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

Farmers in the fields

 2048 1366 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

Norco Primex
Bruce Wright has made his career by bringing together and supporting many of the region’s farmers and primary producers.

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…

Art of Glass

 541 817 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

Tweed Coast Glass
Anyone who lives between the Gold Coast and Ballina with even a passing involvement in the building trade will be familiar with Tweed Coast Glass.

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…

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…

Southern Cross University Lismore

partners with industry, partners with community

 2000 1048 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

Southern Cross University
Celebrating a silver anniversary is a significant milestone, 25 years of developing your relationship, exploring and accepting your strengths…

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…

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 …

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…

A community cornerstone bouncing forward

 2048 1260 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

Coraki Post Office
For all that has been thrown at the small town of Coraki in recent times, the owners of the town’s post office are rolling with the punches.

oatten and hoffman kyogle 002

revving up the community engine

 1000 667 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

Oaten and Hoffman
In 2015 Tim Hoffman was riding the high on business success, and had no clue about the blow that was awaiting him….

horizon motorhomes ballina 002

when opportunity knocks…

 1600 1067 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

Horizon Motorhomes
When a campervan arrived on Clayton Kearney’s used car yard in 1995, and sold in seconds flat, he realised there was a gap in the market…

bennett construction lismore 003

back to the future with new inspiration

 1920 781 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

Bennett Construction
It would be fair to say that Bennett Construction and Ballina High School have come full circle with each other. It sounds like a back to the future…

Three generations of style

 940 627 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

Scarboroughs
Running a small clothing shop in a country town is a fine art. It requires balance, delicacy and an open mind to serve the needs of locals, tourists, the area’s workers and more.

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…

following her art’s desires

 2560 2198 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

Bingara Gallery
If she wasn’t painting wild animals and birds, artist Angela Parr, 62, would most likely be rescuing them, healing them, or advocating for them…

crowd pleasing innovation creates a buzz

 1210 864 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

BeeInventive
It’s difficult to know where to start with the remarkable story of BeeInventive. Perhaps in the humble shed in Byron Shire bushland…

Feeding Pets with a Passion for Purpose

 1947 2560 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

Frontier Pets
Diana Scott was more than a bit annoyed at being unable to find a premium quality food for her dogs that was also ethically produced, so she did what all great entrepreneurs do – she created it.

OConnors carriers tweed 001

community keeps on carrying on

 1920 1288 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

O’Connors Carrying Service
Friday 30 March 2017 is a day Paul and Sue O’Connor won’t forget. The owners of O’Connors Carrying Service left their depot in Murwillumbah…

A fighting spirit … and great networks

 768 1024 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

Five Sixty Farms
Stranded on the roof of his house with his wife and their eight children, Pepe Fassos watched helplessly as his beloved greenhouses smashed and floated away in a tsunami of floodwater.

Start Typing

X