Indigenous-owned Cooee Foods Australia has acquired Creative Native Foods, bringing Australia's longest running native ingredients supplier under Indigenous ownership for the first time in its 25-year history.
The deal unites Cooee's national retail and food service footprint with Creative Native Foods' long-standing role supplying native ingredients to leading chefs and iconic tourism operators including The Ghan, Indian Pacific, and Voyages Indigenous Tourism Australia.
Cooee already supplies cookies to Woolworths Metro, IGA, 600 Ampol Foodary stores, and Qantas for domestic and international flights; giving the combined business immediate scale across retail, hospitality and tourism. Every cookie is 100 percent plant-based, gluten-free, free from nuts, dairy and GMO with each containing a native ingredient namely muntries, Kakadu plum, strawberry gum, wattleseed, Davidson plum or finger lime.
Terri Ann Daniel, the Wiradjuri (Central NSW) founder of Cooee Foods Australia, said she is on a mission to build a native food movement.
"Right now, when you buy something off the shelf with Kakadu plum or wattleseed in it, less than two per cent of those products are Indigenous owned. We're changing that," Ms Daniel said.
"NAB were incredibly supportive and backed us, without them acquiring Creative Native Foods wouldn't have been possible."
Creative Native Foods was established in 2001 by chef and author Andrew Fielke who was inspired to promote Australia's native ingredients after working as a chef in acclaimed restaurants around Europe including the Savoy Hotel in London.
"I just travelled a lot and loved how the food changed from country to country, and I was always wondering why we don't have this true Australian cuisine the same way the Europeans do?" Mr Fielke said.
Mr Fielke remains with the business as a consultant, focusing on product development and culinary innovation using his deep expertise to continue to shape the sector.
"It's incredibly meaningful to see Creative Native Foods transition to Indigenous ownership," Mr Fielke said.
"This is the right next chapter for the business and for native foods more broadly."
Cooee took ownership of Creative Native Foods on 28 November 2025.
Creative Native Foods' range spans raw native ingredients including Kakadu plum, Davidson plum, wattleseed and lemon myrtle, through to chef developed products such as spice blends, chutneys, native infused salamis and ready to use curry pastes.
Cooee Foods Australia began as a baking business in 2023, infusing native ingredients into allergy-friendly cookies that now produces more than 90,000 cookies a month from a dedicated peanut-free facility in Melbourne. It recently expanded into natural dog food under sister brand, Bunji which can be found in 163 Bunnings Warehouse stories nationwide.
