How Food Made Good is Putting Down Strong Roots in Australia

Brae (Victoria) 

In the small, rural town of Birregurra in Victoria, Brae is designed to emphasise a true sense of place, showcasing the best of local ingredients. The restaurant is a leader in sustainable hospitality; this includes impeccable sourcing policies, with up to 90% its produce grown organically on-site. The team chooses animals raised on small-scale, independent family farms where they are free to range, and buys only sustainable, ethically farmed and wild-caught fish and seafood. 

Smart systems ensure that Brae’s water footprint remains as low as possible. Five water tanks with a total capacity of 160,000 litres capture rainwater for use in both the restaurant and guest suites. Three dams capture run-off and rainwater, used to irrigate the farm, orchards and vegetables. Wastewater is processed on-site, and clean, treated wastewater is used to irrigate farmland, rather than going to a town sewage processing facility.  

Brae also plays an outsized role within its community, having raised over AUD $276,000 through raffles and community initiatives to support local needs, including funding laptops and renovation work for the local school. This was far beyond what the tiny town could have funded on its own, and has a lasting impact in ensuring that this rural community does not die out. This kind of contribution strengthens trust, resilience and mutual support between businesses and the places they depend upon. 

Co-owners Dan Hunter and Jules Bagnato first became aware of Food Made Good in 2017 when they submitted for The World’s 50 Best Restaurants Sustainability Award, which is evaluated by our team using the FMG Framework. As Dan explains, “This gave us valuable insight into the multi-faceted approach we needed to adopt to become a truly responsible hospitality business. We soon began using it as a framework for our decision-making.”  

Once the Food Made Good Standard became globally available in 2023, Brae was the first business in Australia to complete the process, finishing their first evaluation in 2024 with three stars. As Dan shares, “I was surprised by the rigour of the assessment, the time needed, and the level of supporting evidence required. This is by no means a negative — I was glad to see that achieving the three-star rating was so challenging. It gives the rating weight by rewarding only proven, specific, measurable outcomes.”  

Jules says, “Throughout this period of uncertainty, the broad FMG Framework has guided our operational decision-making. It's given us the confidence to prioritise changes that support not only the environment, but also the wellbeing of our guests, team and our wider community. This has contributed to improved guest experience, media engagement, brand recognition and staff retention.” 

Dan also highlights the importance of using the Standard’s language and tools for effectively communicating with both customers and staff. “The Standard has helped us understand the importance of storytelling. Even though we’d been doing a lot of the right things, if we’re not communicating this effectively with our team, guests and suppliers, we’re not able to reap the benefits. We now have the language, understanding and authority to speak as one of the leaders in sustainability within our industry.”  

Brae is currently completing their second Food Made Good evaluation and we look forward to learning even more about their incredible work. 

Famelia (New South Wales) 

Famelia is a wine bar and bottle shop located in Newtown, New South Wales. Owner and Sommelier Amelia Birch deliberately prioritises female-owned suppliers and serves wine from exclusively female-owned wineries, making efforts to ensure that under-represented groups are included in the wine programme. The team has just completed their first Food Made Good Standard with an impressive two stars. 

Famelia is diligent about whole-ingredient use and uses in-house prep to minimise waste. they make their own ginger beer and mother, used as a base for non-alcoholic wines, and they pickle mushrooms and vegetables. Anything left over from the food space often becomes an ingredient for cocktails, and vice versa; for example, if lemon skins are used for a martini, the lemons are squeezed for dishes or prep.  

Famelia’s commitment to its team is clear, with staff policies in place to ensure a safe and supportive work culture. Particular attention is paid to nurturing long-term careers, with every member of the team receiving annual career development reviews and plans — far from the norm in a small hospitality business. 

Given Famelia's commitment to showcasing exclusively women winemakers, Amelia had been looking to apply for a 'B Corp'-like certification for a while. “It's an important social and cultural stance that I wanted to be acknowledged and upheld in an active sense,” she says. “When the Food Made Good Standard was introduced to me, I thought it was the perfect in-between — B-Corp is hard! — but with the benefit of being more relevant and applicable to the hospitality industry.” 

Amelia found the process extremely thorough. "It's definitely a stringent application, as it should be. Obviously, it's built for food-first businesses, and we're predominantly wine and drinks, but regardless, the process made me question a lot of our processes and business choices.” 

“The big thing that came out of the feedback was just how much we need to improve on communicating our purpose and intention — both regarding our mission and values internally and externally, and how our choices are held accountable throughout all our buying and selling decisions,” she says. “I’m excited to develop a 'Famelia wo-manifesto' to promote our business purpose and intentions, and the criteria we use to achieve and implement those. Our community is our greatest asset; they are all here because they believe in us and hear and feel what we do in-store. Being able to consistently return to a written 'North Star' of sorts will be wonderful to continue to develop our community engagement.” 

“The hospitality industry in Australia can be fickle. Consumers are easily led by what is new and beautiful, but will remain loyal, 'sticky' engagers when they can buy into something that aligns with their own value set,” Amelia observes. “If being a conscious advocate for something in your food business is important to your brand — whether it be organic produce, sustainable seafood, or women producers — then the more we can do to shout it as loudly as possible and bring in the people who want to support that, the better!” 

