How Fake Food Australia Began

One of the questions I'm asked most often is, "How did this business begin?"

Well, let's rewind to 2017.

Back then, I was working as the Store Manager at Direct Hospitality Supplies (now Cedar Hospitality) in Mornington, Victoria. From my very first day, I couldn't help but notice that while the crockery was beautiful, the displays felt a little flat and uninspiring. I kept thinking to myself, if only there was food on the plates to help customers visualise how they could use the products.

That simple thought planted a seed.

The very first items I attempted to make were macarons. And what a journey that was! There were countless trials and errors trying to get them to look "just right". Anyone familiar with macarons knows they need that distinctive "foot" around the edge and a subtle sheen on the shell. Believe it or not, it wasn't until recently that I finally perfected them. Today, my macarons measure a realistic 43x43 x23mm, complete with the perfect foot and a delicate sheen.

Once I had mastered macarons, I moved on to other sweet treats – donuts, biscuits, cakes and cupcakes. Before long, I ventured into savoury foods, which quickly became my absolute favourite items to create. Drinks soon followed (I still have issues with resin.. uggh) opening up a whole new world of challenges and creativity.

All of this was happening in my spare time while I continued working full-time at DHS.

Then COVID arrived.

Throughout the pandemic, I continued working at DHS as the business was classified as essential. During that time, my daughter and her partner stayed with us for six weeks. My daughter was studying for a Bachelor of Marketing at RMIT University, with a focus on analytics, and she asked if she could build me a website.

Not thinking very much into it, I said ….'Sure!'

Once the website went live, everything changed.

Orders started arriving and what began as a creative side hustle slowly evolved into something much bigger than I ever imagined. Eventually, I made the leap and left my full-time job to focus entirely on Fake Food Australia.

Today, I can honestly say I work harder than I ever have before - and I absolutely love every minute of it. Well, almost every minute. Cleaning paint brushes... uggh!

It's now been five years since launching the website, and the business is thriving beyond my wildest dreams. I've had the privilege of creating thousands of handmade pieces for cafés, restaurants, retail displays, film and television productions, marketing campaigns and private collectors throughout Australia and beyond.

What started with a single macaron and an idea to make crockery displays more inspiring has grown into Fake Food Australia — and I couldn't be more excited about what the next five years will bring.