Northern Rivers brands set to impress at fine foods expo

THREE Northern Rivers producers will showcase their wares at the Fine Food Australia Expo in Sydney next month.

Byron Bay’s Aurum Mead will join Ballina-based Manuka honey producer Gather By and Murwillumbah’s Mindful Foods at the event at the International Convention Centre from September 8 to 11.

Aurum Mead founder Louis Aurum said he was excited to be exhibiting for the first time under the Flavours of NSW category.

Born in Bordeaux in France, Aurum has a background as a winemaker. His father is from Byron Bay, and Aurum relocated to the region 13 years ago, initially working as a brewer at Stone & Wood.

He had a desire to return to winemaking, but with the local climate unsuitable for growing grapes, he turned his attention to mead.

“My grandfather was a beekeeper so I got into tasting a lot of different honey when I moved to Australia,” he said.

“We are very lucky to have some of the most pure and flavourful honey in the world so I started experimenting with making mead.”

Mead is one of the oldest known alcoholic beverages, with a history that dates back thousands of years — long before wine or beer. It earned a reputation as a romantic drink, with the term “honeymoon” derived from the Norse and early European tradition of drinking mead for one full moon cycle after a wedding to encourage fertility and happiness.

While the drink has remained largely unchanged for centuries, Aurum’s version offers a modern twist — fresher, softer and more refined.

Now served in luxury resorts such as Saffire Freycinet in Tasmania, Aurum hopes his presence at the expo will help attract more high-end distributors and wholesalers. Locally, the business runs a pop-up cellar door with tastings and pairings at the Newrybar community hall most Saturdays.

Gather By was founded in 2014 by Matt Blomfield, with a mission to produce the world’s most potent Manuka honey — prized for its medicinal properties — while also restoring healthy bee populations through regenerative agriculture.

The business moved its operations to Ballina in 2019, drawn by the abundance of Manuka trees in the region. It exports to eight countries and has found particular success in the Middle East, having exhibited at The Saudi Food Show for the past two years.

Mindful Foods co-founder James Bennett said the event was a great opportunity to showcase the company’s products, including healthy snacks, granolas, herbs and spices, supplements and a range of teas.

“There’s lots of parties who are interested in food and we have a lot to say,” he said. “We care very much about food and its relationship with people and nature and we want to tell people what we think.”