The Salopian Inn (South Australia) 

In the heart of South Australia’s McLaren Vale and led by Chef Karena Armstrong, The Salopian Inn keeps local and seasonal sourcing at the forefront of its brand and ethos. This includes tangible support for small businesses, with all small suppliers paid weekly and in full, named on menus and celebrated on the restaurant’s social media. 

Sourcing decisions are carefully considered; around 60% of vegetables come from the on-site garden kitchen, with the remainder sourced from regenerative farms. The guiding principle for meat is simple but effective: only serve what can be traced back to the supplier, paddock, breed and animal husbandry practice. Seafood sourcing shows similar care, with all species coming from South Australian fisheries with a story to tell. Carp is used in the bestselling Salopian Dumplings dish, a considered ecological choice to help limit the damage this invasive species is doing to the Murray River.  

Guided by the principle of 'minimal harm', the Inn has developed a range of thoughtful and practical environmental habits across operations. Packaging waste is reduced by purchasing coffee and cocoa in refillable containers, using bulk milk tanks that are returned to the supplier, and offering biodegradable packaging for leftover customer food, complete with composting and reheating instructions. Vegetable foam boxes are returned directly to suppliers, closing the loop on food delivery packaging. For takeaway picnics, a deposit system keeps single-use packaging to a minimum. 

 
The Salopian Inn has just completed their first Food Made Good Standard with a fantastic three-star result. “It wasn’t an easy decision to make financially,” says Karena. "For The Salopian Inn, it was a considerable investment of both time and money. However, I that it was a worthwhile investment because it aligned so well with our goals as a business to be the most sustainable version that we can be. The process is very detailed and takes a considerable amount of time. I liked that it was this detailed; it gave me confidence in the quality of the assessment.” 

Now that The Salopian Inn has completed their Standard and received their tailored report, Karena says the process has delivered a lot of useful guidance that will shift how they approach operations. “So many learnings! We will move forward with all the recommendations offered by FMG.”  

“We will all benefit by making the Australian community of Food Made Good businesses larger,” she wraps up. “We have an opportunity to lead a cultural change around sustainability in our community.” 

Radish Events (New South Wales) 

Radish Events is a catering company in Sydney currently working their way through the Food Made Good Standard. With a strong belief that business should be a force for good, the team and is committed to doing things differently, thinking creatively and delivering boldly delicious food while minimising waste and taking responsibility for the resources they use.  

“What drew me to Food Made Good is that it's hospitality-specific,” says Managing Director Henrique Turra. “Reading through the Framework, the impact areas felt very aligned with what we've learned over more than a decade of doing this work — they're the things that actually matter when you're trying to run a sustainable food business.”  

Radish has been a certified B Corp since 2017, and is still the first and only caterer in Australia to hold that certification. “B Corp has been a powerful framework for us, but it's deliberately industry-agnostic. I know that FMG will give us a Framework that is tailored to us and will allow us to go much deeper into each pillar.” 

Henrique is very clear about why third-party assessments matter to the team at Radish Events. “We've spent years developing internal systems, policies and data tracking to keep ourselves honest about our sustainability work. Some of those systems have become quite sophisticated, and they've helped us measure our impact and improve year on year. But internal discipline only takes you so far,” he says. “Having a competent third party assess our work against a rigorous Standard does a few things: it reassures us that we're focused on the right things; it surfaces areas we haven't explored as deeply as we could; and it gives our claims real weight when we're talking to clients, prospects, and the broader industry. Sustainability claims need to be backed up, and a third-party Standard is one of the most honest ways to do that.” 

 
Henrique was particularly drawn to how Food Made Good connects chefs, operators and businesses across the globe, building a community of like-minded people who can share knowledge and support one another. “Food Made Good gives us access to a global network of foodservice businesses at every stage of this journey — a place where we can learn from how others are tackling similar problems, and where we can share what we've worked out ourselves. That kind of industry-specific resource and peer community is something I haven't really found anywhere else.” 

 
While the Radish Events team is still quite early on in the process of completing the assessment, Henrique says the experience has been excellent. “The team at The SRA has been helpful, flexible and clearly understanding of how stretched small business owners can be — that goes a long way. The portal itself is well-designed and easy to navigate, and the questions are thoughtful and relevant. The process is thorough and demanding, as it should be, so having strong support and a good platform really does make all the difference.” 

Free webinar: Turning sustainability INSIGHTS INTO AUSTRALIAN SUCCESS

Don’t miss our upcoming webinar for the Australian hospitality sector, “Global Insights, Local Impact: Turning Sustainability Insights into Australian Success”. Discover how global sustainability trends are reshaping hospitality and what they mean for Australian F&B businesses.  

• Date: Wednesday 20th May 2026 
• Time: 11am to 12pm (NSW & VIC) | 1pm to 2pm (Auckland) | 9am to 10am (WA)  

Register now 

If you’re a business in Australia interested in how the Food Made Good Standard could support your sustainability (and business!) goals, get in touch with Karen Finnerty at karen@thesra.org. 

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Lead image courtesy of Brae restaurant.