The iconic sheep dairy at Cygnet River is one of the true and successful stories of Kangaroo Island food and wine.

In the early 1990s Craig and Susan Berlin made a decision many sheep farmers caught in the wool crisis had to – diversify or perish.

Their plan to milk sheep and make cheese and yoghurt became a phenomenal success and every dining and retail outlet on the island serves their signature cheeses – haloumi, feta, kefalotiri and manchego.

Tourists arrive by the busload and leave with eskies full of cheese and yoghurt and outlets on the mainland cannot get enough.

The thriving business has been on the market for two years and in January the Berlins will leave Kangaroo Island to pursue other interests.

No one wants to imagine the Kangaroo Island food scene without Island Pure but that is a real possibility.

“It’s crunch time,” says Elders agent Colin Hopkins.

“This is one of the strongest businesses on the island. It has excellent cashflow. The vendors are being extremely flexible in how they sell the business or lease the land and will talk to anyone with a serious interest,” he said.

Meanwhile, it’s business as usual at Island Pure.

Susan Berlin is adamant the business is running at full steam and will do so until they leave. They want the next owners to have the best chance of sharing the success.

“Everything is running and in place. We won’t leave a new owner in the lurch,” she said.

Another successful island business is also on the market and is an open-ended opportunity, according to Mr Hopkins.

Andermel Marron, which incorporates the marron farm, Marron Café and Two Wheeler Creek Wines has been put on the market recently for personal reasons by owner John Melbourne.

The wholesale, retail and tourism business has taken years to build but has been running in its current multi-faceted form for about three years. In this time it has become a significant tourist destination in the heartland of the island.