Ochre and First Nations people

Owner Craig Squire and Ochre have had decades of involvement with Indigenous people and businesses.

Use of bush food, purchase of local aboriginal art, pro bono consulting and advice for start-ups and employment of local Indigenous peoples.

Some examples are:

  • Purchase and commissioning of First Nations art works.
  • Providing a Native Food tutorial tasting to thousands of student groups over the last 3 decades, education of the wider international community.
  • Craig has extensively worked with native ingredient’s over 30 years including many Guest Chef promotions offshore and on cruise ships – promoting Australian Native Ingredients and lecturing on their ecological, health benefits including traditional uses.
  • Working closely with Abriculture Pty Ltd to develop and cater for local cultural tours and restaurant dinners where we present our native foods tasting.
  • Working closely with Mandingalbay Ancient Indigenous Tours catering to Deadly Dinners on country, employing and training local Indigenous staff at these events.
  • Catering to Dreamtime Dive – integrating native foods and training Indigenous staff on traditional and modern culinary uses.
  • Ochre purchases Native Bush Food mainly from Creative Native who have established an Indigenous Food Fund with royalties from some products going direct to communities.

First Nations businesses that we purchase from:

  • Newchurch Family Farm- Saltbush, Samphire, Coastal Rosemary, Sea Parsley, Sea Celery, Quandong, Warrigal, Wintercress
  • Something Wild – Samphire, Sea Blight, Karkalla
  • Bawaninga Aboriginal Corporation – Bush Apples
  • Seven Emu Station – Paperbark
  • Mayi Harvests – Jilungin Tea
  • Gunnar Nielsen – Quandong
  • Rum Jungle (not First Nations owned, but works with communities for harvest) – Buffalo
  • Rod Horner (not First Nations owned, but works with communities for harvest) – Wattleseed, Bush Tomato
  • Bushfood Farms (not First Nations owned, but works with communities for harvest) – Native Lemomgrass
  • Kakadu Life (not First Nations owned, but works with communities for harvest) – Kakadu Plum 

At Ochre in general:

  • Use of Australian Native Bush Foods – from environmentally sustainable and socially responsible suppliers
  • Majority of our produce is from local Agri business, creating a low carbon footprint and improving the local economy. A Paddock to Plate principal with a story of great relationships between farmer, forager and chef. This includes Beef, Pork, Chicken, Dairy, Fruit and Vegetables, Macadamia and Pecan nuts, Vanilla, Coffee, Tea, Fish and Seafood including locally smoked salmon and mussels, processed meats like nitrate free ham and smallgoods, Pepper, Honey, Eggs, Bush Foods, Chocolate, Beer and Spirits
  • Australian Bush Foods are the new super foods, packed with anti-oxidants, nutrients, low in GI and Kilojoules, some with antimicrobial compounds and preservative qualities.
  • Use of sustainably harvested Kangaroo; being 98% fat free, and most importantly it’s low in saturated fat. It’s also rich in high-quality protein, a good source of omega-3 fats, a good source of zinc and an excellent source of iron. Furthermore, it contributes B-group vitamins to the diet, including riboflavin, niacin, Vitamin B6 and Vitamin B12. Kangaroo meat also contains conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), a ‘desirable’ fat which research shows has antioxidant properties and may help reduce body fat in humans. 
  • Native animals are soft hoofed and snip off grasses so don’t damage grasslands
  • Use of sugarcane pulp disposable ware and cardboard instead of plastic for casual catering
  • Use of wooden cutlery, and paper coffee and water cups for casual catering
  • One of the first to stop the use of plastic straws, well before the ‘straw no more’ campaign.
  • In 2019 introduced a no more P.E.T water bottle policy, this included the Amway China events – saving purchase and disposal of over 7000 bottles for these events alone, this extended to all off site catering – totalling 15,000 bottles not purchased and disposed of in 2019
  • In 2018 introduced a policy where Ochre purchases reusable butchers’ tubs and supplies these to our wholesalers for packing product into, to reduce the use of non-recyclable foam and wax covered boxes. Thousands of boxes have not been disposed of into landfill.
  • We separate 10c recyclable bottles to be collected by a local charity.