YUM. | BUSINESS
MELINDA’S GLUTEN FREE GOODIES { GOODIE GOODIE, GLUTEN FREE FOR ME! }
A diagnosed coeliac of 23 years, mum of three in three and a half years and multiple business owner amongst it all, Melinda made it her mission to bring us delicious and health-focused gluten free goodies. And they are YUM!!! Melinda’s Gluten Free Goodies began in October 2004 after Melinda decided she couldn’t stomach another stock standard gluten free orange and almond cake. After a request by a cafe owner, she delivered one of her gluten free chocolate mud cakes (a family recipe converted to gluten free and was the dessert for her wedding). The cafe sold all 16 pieces overnight and said, “Keep ‘em coming!” This grew into what she called “the cafe cake business” and within four years was supplying 150 cafes and gourmet delis in Southeast Queensland. In early 2006, she recognised the need for better tasting and higher quality cakes in the supermarket health food aisle. She presented to Woolworths and
28
delivered her first three slice premixes in mid 2008. This range grew to 10 products and within a year, she expanded into Coles, independent supermarkets and specialty, health and online stores. She was running both businesses concurrently with 13 staff in the cafe cake business and two in the premix business and had two young girls under two years old! Over Christmas in 2008, while preparing for her third child, she fell in a heap and decided she couldn’t run both the cafe cake business and premix business. She sold the cafe cake business to her mother-in-law who renamed the business OMG, It’s Gluten Free and after 10 years sold to a new owner in April 2019. Melinda was diagnosed Coeliac at the age of 19 and was an avid country cook so this started a lifelong journey of creating and altering recipes to suit her needs. Since then she’s developed a FODMAP tummy and also choose to be low carb. These days she likes to create products that cover multiple
