5 Questions with The Coconut Shop

You have ben part of the Organic Food Markets mob for quite a while now.  When did you become a "family" member and how did you find us initially

Nearly three years ago after a trip to Fiji that inspired us to start The Coconut Shop we attended our first market at Riverside as it was our local market.  Shortly after we started at Marrickville.

photo courtesy of Flexi Hair (whose blog you can check out "here")

Why coconuts?  And can you tell us a little bit about why they  and their derivatives are important to our overall wellbeing

Coconut is one of the traditional foods of the Pacific Islanders and is called "the tree of life".  They have known for generations the nutritional and medicinal benefits. Coconut oil can kill harmful pathogens like bacteria, viruses and fungi

and is made up of mostly medium chain triglycerides which the body uses for energy.

Where do you source your products from and are the coconuts harvested in an eco-friendly manner

As our range is large and varied, we source the products from several countries.

Certified Organic, Fair Trade and Sustainably Grown is our preference.

What would be your biggest seller at market, or does it depend on season

Coconut oil is now receiving great media attention so is in high demand along with young drinking coconuts.

How would you describe marketeer life at Marrickville Markets

We love the vibe at Marrickville Markets.  It's like a festival every Sunday: the kids, the dogs, the happy customers and the friendship with our fellow marketeers.

**********

NEWSFLASH!!! Not only does The Coconut Shop sell all the goodies for our health, they also have some scrum sweet treats like..............

gluten free muffins

protein bars

even some cute as a button coconut men!

and for that we thank them from the bottom of our coconut-lovin-hearts!

Time to have a swig of some Hillbilly Cider with Shane & Tessa

Love the branding, love the name!  How, when and why did Hillbilly Cider come in to being

Glad you like the name - it seems to have really resonate with people!  We became "Hillbillies" half a dozen years ago when we moved to an orchard in Bilpin (Blue Mountains) in search of a simpler life.

Shane dug a cellar under the house and turned his wine making skills in to cider making.  He was making cider commercially for a couple of years before we launched Hillbilly so he really fine-tuned the art, so much so we won a bronze medal in the Australian Cider Awards a couple of weeks after launching the company last year.

You have been part of the OFM "family" for a while now.  How did you first find us and how difficult was it initially to get that all important client base started

We've always loved going to farmers markets ourselves.  We first came across Marrickville Markets from a customer's point of view!

We had a great reception with our cider and wines at both markets and we always look forward to seeing our customers each week.

It can feel a bit remote where we live in the mountains so we love loading up the ute with cider and heading to market for a good bit of social interaction!

What has been a stand out moment for you at Marrickville Market

Recently meeting Ben, the great grandson of  the inventor of the "granny smith apple", who told us that the apple was discovered accidentally growing out of compost!

Granny Smith's are one of the key apple cultivators we use in our cider.

You were recently featured in a magazine spread.  Incredibly satisfying and absolute positive reinforcement that you have "made the dream" a reality.  Where do you source your products from and are they sourced in an eco-friendly way.

Our cider is made from 100% Aussie apples: no concentrates or artificial flavours.  We use local invented apples by our neighbour, Bill Shields.

Our ciders are made completely naturally, unpasteurised, no added sugar or concentrates and fermented under pressure to allow use to bottle with a natural bubble without needing to add CO2.

In 5 words how would you sum up life as a marketeer at Marrickville Markets

Full with loyal Hillbilly followers 

**********

And with that, we suggest you get along, have a swig, buy a slab and get down with them Hillbilly's who have that amazing cider!