G’day, I’m Emma. I’m the owner of Twist and Sprout, and I’m the purple haired woman you see behind the counter each day. Thanks for stopping by to learn a little more about my little business.
My Story
I grew up in regional New South Wales, on the Murray River. After finishing a couple of degrees in Melbourne, and moving around quite a bit, I settled with my husband and daughter in Rochester a couple of years ago.
While working in jobs in large scale agriculture and food manufacturing, I became more and more aware of the negative effects of some aspects of our food system - the food waste, the unnecessary packaging, and the harms caused by animal agriculture. I had heard of zero waste shops, and I used to shop at similar style stores while living in Melbourne. I’d always wanted to run my own business, and had many big ideas, but wasn’t sure which one to try to make a reality first. I decided to work towards starting a zero waste shop, because I believed I could make the largest impact to my town that way, and I wished there were more eco shops in rural areas.
While still working full time, I started Twist and Sprout with a market stall in the local area, to see whether the community would be interested in this different style of shopping. The results were mixed, but I believe part of the reason was because I was only in certain areas every week or month, and my range was limited by what I could fit in the car. I considered kitting out a van for an on-the-go zero waste shop, but what I really wanted was a shop front in town that allowed customers to visit any time, and would permit a much larger range of eco friendly products.
In late 2022 I pulled the trigger and quit my job to open the brick and mortar Twist and Sprout store in Mackay St, Rochester. With some delays due to the aftermath of the October 2022 flood, I opened the doors in April 2023. The shop has since been grabbing the attention of passers-by with its colourful flags, and word has been spreading of a kinder way to shop in Rochester.
The business is structured around the aim to support three core values - compassion, sustainability and community.
🐂 Compassion: Our modern society offers many benefits, including the ability to source food, fibre, and entertainment while minimising the suffering or exploitation of animals. All our products are vegan and cruelty-free, because if you can choose kindness, why wouldn't you?
🌏 Sustainability: We provide reusable alternatives to single use items, and plastic- and packaging-free choices for pantry, cleaning and home. We purchase in bulk and plastic free wherever possible. All our products are plant-based, substantially reducing the land, energy and water needed to bring food to your plate.
👨👩👦👦 Community: We are a locally owned and run business, and always will be. We run monthly rubbish clean ups in Rochester and gladly participate in community events, promoting our values. We are a recycling drop off point for hard-to-recycle items, which we operate at cost to us, and are Rochester’s drop off point for Victoria’s Container Deposit Scheme.
Thank you for visiting this little corner of the internet, and I hope to see you in store soon.
For the planet,
Emma.