5 Minutes With… Wattle Tree Creek
Here at Byron Bay Gifts we love all things tasty, especially when they are locally made.
So, when we found Wattle Tree Creek, we were over the moon!
Not only are they local, but they showcase native Australian bush tucker in their products, how cool is that!
There is nothing more inspiring then seeing someone’s passion turn into their career.
It was a pleasure taking with Claire, the owner and creator of Wattle Tree Creek.
Tell us how you started your business and why?
I started after discovering Lemon Myrtle at a market, I was amazed by the intensity of flavour and smell and looked for recipes to use it with and found there were not many, so i incorporated the many varied bush foods that I then actively found and used them in some of our old family recipes. They worked a treat in both fresh foods and preserves. I was then hooked to discover more bush food ingredients.
Apart from the incredible flavours the health benefits are enormous, e.g. the Kakadu Plum from far north Qld has just been found to have the highest concentration of Vitamin C in the world. My hobby quickly became my passion and naturally became my business, which has been going from strength to strength over the last 10 years.
"Apart from the incredible flavours the health benefits are enormous, e.g. the Kakadu Plum from far north Qld has just been found to have the highest concentration of Vitamin C in the world."
Hence my purchase of a fruit and nut farm with acreage to plant many species of edible Australian Native Plants that I then use in all my preserves.
Apart from the incredible flavours the health benefits are enormous, e.g. the Kakadu Plum from far north Qld has just been found to have the highest concentration of Vitamin C in the world.
How did you come up with your packaging, design and/or ingredients?
Pretty simply, I used the name Wattle Tree Creek so it stood out as Australian then the Wattle logo was an obvious choice, my brother is a marketing guru in Singapore and cast his eye over everything, I took his advice and tweaked a few things and ended up with a clean, simple, fresh look which I think is important when dealing with food.
Ingredients now get brought to me. Local farmers approach me at Farmers Markets and will say I have a glut of Davidson Plums; do you need any? This Byron region has an abundance of bush food and I find a more informed population to do with Australian Native ingredients.
"Our products are unique due to the Australian Native ingredients we use and the fact that we grow a lot of our ingredients “Spray Free” here on our own farm."
What have you learnt about your business along the way?
Just keep going!!! Feedback is important! Stay true to what you believe in and others will get it upon tasting the food and hearing our story. I have also learnt that Bush food will be a constant educational tool for us and people are genuinely very interested in new flavours and love that it’s so local, so new yet so very old.
What’s special/unique about your product?
Our products are unique due to the Australian Native ingredients we use and the fact that we grow a lot of our ingredients “Spray Free” here on our own farm. I believe the flavours are more intense with not using sprays etc., the preserves taste of fresh fruit as I literally walk out into my garden and pick as I need, the Mandarins have been off the tree for 5 minutes before I am cutting and cooking. You cannot get fresher than that and the proof is in the tasting.
We have also won many, many awards at the Tasmanian Fine Food Awards, Sydney Royal and Melbourne Fine Food Awards.
What’s new for your business over the next 12 months?
A new commercial kitchen and bigger equipment mean improved production output, so i will be hitting the road and picking up more stockist Australia wide. Also planting more Australian Natives and waiting to see what my Native Apricots, Black Apple and Native Blueberries taste like when they fruit. I am excited to create some new recipes after tasting what these native flavours reveal and figure out whether to make jams, or chutney’s or pickle or even some new sauces.
"We have also won many, many awards at the Tasmanian Fine Food Awards, Sydney Royal and Melbourne Fine Food Awards."
Where’s your favourite place in Byron Bay?
Byron Bay Farmers Markets on a Thursday, meet so many interesting people who appreciate what we are doing. The other farmers are all very interesting too and quite passionate about what they do, we all swap produce with each other and the quality is outstanding. Of course, we meet our fair share of celebrities, writers, foodies and holiday makers from all over the world, and it’s great to chat to these guys.
Sum up your product in five words…
Deliciously different but familiar flavours!!
Here is a link to their website https://wattletreecreek.com.au