Story Eve Jeffery
Santos Organics is an iconic Byron brand with a strong heritage, founded in 1978 when the original owners Santi and Osborne traveled around Main Arm with a Holden ute delivering whole foods out of sacks to the many healthy and environmentally conscious homes in the area.
Since then Santos has grown to now have three organic health food stores across the Byron Shire – a Mullumbimby flagship store, one in Byron town centre and a warehouse/shop in the Byron Arts & Industry Estate – as well as having an online shop featuring their non-perishable offerings, which has recently launched free shipping to a range of postcodes in the Northern Rivers.
And Santos now has an amazing addition. A zero-waste food specialist and amazing vegetarian chef, Georgia Badyk heads up Santos Organics’ kitchen and cafes at their Byron and Mullum outlets. Santos’ Nourishing & Enrichment Manager, Georgia has already brought in some amazing new recipes and dishes to the cafes and has some exciting plans for the future too.
All three Santos stores offer freshly made food and drinks via their 100 per cent organic cafes. Georgia’s commerce/business degree with sustainability as major and her vast experience in farm-to-table and zero waste businesses in America and Canada are regarded as a huge asset within the Santos family.
Georgia has already put into practice what she has learned about being more resourceful with food, farming impacts on the environment, compost solutions, and utilising 100 per cent of all ingredients – such as creating pumpkin skin chips and making stock from leftovers
COVID brought Georgia back to Australia and Santos are very grateful to have her on the team – her strong passion for zero waste cooking and education will guide the direction for their cafes, and they are excited about all the new recipes with rich flavours and the regenerative vibe she has already set in place.
And letting you in on a secret: next in the pipeline is the development of a BYO container deli.
Beyond stocking the most sustainable organic products, looking after the health of the community and the planet has always been a core value for Santos Organics. They became a not-for-profit environmental organisation four years ago, setting them apart from many other health food stores as a portion of their profits are donated to social and environmental projects.