Cook cracks supermarket deal

COOK Gilava Pour is taking her Middle Eastern meal base products to Australia with her own brand set to hit Coles’ shelves nationwide, creating local jobs in the process.

The founder of the Exotic Bazaar brand, Pour is originally from Iran and since 2019 she has been adapting her much-loved Middle Eastern family recipes into meal bases in her Ballarat home kitchen.

Now three of the different meal bases that she has developed – Tunisian Shakshuka, Moroccan Tagine and Persian Walnut Chicken – are set to be stocked by Coles in coming months.

“The products are being manufactured mostly in Melbourne because the machinery required for this type of product we don’t have in Ballarat,” said Pour, who moved to Australia 17 years ago and has resided in Ballarat for just over two years.

But her Exotic Bazaar brand is already creating work in her home city.

“We already have hired a couple of people in Ballarat who are helping me,” Pour said.

“We also do a lot of things behind the scenes, office work and marketing. We now are actively looking at bringing our whole warehouse and fulfillment to Ballarat which will create many more jobs.”

However, despite Ballarat’s formal status as a multicultural city, Coles shelves in the regional area are beyond reach at the moment.

“We are going to be in 155 Coles but not every Coles supermarket has a Middle Eastern aisle,” Pour said.

“We’re not 100 per cent sure, but we will be negotiating with them.

“But for now I don’t believe Ballarat Coles has a dedicated Middle Eastern aisle. We hope that we can be an advocate for that.”

Pour said the Exotic Bazaar products are stocked locally at the Near East Kitchen cafe situated in Bridge Mall.

Pour said she was inspired to develop the Exotic Bazaar range of meal bases after noticing a glaring absence of Middle Eastern flavours in her welcoming new community.

“When I moved to Australia, even though I was very much blending in, I started feeling connected to home by cooking at home,” she said.

“Australia is such a welcoming country but I could not see my Middle Eastern flavours anywhere.”

Pour said sharing cooking rituals serves to strengthen connections, while sharing food and conversation is a great way to bring neighbours from different backgrounds together.

She is also quick to point to the role of food in helping new immigrants “feel at home and share their heritage with local families.”

“In my neighbourhood, we have a yearly Christmas gathering… Everyone brings a plate and I bring a plate I have prepared, and this was the first time some had even tasted Middle Eastern food,” she said.

“It really broke barriers. I really love that conversation.”