Explore the Sunshine Coast’s food bowl

The Sunshine Coast is already blessed with beautiful beaches, an idyllic year round climate and a verdant hinterland, but it is also winning acclaim as one of Australia’s most popular food bowls.
For Restaurant Australia Ambassador, renowned fresh food campaigner and Sunshine Coast local, Shane Stanley, this comes as no surprise. His own award–winning Shane Stanley Noosa Farmers Markets were originally introduced to establish a connection between local farmers and consumers, and make available the wealth of local produce grown right here on the Sunshine Coast.
"With the quality and range on offer there should be no reason not to choose fresh, local, healthy and nutritious foods, which in turn, helps those in our local farming community prosper, too," Shane said.
Shane encourages the farmers to get out from the farm and meet the community and similarly, consumers also get the chance to meet and have a chat to the farmers direct, which is proving to be a hugely successful model of his business, The Shane Stanley Farmers Markets that operate at Noosa and Kawana Waters.
"These people are some of the most passionate people I know. They live and breathe the food they produce and their stories, along with their phenomenal produce, deserve to be shared with our community.
"My aim is to ensure farmers are getting a fair go and our environment is being looked after so we can produce the very best home-grown produce using sustainable farming methods wherever possible.
"As farmers and consumers, we share a common, fundamental goal – to have great tasting, exceptional quality and healthy food to nourish and sustain our bodies. If we can achieve this through making informed choices about our food, we will not only eat better, but also be in a better position to make a conscious choice to support our own local farmers, too."

Here’s our pick (pardon the pun) of a few of the Sunshine Coast’s favourite farmers and foodies.

Strawberry Fields

If you’re a Sunshine Coast local you’ll already know and love this place, but if you’re not, Strawberry Fields (sourced from the farm just East of Aussie World) produces the sweetest, juiciest, most melt-in-your-mouth strawberries around. Perfect for a quick, easy snack, or as the finishing touch to any smoothie or dessert, hand pick your own berries from the farm, buy them by the punnet, or enjoy a sweet treat in the café where everything is strawberry inspired and derived!

Gordon’s Maleny Cheese & Yogurt

Gordon’s variety of exceptional cheeses and yoghurt are testament to the happiness of the cows, sheep and buffalo that graze on the sweet-grassed hills of picturesque Maleny. A farm specialty, Buffalo Brie, is a delicate, soft cheese, low in cholesterol and perfect for those lactose intolerant. Gordon also sells an array of cow’s cheese too, touted by customers as purely ‘the best of the best’ and sold in quality delis and providores throughout Australia.

Essential Grain Bakery

Using traditional methods to make delectable artisan sourdough breads, The Essential Grain is your one-stop shop for flavoursome, preservative free, no-added sugar, organic breads. With varieties in Turkish Pide, Ciabatta, Panini and loafs with gluten free options also available, Essential Grain is a Sunshine Coast family favourite. The range of homemade specialty dips, also whipped up on the Sunshine Coast, provide the perfect match for the moreish bread choices on offer.