40under40 Winner - Mitch Hayhow

Mitch Hayhow left a permanent project management position at winemaker Evans & Tate in 1999 to establish his own winery design company, Eco Winery Development. Within a year he had three major projects under way and had hired two full-time staff.

In 2001, Mr Hayhow consolidated an established business relationship with Sean McGarry with the formation of Castle Rock Logisitics. The company provides specialist design and project management services to the wine industry in Australia and internationally.

In 2002, Castle Rock Logistics secured the design and project management contract for Sir Cliff Richard’s winery, located in the south of Portugal.

Further projects throughout Europe followed, as did other local and international contracts.

More recently, My Hayhow has created and developed an innovative red fermentation management device that eliminates the dangerous task of hand plunging and makes the process of fermentation management more consistent. He has also created and developed a fruit preservation technology that allows long-term storage of wine grapes in unfermented form, enabling transportation to any destination throughout the world.

After recently embarking on a fact-finding tour of India, Mr Hayhow secured a contract to design three wineries for one company as well as a seven-year grape supply contract.

Mr Hayhow is also a Wilderness Society member and sub-committee member of the Margaret River Wine Industry Association.