eclectic food innovator shines

1030 1030 In Good Company | Northern Rivers
nicholsons fine foods logo 2 copy

Nicholson Fine Foods

1/4 Mooli Pl, Yamba, NSW 2464

www.nicholsonfinefoods.com.au

Visit Clarence Valley Northern Rivers-01
eclectic food innovator shines

The small coastal town of Yamba is home to one of the world’s best eating prawns, the Eastern King Prawn. It’s also home to the highest acclaimed finishing vinegars in Australia, developed by Peter Nicholson, from Nicholson Fine Foods.

“Nicholson Fine Foods is an artisan food company that creates, develops and manufactures an eclectic range of innovative food products for professional chefs and home cooks,” says Peter, who founded his eponymous business in 2002.

Food has always been a big part of Peter’s life. From an early age, he helped his mother and grandmother in the kitchen. He then did his apprenticeship in Tasmania, where he was named Cooking Apprentice of the Year. Building upon this honour, he travelled the world working for prestigious food companies that gave him access to qualified staff and generous budgets.

When he started his business, though, the restraints of developing food in regional Australia pushed Peter’s creativity to flourish. “Being self-employed, and with all the pressures of a new business meant I really had to dig deep to survive. I learned to do more with less,” Peter says.

This early pressure set Peter up for an innovative approach that became the key to Nicholson Fine Food’s success.

“In 2004 I started design work on a new style of vinegar, which I called Finishing Vinegar,” says Peter. “Now, 13 years later, a Google search shows this style has been copied by many companies in Australia, Europe and the United States. The Garnishing Pearls, Belgian Chocolate Mousse and Seasoning Sprinkles are also products with high degrees of innovation and design.”

nicholson fine foods yamba

“I learned to do more with less”

Being an innovator means Peter continues to grow with and adapt to the ever-changing food market. “There are so many pressures on food and lifestyle for Australians, and change is constant,” Peter says.

“Researching and designing products to fit into a future marketplace is challenging, but I do enjoy the creativity. For me, it’s a great driver.”

The success of Nicholson Fine Foods is reflected by its arm-long list of national awards, including 17 Australian Royal Show Champion Trophies. And Peter plans to keep raising the bar.

“I subscribe to the saying, ‘Good, better, best – we will never rest, until our good is better and our better’s best.’”

Share this story

Read more stories

Heart and Soul of a region

 1500 2250 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

Norco Co-operative
Norco has an impressive origin story.

Creativity takes flight

 2560 2560 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

Honey Hunt Style
Jules Hunt moved to Byron Bay with her family 15 years ago because she wanted to raise her children with a strong sense of community. It was by chance that this move led to the flourishing of her artistic career – and more recently to her turn as a successful business woman.

spar maclean clarence valley

making history, creating culture

 1535 1025 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

Spar Maclean
SPAR Maclean’s claim to fame is a doozy. Indeed, it’s something only one supermarket in the whole of Australia can say: that it is the longest…

From trauma to business transformation

 1620 1080 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

Our Cow
For Casino-based meat providers Our Cow, the last three years have seen remarkable, game-changing growth.

putting the business into ‘show business’

 2560 1709 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

Brainstorm Productions
You might think that COVID-19 would rattle a business that delivers educational theatre into schools. But the “show must go on” mentality runs deep for Brainstorm Productions’ founder and artistic director Jenny Johnson…

A planet of business diversity

 2016 1512 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

Tropical Fruit World
It’s been almost 50 years since Robert and Valorie Brinsmead bought the 200-acre farm in Murwillumbah.

cooperative success, sweet for 150 years

 1000 627 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

Sunshine Sugar
The Northern Rivers is home to generations of cane farming families who have not only built the sugar industry, but also saved the local…

patches kyogle 001

sewing love for a lifetime

 1232 816 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

Patches of Kyogle
Jeannine Smith grew up under her mother’s sewing machine in Western Samoa. “My mother was a professional dressmaker,” says Jeannine…

ahead of time on equality and agility

 1000 667 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

Hurford Hardwood
When Olive Hurford told the bank manager she’d be looking after the accounts of her husband’s new building company, the story goes…

Aurora Suspended Fires_Ballina in good company image 4

all fired up for global attention

 960 600 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

Aurora Suspended Fires
Aurora Suspended Fires arose from the perfect marriage of Chloe Allan’s creative talents with Neil’s engineering background. But building a successful…

You can judge a book by its cover

 1440 2560 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

Charlie & Fox
When Jess Tunnage’s mother-in-law gave her a sewing machine for Christmas a few years ago, she had no idea how to use it.

northern_lights _ballina_northern_rivers_001

let there be light

 2000 1333 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

Northern Light
“I eat a pot of honey every day and I’ve been stung more than 70,000 times,” says Jeffrey Gibbs, founder of Northern Light, an organic beeswax…

It was time the level the paying field

 1500 562 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

Zepto
What do you do next after more than a decade building up a Byron Bay skydiving business to become a national success and then stepping back after listing it on the Australian Stock Exchange?

A collaborator at heart

 940 627 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

Table Under A Tree
Georgina Inwood credits the evolution of her business, Table Under a Tree, to her ability to “take stock while still running at a million miles an hour”.

Community connection runs deep

 1644 848 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

Connect Business Solutions
Connect Business Solutions can be thought of as the glue that holds a business community together.

nicholson fine foods yamba

eclectic food innovator shines

 1030 1030 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

Nicholson Fine Foods
The small coastal town of Yamba is home to the one of the world’s best eating prawns, the Eastern King Prawn. It’s also home to the highest…

Nurtured by nature

 2560 1723 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

Greenx7
For the past 10 years GreenX7 has been running workshops and retreats internationally and in the Tweed for clients as diverse as McDonald’s, Deloitte, Six Senses, and the Australian Defence Force, to inspire both individuals and teams to tap into the healing power of nature.

nimbin valley dairy 003

love, peace and artisan cheese

 666 500 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

Nimbin Valley Dairy
Not every goat in Australia has its own nutritionist and its own vet. But the goats at Nimbin Valley Dairy definitely do. Bill, the nutritionist…

In Ventura we trust

 2500 1667 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

Ventura Brewing
Ventura is a symbol of luck, chance and good fortune – and while Ventura Brewing’s two founders have had a good dose of all three – it’s mostly been a lot of hard work and focus to launch this craft kombucha brewery amid a global pandemic.

stone and wood 001

not just a business, a community partner

 960 761 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

Stone & Wood
“That’s like asking parents to name which of their children they prefer,” says Jamie Cook, Stone & Wood co-founder. He has been asked which of the…

Start Typing

X