MEET THE FOUNDER

AMANDA ESSERY + LOVEKINS

Born and raised in Darwin, NT, Amanda lived in a house where tropical fruits grew in abundance in her very own backyard (mangoes, bananas, papaya, guava, five corner, limes, lemons, pineapples, watermelon, coconuts and sugar cane).

Living next to an Indigenous community and going to school with Indigenous children allowed Amanda to learn from an early age about the Indigenous culture and their way of life. “Bush extracts used by Indigenous Australians as food and medicine for over 60,000 years is something that has fascinated me during my upbringing in Darwin.

As a 6th generation Australian Chinese, Amanda’s family came to Australia during the gold rush era and worked in many industries. However, it was the culinary foundation that her father built in her grandfather Jimmy’s restaurant in the back of the old Don Hotel that nurtured her love of all things natural and organic.

I grew up with fresh air, clean water and organic produce bought regularly from the farmers at the local markets. My father, a self- trained chef taught me to use only the best produce in cooking, start from scratch and cook with love.

This was how I saw the world and how I expected to spend the rest of my life – living in a healthy environment and eating healthy, organic food. Little did I know how much impact this would have on the course of my life”.