About Us

Our ongoing vision is to continue bring Indigenous foods into the mainstream food market and to ensure that  Outback Spirit is the market leader of native food products 
Outback Spirit acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.
Outback Spirit is is a 100% Australian owned business with a tradition and focus on the provenance of the ingredients we use and the foods we make. 
Provenance has always been the driving ideology behind Outback Spirit  - learning and understanding about the food plants that are native to Australia .

The Outback Spirit brand was established in 2001 by Ian and Juleigh Robins, who are recognised pioneers of the Australian native food industry.

The beautiful native food ingredients used in our products are sourced from pristine wilderness regions from the top end and the central desert and from rainforest, alpine and temperate coastal regions of Australia. Many of the ingredients are harvested in the traditional manner by Indigenous people from Aboriginal homelands or country and this harvesting of indigenous foods is an important cultural and social activity as well as an important seasonal income stream and microbusiness opportunity.

Outback Spirit is committed to the environmentally sustainable growth of the native foods industry, in partnership with Indigenous Australians, and the preservation and enhancement of flora and fauna biodiversity that is an integral part of it.  We work closely with our supply partners and the Outback Spirit Foundation to develop a viable agricultural base for Indigenous Australians for native ingredient crops.

Outback Spirit also work closely with the traditional agricultural sector in Australia. Many farmers have embraced native food agriculture for landcare reasons as well as income diversification. We are proud that we have pursued an Australian supply chain for almost all of our ingredients - tomatoes, onions, vinegar , sugar, our sea salts  etc - long before this became fashionable. Most of our products are proudly a minimum of 95% Australian grown ingredients.

  Indigenous Australians have been nourished by the flora and fauna of this land for thousands of years. These ingredients are the ‘slow foods’ of Australia, each with local tradition and culture imbedded in their use.  Australian native plant ingredients taste amazing, have incredible nutritional values and are found in every part of this huge land. We value traditional Indigenous culture and knowledge and acknowledge the generosity of many Indigenous Australians who have taught us about their traditional foods.

Our label clearly identifies the regional provenance of the native food ingredients and celebrates these wonderful plants with illustrations by acclaimed Australian illustrator Adrianna Pickett - a joyous riot of leaves and seeds and pods and fruit that provide the unique flavours found in Outback Spirit products 
 
Giving Back In 2001 Ian and Juleigh, created the Outback Spirit brand after formalising their relationships with the company’s Indigenous Australian suppliers, established a supply chain that recognises and celebrates the provenance of Australia's native foods and together with the brand's Indigenous Australian supply partners and  Coles Supermarkets as a retail partner have worked diligently to establish Outback Spirit as a mainstream grocery brand that gives back.
Outback Spirit  contributed funds from the sale of our products from 2001 to 2018 to the Coles Indigenous Food Fund. Over that period over $1.6 million was raised by Outback Spirit and Coles matching contributions from the sale of our products. The Coles Indigenous Food Fund granted funds to Indigenous Australian enterprises based on native food production or harvesting. While the business contributed continually to the Coles Indigenous Food Fund, in 2008 we were the first native foods business to formally support our Indigenous Australian partners by establishing the  Outback Spirit Foundation. We continue to work closely with the Foundation by providing financial support from our profits and as appropriate, on projects at Family and Community level. The Outback Spirit Foundation is a Public Benevolent entity and is managed  independently from Outback Spirit, the business. Visit the Outback Foundation to see what projects we are currently supporting via this link   https://www.outbackspirit.org.au/