A Recipe for Eating Local
Ever wonder how the Eat Local Noosa initiative dishes out a delicious cuisine scene for the region? Georgia Beard reveals the online hub’s guide to reinvigorating our local businesses.
Since April 2020, Eat Local Noosa has become the staple diet for a community that is hungry for first-rate food and drink offerings. As an online marketplace boasting the best local places to eat, drink and savour what the region has to offer, their savvy formula connects consumers to businesses in a way that is sorely needed.
We discover the winning recipe for Noosa’s reliable cuisine scene!
INGREDIENTS:
Success depends on the right ingredients. We’ll let you in on the secret: Eat Local Noosa gets its zing from three entrepreneurial women who are enthusiastic about making the online marketplace ‘forever free’. Michelle Mason, Alesha Gooderham and Deb Caruso blend their skills in digital media, project management and marketing and sprinkle in a healthy serve of passion for the food and drink businesses of Noosa.
Up next is a polished social media presence run by the best in the biz – Social Tap. The talented team keep Eat Local Noosa at the top of your feed and on the tip of your tongue with posts serving up tasty morsels of the best the region has to offer. Social Tap knows exactly what locals and tourists want to see – food, drinks and good times!
The third ingredient is all about collaboration. Industry groups including Noosa Council, Tourism Noosa, Noosa Eat & Drink, Food & Agribusiness Network (FAN), Slow Food Noosa and Plastic Free Noosa work together to champion and share Eat Local Noosa’s mission. With their industry expertise and a network of more than 320,000 contacts, the little black book of food and drink experiences has reached 100s of businesses in need of support and the customers who are keen to provide it.
METHOD:
1. Grab a mixing bowl and combine local businesses, from restaurants and cafes through to private chefs, tours and experiences. Throw a liberal dash of the region’s best breweries, distilleries and the bars that serve them; and grind in locally-roasted coffee and teas. By centralising the food and drink industry in an online hub, Eat Local Noosa can help you find, taste and experience every corner of the region.
2. Make it free and all too easy for locals to sift their businesses into the Eat Local Noosa marketplace. Whether you specialise in fine dining, takeaway, desserts, drinks, retail produce or events, the simple and free online registration will put your business on the map.
3. Spice up the mixture with chances to win vouchers to taste, drink and explore the incredible food, drink and produce businesses in our region that are listed on Eat Local Noosa. Simply by signing up to the Eat Local Noosa e-newsletter or being involved in their social media competitions, you could win an experience at your favourite local venue!
4. Stir the mixture with a dash of face-to-face connection until smooth. Eat Local Noosa’s industry events reveal the locals behind the listings, encouraging business owners to hear from guest speakers and talk all things food, beverage and hospitality.
5. Pour the mixture into a tin and let it rise in the public consciousness. The combined efforts of local experts and businesses has captured the attention of hungry customers. Even in times of uncertainty, our local food and drink industry will stay on the serving platters for a long time to come.
The result? An empowered and unified food and drink sector for customers to savour that is forever free!
