Changing the way we eat — Meet Kialla Pure Foods

Kialla Pure Foods is passionate about making delicious and nutritious organic food available to everyone. Communications cultivator Sheridan Kennedy tells us more about the brand’s drive to change the way we eat.

Tell us about Kialla Pure Foods.

We believe that the way people grow and eat food needs to change. As one of Australia’s organic wholefood pioneers, we’re on a mission to inspire people to embrace organics as the healthiest and most sustainable food type on the planet.
We’re one of the last remaining flour mills in Australia to still operate in the midst of the farmland where the grain is grown. Here, we mill quality organic grains and craft real food that is both delicious and good for you too.

Tell us about your range of organic foods.

The benefits of organic food come from the way it is grown. The future of sustainable food begins with how the farmers nourish their soils using techniques that work with nature, not against it.

The secret to the quality of our products lies in sourcing the best grains from our organic farmers, and then minimally processing these in ways that maximise the nourishment and celebrate the unique taste of each grain.

What is the story of your brand?

We’ve been at the heart of the organic farming movement for over 30 years. It began in 1988, deep in the heart of Queensland’s Darling Downs, with a grassroots movement that recognised the importance of nutrient-rich food grown in a sustainable way.

Our origin story can be traced through our organic certification number: the Bud logo on our packaging says “ACO CERT No 41”. Queensland is represented by the number 4, while the 1 indicates that we were the first organic processors in the state.

Since then, we’ve been dedicating our skills to milling quality foods for all passionate foodies who are committed to
a healthy lifestyle and a healthy future.

By empowering people to make informed choices we can change how food is grown for the better. We believe that transparency helps build trust and stronger connections between dedicated farmers and the passionate people who buy their produce. And, with this in mind, we developed our Plate2Farm tracker back in 2015. Using a QR code (and the traceability inherent in organic certification) people can track their products back to the source and understand more about organic farming, and why it’s the best way to produce our food.

What has been the highlight of your brand story?

We’re excited about finding innovative ways to make delicious and nutritious organic food available to more people. It’s difficult to make complete meals and solutions out of 100 per cent organic produce, so we’re coming up with new certified organic products that deliver on nutrition and taste.

These include our Protein Smoothies and Overnight Oats (made with our premium and much-loved creamy organic oats), created so people can get the best start to their day with minimal effort and fuss. There is a variety of flavours to tempt the tastebuds, including vegan options.

What has been the most challenging part of the journey?

The COVID-19 pandemic occurred at the same time that we were preparing to relaunch with our new branding. Completely inundated with orders, we had to grow our team quickly to meet demand while also keeping our eyes on the long-term goals. However, the best thing that has come out of that time is the revival of home baking and the newfound interest in healthy foods as the best way to build resilience in both our immune systems and our food production. People are now more aware than ever of the health challenges and issues we face as a society.

Why is being certified organic important to your brand?

Organic certification supports our values of transparency, integrity and sustainability because we recognise that our whole food system is connected from the soil and the environment all the way through to the people who eat the food.