The doors opened on Naturally Good 2023 to reveal a bustling hall at Sydney International Convention Centre at Darling Harbour. As the country’s leading business platform for natural and organic brands, there was a cross-section of exhibitors from well known supermarket brands to small batch manufacturers showcasing their product ranges. Food & Drink Business was there.
A first port of call for Food & Drink Business was last year’s winner of Pitch Fest – and our August 2022 Rising Star – Sarah Qian. Qian manufactures the world’s first oat crème cheese, and this year has expanded her range from the original to including a chocolate variety and a lemon curd version.
“It’s been a strange 12 months. I electrocuted myself on a 3-phase power switch while building my factory, which wasn’t something I was ever planning on doing. And I’ve had times where I feel like I haven’t achieved very much at all, but then when I got here, and looked at the Pitch Fest area, I realised I have done a lot,” Qian said.
Her range of retailers has grown, including Brooklyn Boy Bagels using the crème cheese as its vegan option.
Jeanie McClymont and Brad Hull founded goodMix – gut loving functional foods – in 2012, before gut health was really talked about.
“I developed it by accident, I was working as a naturopath and wanted a ‘super-cereal’, something that was quick and easy to prepare and tasted good – my kids were seven and 10 at the time and I wanted them to like it,” McClymont says.
When her brother moved to Vermont in the US, McClymont trained him at their Burleigh Heads facility and sent him of to open US operations. A range of goodMix products are now available through markets, some Wholefoods stores, and via Amazon.
The challenge has been keeping a market profile and share with the burgeoning health and wellness trend.
“We’re looking for a distributor into the food service sector now, our products are perfect for café owners and restaurants to use in their own creations. And while the market segment might be better-for-you, goodMix is the best-for-you,” Hull said.
Summer Jun launched 1770 Naturally Australian honey when she saw a gap in the market for premium honey gifting.
illustrations and design.
“The presentation of honey was not that flash, so if you wanted to give it as a gift, there were few options. Looking at export opportunities, there is high demand in Asian countries because Australian honey is very highly regarded, and those consumers will pay a premium. Honey is used medicinally in some of those countries,” Jun said.
Lennah Kuskoff did the packaging design, including the artworks on each canister. Inside are individual sachets of honey, which appeals to Asian consumers who see honey as medicinal.
Jun’s marketing is paying dividends, selling between 10-15 tonnes every year to South Korea.
Shaun Malligan wanted to create a high protein snack that had broad appeal. The result is Kooee.
“When you look at most beef jerky products or protein snacks, they tend to be hyper masculine. We wanted to position Kooee as appealing to a broader audience. Our audience is 80 per cent female,” Malligan says.
and Dean Hughes.
The company has launched Kooee! Sticks, a healthier version of a salami ‘twiggy’ stick, made with all natural ingredients, seven grams of protein and less than one gram of sugar.
“We’re aiming at that school lunchbox market. We’ll also be in BP service stations and WH Smith next month, and the US is our goal,” he said.
The conference finishes at 5pm on 6 June.
