4 local entrepreneurs present at FOODTALKS

The most recent gathering of locals interested in our food system was held at Miller’s Local Bakehouse in Bulli. FOODTALKS is an informal gathering of growers, producers, advocates, picklers, bakers, retailers, culture guides, chefs and home cooks who share a passion for delicious fair food in our region.

The inaugural gathering was held in February and was an introduction to the idea of coming together to share information and ideas. We heard from Healthy Cities’ Berbel Franse and Sarah Anderson from Popes Produce, and completed a short survey of the topics of interest to us.

FOODTALKS #2 tickets were sold out within 12 hours.

In the spotlight this time were four passionate local business owners in the food sector – our host Emma Huber from Millers' Local Bakehouse, Emma Williamson from South Coast Kimchi Co, Lachy Kerr from Cleaver and Co Quality Meats and Nina Kourea from Nina Cantina food tours and cooking adventures. All four started with a passion for their products and are now successful small business owners.

Baker Emma Huber studied fine arts and other pursuits at university for 12 years, working in hospitality throughout her studies to support herself. She grew to love hospitality and became a chef. She and partner Yon Miller ran Wollongong cafe Sandy Goodwich for several years. Most recently she noticed a gap in the market for local high-quality baked sweets and opened Millers' Local Bakehouse earlier this year. The business is both wholesale, selling to local cafes, and retail with the Bulli shopfront, Hole In The Wall at Crown Street in Wollongong and Moore Street General cafe in Austinmer. Her passion is to provide Illawarra locals with high-quality wholefood pastries and sweets.

Emma Williamson coordinated freight trains in NSW and Victoria, travelling to work from the Illawarra to Sydney, until she had a baby and reassessed her priorities. From an interest in gut health, she found kimchi – Korean-style fermented vegetables – and started making jars to sell locally to friends and at markets. Emma is interested in the origin of food and remains true to the Korean style of preparing kimchi, perfecting her product by testing on staff from Korean supermarket Yun Mart in Fairy Meadow. South Coast Kimchi Co stockists now extend north to Sydney and to the far South Coast.

Lachy Kerr did his butchery trade straight from school, studying at West Wollongong TAFE. He worked for local butchers but was concerned by some of the practices, particularly after watching a film called Cowspiracy about the damage caused to the environment by animal agriculture. Cleaver and Co Quality meats in Gwynneville – where Lachy was working – was for sale. He and partner Jess bought the business and began the process of learning and sourcing sustainable and responsible meat and building the business. They now run a successful business while raising two small children and renovating a house. They also run a second business, Amos Adams, a sandwich shop in Port Kembla.

Nina Kourea’s idea for her business grew from discovering the multicultural takeaways and food stores of Cringila. Nina learned to cook beside her yiayia (Greek grandmother) and describes her interests in food, art, culture and environment. She began teaching with Rumpus (now Makeshift) before starting her own business offering food and culture tours of Cringila, Warrawong and Fairy Meadow, as well as cooking workshops. She loves teaching and bringing people together over a love of food.

Not surprisingly for small business owners and operators, our four speakers are responsible for all aspects of their businesses. Each has started with a traditional skill, taking their personal passion and making it a business. They have all had to learn and develop a different set of skills – the art of running a business – including human resources, marketing, web design and accountancy.

Commonly, they express a love of learning, teaching and connection with others and a desire for people to return to the idea of connecting with the artisan and having conversations around food, cooking, health and sustainability, in preference to the soulless transaction of the generic supermarket.

All have embraced social media as a marketing tool, so you can keep up with the news from all four businesses on their websites or social media platforms.

At the end of the FOODTALKS evening, delicious soup, bread and mulled wine were served, with a special Millers' cake to finish.