HOT Chat: Will Cook of Harvest Box

Posted on December 3, 2010 by Jetsetting Joyce

For a foodie like me, December is definitely the silly season. The lead-up to Christmas perfect excuse to eat lots of mince pies, pudding, chocolate and canapes – which means I have to be a little bit disciplined about what I eat in between.

Enter my newest discovery Harvest Box, a nifty service that delivers nuts and dried fruit packages to your office. Having these healthy snacks on hand means there’s less of a temptation to dip in to the biscuit tin and snack vending machine. You can choose your own mixes – I personally like By the Beach mix containing mango, macadamias, coconut and Brazil nuts. Today’s HOT Chat is with Will Cook, one of the founders of Harvest Box. Thanks Will!

Will, tell me a bit more about your background and how you came to start your business Harvest Box?

I have worked in large corporations and have also run my own catering business, therefore I have experienced both sides of trying to eat better at work. I remember working for large organisations where you would often be stuck in meetings or working back late and all you had at work was biscuits, unhealthy vending machines or fruit that nobody else was prepared to eat!

After many discussions over many evenings myself and two other mates decided to stop complaining and actually do something about turning workplace snacking on its head. We decided to think about it from the busy workers point of view and provide a product that is healthy, delicious, convenient and never boring. We even decided to allow our customers to rate all our mixes to their own taste so we only send you mixes you like. We want you to look at Harvest Box as a delicious self preservation box that sits on your desk.

Also, we worked with Australia Post to design a box that could securely send 4 punnets of healthy snacks (from a range of 50 mixes) to any address in Australia. We have been around for two months and have already sent thousands of boxes around the country. We won’t be happy until every desk has a Harvest Box!

What are the benefits of snacking on dried fruit and nuts?

Snacking on healthy and natural foods between meals can help to regulate blood sugar levels for sustained energy throughout the day.

There has been a complete shift in attitude to nuts and dried fruit recently. It is now widely recognised that nuts are natures own little vitamin pill, they don’t contain trans fats, are cholesterol free and are a great source of fibre and protein. The high protein content of nuts quickly satisfies your hunger and over time the nuts slowly release energy into your blood stream to give you lasting vitality.

Dried fruits are a good source of fibre and roughage and retain most of the health benefits of fresh fruit. We make sure we use as much fruit that is naturally dried and not soaked in sugar that you commonly find in the market place.

Our 4 punnets contained in each box are potion controlled so that you only have a suitable amount. You definitely can have too much of a good thing!

Our mixes are designed be delicious and to make you eat better. We want Australian workers to have more healthy eating options at work so they can keep their energy up during the day. We feel by having a box arrive on your desk each week with a range of natural foods will allow you to always have that snack on hand.

Where do you source your ingredients from?

Wherever possible we have hunted down the best tasting local produce we can find. We think Australian produce is the best! Our dried apple is from Tasmania, our dried mango and pineapple comes from Queensland and our almonds are from Mildura to name just a few. Seasonal constraints may dictate that from time to time we need to use imported produce, but this will be the exception. Wherever possible our dried fruits, nuts and seeds are free from preservatives, sulphites additives and added sugar.

What has been the most challenging thing you’ve faced in starting up your own business? What advice would you give to a small business owner?

Finding enough hours in the day and prioritising your work load. There are so many jobs to do and so much you want to achieve you need to make sure you are being effective with your time. We have found so many people want to talk about our product. If you are passionate about your offering your customers will be to. Because Harvest Box is committed to providing our customers choice we are constantly looking for new ingredients. This is fun but does take time.

All three of us have young families and I have an 11 week old baby so we have to make sure we split our time as fairly as possible between work and family. Being able to send our Harvest Boxes home each day makes life a little easier!!

What are your next plans for Harvest Box?

Looking to the future is the best part of running your own business. We are focused on ensuring our product range for our current customers is the best it possibly can be in terms of taste, freshness and health. Communicating all the options available with Harvest Box is critical but we don’t want to send too much info across. Things like pausing your deliveries, rating new products and forwarding on our free boxes all need to be communicated in an efficient way.

We want to keep increasing the amount of mixes we offer but we are also looking at supplying cafes and supermarkets with our individual punnets. Not to mention large companies wanting bulk orders.

We are in an exciting development stage we just have to make sure we grow in a sustainable manner. We love people coming to us with ideas so if any of your readers like what we do and have any suggestions feel free to drop us a line through our online feedback form on our website.

Finally, where are your HOT places to visit or things to do in Melbourne?

Three Bags Full (56 Nicholson St, Abbotsford +) A funky cafe in the middle of industrial Abbotsford. On the weekend you will be waiting for a table so you know it is good!

Picnic in the Botanical Gardens – in the middle of the city it is nice to surround yourself with nature.

Farmers Markets – I try and go to one every month. The produce and knowledge they have is fantastic. We have actually found some great suppliers by popping down to a local farmers market. They appear across many suburbs throughout the year.

If you’re interested in giving Harvest Box a go, Will has kindly provided blog readers with a promotional code. Just enter 169BTG9RF to get the first box free and second box half price – there’s no expiry date.

HOT: Kappaya Japanese Soul Food, The Kitchen Annex, Abbotsford Convent, 1 St Heliers St, Abbotsford

Posted on November 23, 2010 by Jetsetting Joyce

With the weather firmly in summer temperatures last weekend, I decided to make a visit to Abbotsford Convent for some R&R in the sunshine.

What I didn’t realise was that Abbotsford Convent on a weekend is quite manic. The Sunday I visited the Skirt and Shirt Market and Maker’s Market was on as well so visitor numbers really swelled.

Nevertheless, I did find a quiet nook inside Kappaya. It’s part of the food complex housing the Convent Bakery and Lentil As Anything and like its neighbours it focuses on simple, organic food – in this case, with Japanese origins and described as ‘Japanese soul food’.

The small indoors space is really lovely to look at, with wooden counters and bench tables and cables dangling almost other-worldly ceramic lamp shades (there’s an outside area as well which melds into the tables of the neighbouring cafes). The kitchen is a bustling little corridor but I never felt harried by the almost-jogging staff, maybe because they were just so sweet and polite.

The café serves Japanese breakfasts or bento without the actual box. I chose a salmon bento ($12) consisting of a grilled fillet of salmon, brown rice studded with soy beans and sprouts, a rather bland tofu ball dotted with dark miso resting on a crumble of some sort of seed on top and an assortment of salad and seaweed. The dish comes out looking like a very pretty artist’s palette and it tasted as good as it looked, with subtle flavours and ever-changing textures.

I also managed to score the last green tea mousse ($7.50) and if you like desserts I highly recommend it. In fact, I’d go as far as to suggest that you order the mousse before you eat your lunch tp ensure that you don’t miss out! As far as mousses go it’s quite dense, more like a cheesecake. The top layer was mixed with a mild matcha powder while the bottom was a very subtle vanilla. The mousse itself wasn’t very sweet so it was matched with a drizzle of matcha syrup and crunchy honey biscuits – the biscuits also gave the mousse a cute afro hairdo.

What I really liked about the food at Kappaya was its wholesome goodness. Everything tasted as it should, with no adornment or trickery. Just fresh, simple flavours presented with care and served with a smile.

For other reviews of Kappaya, check out Addictive & Consuming and Eat Almost Anything. For more simple and great tasting Japanese food, try Cocoro or Yamato.

Kappaya, The Kitchen Annex, Abbotsford Convent, 1 St Heliers St, Abbotsford +