A fascination with aquaponics and the untapped potential of Australian native bush foods inspired Dominic Smith to establish Pundi Produce.
With just one strand of native rivermint, the business was born on his 7-hectare Monash property in 2014.
Underpinning Pundi Produce is Dominic’s vision to connect people back to the land and Aboriginal culture through food grown using sustainable practices.
Pundi Produce supplies its native foods to brands throughout Australia including Outback Spirit. It’s also launched sales of its own branded rivermint tea direct through its website.
No chemicals or pesticides are used in production—in fact, the plants get most of the nutrition they need from the natural fertiliser provided by living fish in the aquaponics tanks.
Dominic, a member of the Yuin nation from southwest Sydney, is also committed to improving health, wellbeing and career outcomes for others, especially Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island peoples. He hopes to raise the profile of the medicinal properties of bush foods and open up new opportunities, especially for Indigenous youth.
Naturally grown and bursting with unique flavours and
high nutrient levels, Pundi Produce’s native foods have a well-earned status as superfoods.
With the taste and aroma of spearmint, rivermint makes for a reviving and tasty tea that also aids digestion. It’s also a perfect accompaniment to lamb and can be added to sauces and salads for a fresh flavour—or for something truly decadent, whip up a batch of rivermint choc brownies.
Pundi Produce’s two bush tomato varieties tempt tastebuds, with the Passion Berries offering a unique banana-vanilla flavour profile, and the Centrale a more caramelised flavour.
Their Victoria wattle seed has hazelnut notes, making it a tasty addition to many dishes.
With bush thyme, muntries and lemon myrtle now in growing trials—and with increasing awareness about these foods’ medicinal properties and extraordinary flavours—
expect to see more Australian native foods making it onto a fine dining restaurant plate and grocery store shelf near you very soon.
We acknowledge and pay our respects to elders past, present, and emerging of the Nagway and more than thirty other groups of traditional owners of the land now known as South Australia.
