Our Suppliers
Flour
Our flour comes from Tuerong Farm on the Mornington Peninsula, where founders Jason Cotter and Emma Hick grow and mill heritage, ancient, and modern grains. Driven by a passion for traditional milling techniques, Jason and Emma seek to cultivate heirloom wheat varieties that have largely fallen out of favour in commercial wheat production. Each grain of wheat is developed and grown using sustainable farming methods, a process that includes crop rotation and a focus on soil health.
Some more from Jason about their flour:
“Rouge de Bordeaux, Aragon, Olands, etc are specialist lines we’ve spent years nurturing from thimbleful amounts. They are extremely rare in Australia, indeed we are the only ones who grow them, despite the small size of the Australian market for this kind of wheat. They aren't inverted commas 'heritage' flours ala WGM, but actual heritage/heirloom varieties. In many cases they only yield half to a quarter of modern commodity wheats like Spitfire, so they cost more, and are inherently more risky to grow.
Otherwise, they have very different protein profiles to modern commodity wheat and have been selected for particular traits, including digestion and nutrition absorption profile… and for fundamentally being different to what else is available in Australia.”
Fruit and Vegetables
We love working with Natoora to source our fresh produce because they’re the only suppliers we’ve come across who work directly with each grower. Not only does this allow for transparency and accountability across the supply chain, it also honours the artistry of the local growers responsible for this delicious food. This is starkly different to the opaque systems that have become standard practice across the industry.
By working with Natoora, we can adapt our menu to celebrate the subtle shifts of flavour that occur throughout each season, baking with fresh local produce throughout the year.
Milk
We are proud to say that our milk comes from How Now Ethical Dairy, a family-owned micro dairy located in Katamite, Victoria. The farm was founded by Cathy Palmer, an animal rights activist who quit her job in the music industry after becoming frustrated by the state of dairy farming. Challenging globally accepted inhumane practices, Cathy has proven that there is a better way: not only is it possible to keep bovine mums and their babies together in a commercial dairy, it can also be very successful.
Cathy is incredibly passionate about the well-being of her cows, who spend their time grazing on the 64-acre farm with trees on every paddock and a creek running along the back of the property. All calves remain on the farm, often coming into the dairy with their mum to look around while she gets milked. The milk is shared — there’s plenty to go around! So far, How Now has produced over 700,000 litres of milk without separating a single calf from its mum.
How Now unhomogenised milk is free from hormones, additives, and any efficiency interventions commonplace within industrial dairy farming — meaning none of the goodness is lost.
Cheese, Charcuterie and Butter
We source our cheese from Long Paddock, an artisan cheesemaker in Castlemaine that uses exclusively organic cows milk from the region. The cheese is cultured and aged using traditional methods.
Our charcuterie is from Salt Kitchen in Ballarat, who make handmade charcuterie from truely free range pigs sourced from nearby Western Plains Pork.
Our cultured butter comes from Lard Ass Butter. Ripening cream from grass-fed cows is single batch churned with a starter long enough to bring out the rich and creamy flavour, then hand kneaded and hand wrapped.
Coffee
Our coffee beans are responsibly sourced and roasted by Stella Coffee. Stella was started by Tim Varney, who has worn an array of caffeinated hats in his time: he was once a coffee roaster for Tim Wendleboe in Oslo, he co-founded the World Aeropress Championship, and, more recently, he co-founded Melbourne's first co-roasting space, Bureaux. The goal for his new project, Stella, is simple: roast coffee while celebrating those who work with growers responsibly.
Our current offering of beans includes:
Liliana Gembuel Paja
Jambaló, Columbia
Tasting notes: Brown sugar and ripe plum.
Ayla Bombe
Sidama, Ethiopia
Tasting notes: Pineapple jam, lemonade and golden raspberry.
Arosala
Arsosala village, Uraga, Guji, Ethopia
Tasting notes: Pink lemonade, dried florals and milk chocolate.
Kiangundo
Nyeri County, Karatina Municipality, Kenya
Tasting notes: Blackcurrant, rosehip, and red apple with black tea aromatics.
Some of our other suppliers
Oat Milk
We conducted a lot of research to find the best option for alternative milk, and landed on oat milk by Alternative Dairy Co. It’s made with Australian grown GMO-free oats, contains at least 97% Australian ingredients, and is free from gums and thickeners often found in oat milk.
Chocolate
The chocolate we use in our Pain Au Chocolat is made by Hunted + Gathered. From the sorting and roasting, to the pouring and wrapping, every bar of chocolate is made from start to finish in their Cremorne factory from ethically sourced cacao beans.
Tea
We love to use Assembly Tea at our bakery. Established in 2013, Assembly is well known for its carefully selected single estate and organic herbal blends, with a particular focus on East Asian tea.
Jam
The jam on our shelves is by Jam Haus. Run by Jesse Clark in Seaford, Victoria, Jam Haus uses the best quality ingredients to create fruit-driven preserves with uniquely delicious flavour combinations. Small batch and free from commercial pectins.
Mustard
Made in Melbourne, Russell & Sons mustard is quite simply very good mustard. It’s hand made in small batches, and we love to use it on our seasonal sandwiches and baguettes. It’s also available to purchase on our shelves.
Cups and Lids
We use I Am Not Paper cups and lids for our takeaway coffee. They’re plastic free and made from leftover plants and by-products from farm suppliers.