Making a difference by serving sustainability on a plate

Foodies flock to a cafe in Redcliffe, which offers its customers a special experience while helping preserve the planet.

Chef Geoff Abel and his wife Lexie opened Flock Eatery in 2017 with the aim to bring their personal ethos to the food industry, to minimise their carbon footprint with more sustainable practises.

Geoff, who has experience in fine dining, is passionate about innovative food, while reducing waste. His menu evolves and reflects the freshest seasonal produce.

“We specialise in a farm-to-plate dining experience offering fresh, seasonal and local produce from the Moreton Bay Region,’’ Lexie says.

“Geoff prides himself on the relationships he develops with the farmers and producers.’’

“Our customers like to know who grew their food. We love it when someone comes in and says ‘yeah that food was amazingly fresh’ and we know the farmer dropped the produce in a day before. The customers can taste that it is really fresh. I’m looking forward to getting more people into Flock and learning more about what we do with sustainability and supporting local growers’’

Lexie defines the eatery as pursuing a "closed-loop system" whose essence is sustainability. Loop Growers at Samford collects and composts all the food waste from Flock, turning it into organic matter that is used to grow produce that ends up on the menu at the eatery.

“We minimise all sorts of waste,’’ Lexie says. “We don’t have plastic or wrapping on the produce coming into the kitchen. Suppliers bring their produce to us in cardboard boxes. Our waste is so minimal. We usually only have half a wheelie bin of rubbish each week … that’s pretty exceptional for a really busy cafe.’’

The eatery specialises in catering to the dietary requirements of customers, such as vegan, gluten-free and alternative diets. Yet there's plenty of meat options for the carnivores.

The house blend of ethically produced coffee comes from Tim Adams on the Sunshine Coast and is part of the Chapola Project that ensures that coffee growers in developing countries get a higher price for their beans and that the profits support the local community.

A single-origin coffee — a special blend from a single region — is also on sale and this changes regularly.

Disposable coffee cups are an environmentally friendly nightmare but Lexie and Geoff provide their takeaway brews in compostable cups that are also sent off for recycling to Loop Growers.

Customers are encouraged to bring along their own reusable cups for a 50c discount on their coffee. The eatery’s plates are made by Redcliffe potter, Redraku.

“So our customers can eat local food off locally-made plates and bowls. That’s pretty special,’’ Lexie says.

FLOCK EATERY

Where: 99A Redcliffe Pde, Redcliffe

Opening hours: Tuesday to Sunday, 7am-2pm

Phone: 3283 6647

Visit: flockeatery.com