local, seasonal, transformative gem hits town

960 639 In Good Company | Northern Rivers
Gateway find foods kyogle logo

Gateway Fine Foods and Catering

33 Summerland Way, Kyogle NSW 2474

www.gatewayfinefoods.com.au

Visit Kyogle Northern Rivers-01
local, seasonal, transformative gem hits town

Debbie McQueen has three words of advice for anyone starting a business in Kyogle: flexibility, perseverance and patience.

They’re three traits Debbie lived and breathed when she launched her café Gateway Fine Foods and Catering five years ago.

“We wanted to provide an alternative to the other cafés and outlets in town and decided our niche would be to offer mostly gluten-free and vegetarian meals,” Debbie says. The café also has a delicatessen and retail space, selling mainly local produce, many of which are incorporated into the menu.

However, it wasn’t so easy introducing something new to the town. Debbie says it took a while for some of her customers to appreciate dishes such as quinoa salad over a more traditional steak and chips.

“And they weren’t used to seasonal products. If there are no tomatoes because they’re not in season, we’d need to explain why we don’t just get them from supermarket.”

Working with the local producers was one of Debbie’s early inspirations for launching her café. Gateway Fine Foods and Catering holds regular Long Table Lunches featuring talks and tours from local producers and farmers, all set against the spectacular backdrop of the area’s open paddocks and rolling hills.

“Guests learn about the ingredients and origins of their food and the challenges and joys of farming life and we celebrate the wonderful flavours of the Northern Rivers.”

Debbie has succeeded in building her café into a bustling local hub, which now enjoys 50% return clientele from Kyogle and the neighbouring villages. More recently, she’s extended the business into catering, transforming a vintage caravan into a transportable commercial kitchen.

“Because we have the van we can take it to school fetes, to weddings on private farms, and to local village gatherings like pop up restaurants in community halls,” Debbie says.

She has also introduced a “Hamper 2 Go” service, offering picnic hampers brimming with local produce.

“This service took some time to become known, but we continued advertising and it’s now becoming popular with tourists visiting our region.”

Debbie says her secret to success has been this: “Look locally for support but look externally for inspiration.”

And, of course, putting those three traits into action.

gateway finefoods kyogle

Share this story

Read more stories
cape byron distellery 002

spirit of the rainforest

 960 540 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

Cape Byron Distillery
Let’s forget the beaches for a moment, as the true lifeblood of the Northern Rivers landscape is surely its rainforests, some of the most botanically…

from generation to generation

 850 565 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

Brookfarm
After buying a rundown dairy farm in the Byron hinterland in 1989, it was another ten years before Pam and Martin Brook made their shift to the…

Mount Warning Tours Tweed

a natural business adventure

 1920 1080 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

Mount Warning Tours
Despite only existing for four years, Mount Warning Tours’ short life has been eventful: from purchasing the ex-Murray River ferry Spirit of Wollumbin…

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.

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…

Generational innovation

 1440 1080 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

Australian Bay Lobster Producers
Thenus australiensis. Moreton Bay bugs. The Bay Lobster. Whatever nomenclature you want to use, there is no doubt that these crustaceans are a much-loved staple of Australian seafood menus.

planting natural beauty

 2048 2560 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

Biologi
There was a little bit of the “weird spirit of Byron Bay” in the 2017 creation of the natural skincare range, Biologi, says co-owner Lucy Macdougald of her chance meeting with Ross Macdougald, who is now both her business partner and husband…

A walk on the wild side

 1245 933 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

Vision Walks Eco Tours
Wendy Bithell has built her multi-award-winning eco-tourism business, Vision Walks – Eco Tours, by combining her two areas of expertise: ecology and technology. Her Byron hinterland adventures are as diverse as nature walks with night vision goggles, Indigenous bush tucker tours, and three-day women’s indulgence escapes.

air t&g ballina helicpoters 002

flying high, with a helicopter view

 800 531 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

Air T&G
Northern Rivers is well known for its breathtaking natural beauty, and imagine if your day at the office involved enjoying these views from the air…

growing community, growing business

 1600 1066 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

The Farm
It’s a typical Saturday morning at The Farm, on the outskirts of Byron Bay. Families line up for freshly made pastry and coffee. Every table in the…

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?

Casino RSM Club

 1360 906 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

Casino RSM Club
The 23 of March 2020 was the hardest day of Neale Genge’s career.

Heart and Soul of a region

 1500 2250 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

Norco Co-operative
Norco has an impressive origin story.

an epic adventure into healing honey

 1191 893 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

Gather By
Gather By is a closed-loop regenerative agribusiness that works with beekeepers and landholders in NSW and Queensland, and investors around Australia to produce and market rare, pure and potent Australian Manuka honey…

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.

Osteria Casaurina Tweed Coast

overtures of romance and style

 1000 667 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

Osteria
Mark Wilson, Lia Mason and Lee Middendorf all met when the three of them were working in hospitality jobs at The Sandbar …

Flexing the entrepreneurial muscle

 2560 1707 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

Summit Sport & Fitness
Like many Northern Rivers businesses, Summit Sport & Fitness has undergone immense change in 2022 – except, rather than being buffeted by floods or pandemic, these changes are positive, and mark a new chapter for owner Matthew George.

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.

meme productions featured image

world class creatives

 1000 750 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

Mememe Productions
The piece of advice that dirtgirlworld creator, Cate McQuillen, likes to share with other creative entrepreneurs in the region tells much about her story…

biggy pop sings support for matilda

 2048 2560 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

Byron Bay Wildlife Hospital
In 2020, Iggy Pop received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Grammys; in the same year his pet cockatoo, named Biggy Pop, became the founding patron of Byron Wildlife Hospital…

Start Typing

X