The Very Hungry Coeliac x The Gluten Free Chef: Gluten Free Bakes, Business & Community

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A Gluten Free Podcast
Episode 259

My guests on today’s episode are gluten free cookbook author and Masterchef Alumni, Melanie Persson and founder of Davies St Food Co and The Gluten Free Chef, Audrey Kuhl. We’ll chat about the release of Mel’s new cookbook Gluten Free Bakes, Audrey’s new direction with The Gluten Free Chef and how they’re combining forces to help more people in the gluten free community.

What we’ll cover:
* Catching up with Mel and Audrey, discussing the last time we saw each other
* Mel discussing the recipes in her new cookbook Gluten Free Bakes
* Savoury gluten free bread recipes in Mel’s cookbook
* The process of creating Gluten Free Bakes
* Mel’s experiences connecting with the gluten free community at the Gluten Free Expos
* Major Australian discount book retailer refusing to stock Mel’s cookbook and others in the gluten free niche and how the gluten free community can help stock Mel’s cookbook and other gluten free cookbooks in Australian book retailers
* Mel’s struggles with being well known and dealing with having to advertise herself and her cookbooks
* Audrey’s background growing up in Mexico, moving to the US and how her love of food began
* Audrey’s love of feeding people and journey in hospitality
* How Audrey began catering to various dietary requirements through The Gut Tribe Kitchen
* How Covid changed Audrey’s plans and began Davies St Food Co.
* How Audrey began catering to the local Melbourne gluten free community
* The gluten free community
* Getting Coeliac Australian accreditation at Davies St Food Co.
* The response from the coeliac and gluten free community when Davies St Food Co. got accredited
* Closing down Davies St Food Co. as Audrey was getting too busy and wanted to put all her effort into The Gluten Free Chef
* Mel coming into Audrey’s cafe and not believing how she was working as hard as she was
* Audrey moving fulltime into The Gluten Free Chef and be more creative
* How The Gluten Free Chef has grown so much over the past few months, now shipping interstate around Australia
* Mel coming onboard and helping The Gluten Free Chef
* What The Gluten Free Chef offers meal and recipe-wise
* Deciding what meals to make for The Gluten Free Chef weekly
* Personal investment from staff being either coeliac, gluten free themselves or having family members who are
* Working for the NDIS and elderly customers
* Customer base changing since opening up interstate for Australia
* Logistics of delivering food from The Gluten Free Chef
* Keeping up with demand for The Gluten Free Chef
* Changing the perception on ready-made gluten free meals
* Balancing scaling a small gluten free business with costs and profits
* Mistake on order from Canberra beginning interstate delivery
* Doing the best with the amount of space Audrey and Mel have in the kitchen
* Travelling with coeliac disease and navigating finding gluten free food in different countries
* Italy and Spain being accessible for those with coeliac disease finding gluten free food
* Vietnam cuisine being naturally gluten free but a language barrier around cross contamination
* Hard finding gluten free food in Japan
* Our Celiac Cruise experience together and Mel and Audrey’s travelling experiences
* The emotional impact of connecting with others dealing with a coeliac disease diagnosis
* What Mel and Audrey are focussing on currently and into the near future
 
Links
Buy Gluten Free Bakes
Follow and order from The Gluten Free Chef
Follow Mel on Instagram @theveryhungrycoeliac
Follow Audrey on Instagram @theglutenfreechef
Mel’s first episode on the podcast

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This podcast reflects personal experiences and is not medical advice. Please consult a qualified healthcare professional for individual guidance.

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