort method.
A process that heats wood in a low-oxygen environment, capturing and reburning the volatile gases that most old-school kilns simply pump into the sky.
Not only did the retort method produce better charcoal, it did it cleaner.
So, we built one.
Xav rigged up our first homemade retort system using a hot water system and a second-hand ceramic kiln.
It was rough… but it worked.
After 6 hours, we cracked open our very first batch what went in as raw Mallee came out as dense, black chunks of fuel that burned longer, hotter, and cleaner than anything we’d ever seen.
We were blown away.
Then we scaled up.
Built a bigger one using an old smoker.
Not bad, but we quickly ran into problems.
We couldn’t control the heat.
Couldn’t manage the gas release.
It burnt too hot and fast, which made the charcoal brittle.
So we built again.
And again.
Each time improving the process adding temperature monitors, gas control, refining the burn cycle.
But still… it wasn’t perfect.
So we went searching.
And that’s when we found it.
The holy grail of charcoal production:
State-of-the-art retort kilns, built overseas and unlike anything else in the country.
Fully automated controls.
Precision temperature sensors.
Full gas recapture and reburn.
Zero visible smoke from the chimneys.
Absolute consistency, every single run.
We didn’t hesitate.
In November 2024, we bought two units.
But we didn’t stop there.
We added a screening line, to grade the charcoal by size and remove every last piece of dust and fines.
Around 30% of every batch is filtered out, so only the highest quality charcoal makes it into our bags.
We added a bagging line to guarantee each bag is filled with the right weight — no more grabbing a “15kg” bag that turns out to be 12.3kg.
No more mystery dust clouds.
Just pure, premium, properly graded charcoal, every single time.
Because quality isn’t a tagline for us it’s the whole game.
Today, our charcoal is used in restaurants across multiple states, stocked in over 20 retail stores, and trusted by chefs who demand precision, power and purity in every service.
We’re still family-owned.
Still obsessed.
And still on a mission to make Australian charcoal the best in the world.
