The rich, red soils of Queensland's Bundaberg region form one of Australia's food bowls, and farmers are usually so busy supplying the country's supermarkets, they don't have time to sell directly to the public at markets.

But this weekend locals and tourists alike get to see the faces behind the produce.

The Bundy Flavours market is in its fourth year, and in 2016 it evolved into the 10 day food festival, Winterfeast.

In an industry at the mercy of mother nature, changing tastes and corporate giants, the market is a chance for growers to show off new projects and build relationships — with consumers and each other.

An Aussie single origin

On any given morning, Sydneysiders and Brisbanites will spread a Childers avocado on their toast, peel a mandarin grown in Gayndah, or pop Bundaberg strawberries on their pancakes.

They likely wash it down with a blend from Ethiopia, Kenya, Brazil, Colombia or Indonesia.

Festivals like Bundaberg's Winterfeast are pulling tourists to regional areas to celebrate local produce, much of which is grown on a large commercial scale. ( ABC Wide Bay: Eliza Goetze )

Bundaberg grows 80 per cent of the country's sweet potato crop and more macadamias than any other region in Australia, but farmer Rod Walmsley has branched out into a crop he believes is a first for the region.

"Australia uses only about 1 per cent of their own homegrown coffee," Mr Walmsley said.

That statistic — and a love of the brew — spurred him to plant coffee trees on his property at Sharon, west of Bundaberg, four years ago.

The labour-intensive project has finally come to fruition and Mr Walmsley debuted his first batch of beans, 50 kilos in total, at the market.

His stall displayed the bright red "cherries" that are picked off the coffee tree to be transformed into the familiar brown beans after being skinned, washed, sun dried and roasted.

The journey from tree to cup takes about a month.

"There's a market there for it," Mr Walmsley said of Australian-grown coffee.

He noted Bundaberg shared a similar climate with Hawaii, a huge producer of coffee.

"I couldn't see why it couldn't be done here in town.

"People are just fascinated that it's actually grown here in Bundy, and the final product is ready to try here at home."

A reminder that 'we're here'

For other growers, the weekend market is a platform to pitch popular produce during a tough time.

Sweet potato grower Linda Zunker said the industry was in the throes of an oversupply as new players moved into the popular crop.

"Sweet potatoes have been very kind to us," Mrs Zunker said.

New varieties of sweet potatoes are gaining popularity, but farmer Linda Zunker says that could be contributing to an oversupply. ( ABC Wide Bay: Eliza Goetze )

She and husband Darren have run their Hummock property for three decades, now alongside their three children.

But she said the rise of new varieties like the exotic purple Hawaiian sweet potato had also crowded the market, as marketing bodies worked to cement the vegetable's reputation as a "superfood".

Good weather had perversely meant there was no "natural cull" this season to keep prices reasonable.

"[In] most places, the farmers are supplying product into the markets, which is probably very close to being below the cost of production," Mrs Zunker said.

"It's a lot of factors joined together, but hopefully we can weather the storm.

"These [markets] are a chance for us to hand out recipe books and say, 'We're here'."

Matt and Rachael Benham hauled bins of oranges, lemons and imperial mandarins from their Gayndah property to represent not just their own business, but their neighbours' too, displaying colourful bunting with different brands.

Gayndah citrus growers Matt and Rachael Benham relish the chance to get "off the tractor" and meet consumers. ( ABC Wide Bay: Eliza Goetze )

Mr Benham said growers realised the need to work together to market themselves on a regional, national and international scale.

"It's good not sitting on a tractor, in a packing shed or an office — to get out and talk to people about it," he said.

"You educate them. People will say, 'We had some giant imperials this year' and I can say, 'This is why'."

Changing the conversation around food

Celebrity chef Alistair McLeod performed demonstrations at the market alongside local chefs, attracting more than a thousand people.

He said festivals like Winterfeast were helping place provenance above "culinary gymnastics" in an age of reality TV contests.

The festival is an example of food tourism, attracting more than a thousand people to Alexandra Park in Bundaberg. ( ABC Wide Bay: Eliza Goetze )

"I don't advocate cooking 'trilogies' or doing foams, dabs, spots or swipes," he said.

"Leave that for the television shows that aren't real. Food should be real.

"If you're in such a prodigious food bowl, you have an obligation to let the produce be the star."

Mr McLeod said conversations around food were changing from "How did you do that?" to "Where did you get it from?".

"The Bundy region feeds the nation with its winter vegetables and it's an extraordinary celebration … it's a beautiful thing."