LIVING THE WAY NATURE intended is not always easy but two Sunshine Coast brothers are bringing food and products back down to earth and straight into our hands.
Joshua and Kris Barry’s shared passion for deliciously good produce and organic products can be seen beaming from the shelves, down every aisle, of their Noosa store, Organika.
Growing up on acreage in Belli, just outside of Eumundi, the seed of love for all things fresh was planted early.
“The fresh food side of things has always been with us,” Kris says. “We used to grow our own beef at home.”
With a father as a grower and a mother who loved to cook, Joshua and Kris began walking down the path towards the produce industry while they were still in high school. From making strawberry cartons up for their dad’s business to working in the produce section of Franklins to helping their parents with a gourmet fruit store they had bought, the pair’s knowledge of the industry steadily grew.
While Kris continued working for the family business, sourcing and buying fresh produce, Joshua travelled to the United Kingdom where he stayed for six years. It was during his time in England that Joshua was exposed to the world of organics and fair trade, and another seed was unknowingly planted.
“It was definitely bigger there than it was here,” Joshua says. “Because they don’t grow all of their produce, in the supermarket you get fair trade bananas and fair trade mangoes on the shelf.”
Back home, Kris was ready to start something of his own. But, like a puzzle missing a piece, it wasn’t until Joshua returned to Australia that the brothers decided to go into business together.
“We were originally just talking produce, like Mum and Dad’s,” Joshua says, referring to their parent’s Wild About Fruit store in Nambour. But after brainstorming with his girlfriend and their parents, Joshua says he and Kris decided on a store with an organic slant.
“Ideas were going like this,” Joshua says, clicking his fingers repeatedly.
“It was born in a few hours,” Kris finishes.
In 2007, six months after the original idea had sprouted, the refreshingly relaxed pair opened the doors to Organika. Within four months, they had doubled the size of the premises in response to the constant traffic they were getting from locals and visitors.
“It exceeded all of our expectations,” Joshua says.
The gourmet store, which prides itself on stocking organic produce and products wherever possible, sits across from Noosa River in a building with wooden features that seem to reflect the fundamentals of the business in their appearance.
A sprawling balcony is, more often than not, covered with customers perched on locally made stools and sipping organic coffee.
It is the only certified organic store on the Sunshine Coast and holds within its walls “fresh produce, skin care, supplements, dairy, meats, grains and nuts, nappies, chocolates… everything”.
But the range was not always so expansive.
“It’s been a complete work in progress,” Joshua says. “Every week something new comes in.”
Much like the store’s contents, the brothers’ knowledge of the organic industry has evolved with the time that has passed.
“It was a complete learning curve, a whole different ball game,” Kris says of the move from the produce industry to the world of organics.
The pair, who weren’t living organically when they launched Organika, made changes to their lifestyle with each slice of information that they devoured.
“Through learning, it’s a no-brainer,” Joshua says simply of his decision to use organic products. But it’s not only the benefits of organic products and produce that the brothers have embraced.
“The people we deal with, all the suppliers, they’re all in it because they believe in it,” Joshua says.
“For them it’s about what they’re selling and why they’re doing it,” continues Kris. “It’s an amazing industry to be in. It’s like a big family.”
Organic produce and products are available daily at Organika, 2/205 Weyba Road, Noosaville. 5442 4973 or organika.com.au
THE ORGANIC TRUTHS:
- Organic produce is grown and processed without the use of synthetic c hemicals, fertilisers or genetically modified materials.
- Research has shown certified organic ?foods can be more nutritionally dense than their non-organic counterparts.
- Under certified organic standards in Australia, animals including poultry, pigs, sheep, goats and cattle live, grow and breed naturally in group sizes appropriate to their species and interact as they would in nature.
- Organic farmers must ensure that a percentage of their farmland is given over to natural vegetation.
- Food produced organically helps to reduce the impact of chemical runoff and residues often found in drinking water, waterways and coastal areas.
Source: Biological Farmers of Australia
This article is taken from Salt Magazine
words and photos claire plush
http://www.saltmagazine.com.au/articles/taste–tipples/organika-noosa-gourmet-food.aspx