Who? Darren and Nicole Murphy purchased Bendigo Wholefoods in 2007 from John Carty, who’d been the owner for 23 years. It had built from co-op days into the current store and has since gone through lots of changes.  |
Darren hails from Beechworth in North East Victoria, where he grew up around fantastic produce and where the locals knew the families they were supporting. He did a chef’s apprenticeship and went on to own a restaurant in Albury, which was the first of its kind in the area with a focus on foods from other cultures using local produce, and started the street-dining scene for the region; A big deal over 15 years ago!
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Nicole has always been addicted to good food. Nics Chinese heritage saw Chinese food and chop sticks added to the dinner table, along with a homemade sparkling red courtesy of her want-to-be-Italian dad. She married Darren because she went to work in the region and found herself at his restaurant often enough she thought she’d better make an honest man of him. She grew up in the Bendigo region (Colbinabbin to be exact) and used to shop at Bendigo Wholefoods as a child. Nicole is also a podiatrist in town, writes in the local Bendigo Weekly newspaper about food each week (http://www.foodfossickers.com.au/) and is the recipe columnist in the Sandpiper publication.
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Rolecall:
Bendigo Wholefoods now employs 16 real, local humans – our job applications insist they also must love other humans, be close to obsessive about good food and be willing to share the obsession with others. Each person brings something distinctive to the table for the team and customers.
Daz – Ex chef, Owner and 1972 Golden Horseshoe Festival Baby of the Show. Very busy, very important, but loves a chat so sometimes forgets that. Also in charge of the kitchen garden so can stop to smell the flowers. |
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Nic – First wife (that’s a personal joke, they’re still together). Ask her anything you like about food and recipes but you just might not get away. Also writes for the Bendigo Weekly newspaper each week in the Food Fossickers section about local producers, interesting ingredients and anything foodie. |
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| Julie – the original spice girl and has been working at the shop 20 years now (you get less for murder.) Julie’s dad owned the shop prior for 23 years. All bulk-bagged orders go through her. |  |
Rodney – (also responds to Rodriguez) Newly married, doof doof loving and employed here five years. Rodney fixes the cash register every time it breaks. Since Brooke has headed off on maternity leave he’s been promoted to all the grocery orders and is Operations Co-ordinator. Every business should have a Rodney. |  |
| Kelly – We employed Kelly to give Julie someone to boss around. Loves to “keep it real” and has taken on the sole responsibility of boosting staff morale. |  |
James – Mad Food Safari fan we’ve put in charge of fridges and our global section. Real dream is to leave us all and become famous in LA, returning only once he’s gained an Oscar for his hit Broadway show “Wholefoods: The Musical”. We’re thinking of installing lights around the mirrors in the toilets for him just to help him prepare. |  |
| The Mitches – they don’t have their own identity. Way too high ENTER scores to stay with us but we’ve got them for this year and they’re awesome. Mitch Gow comes highly recommended and has a great sash moment of being runner up to Mrs. Christmas in December at Best and Less and has been promoted to local produce and deli/fridge. Mitch Kenny plays guitar (chicks love it) and is our new “Fresh Produce Hunter”. |  |
Soph – Our bread guru Soph and mother of two, is still concentrating on getting in our 100+ varieties of bread and keeping our special bread grid up to date. Keen on her yoga and fulfilling her lifelong dream to study nutrition. | |
| Sheryl – Our number cruncher and time sheet perfectionist. You never need come across her but she’s a hugely important member of our team and makes sure everyone gets paid. | Tim – Totally rubbish on guitar but luckily is awesome at other things like getting this website off the ground at last. Great at organising our chaos and a mad passionate foodologist. | ||
| The Younglings (Junior Jedi’s) – Lydia, Locky and Jack our after school helpers lighten up the end of our days and are helping to keep us young. Once it hits 6 o’clock they get the music cranking with anything from Miley Cyrus to Slip Knot. | Alex and Tessa – the youngest members of staff. Controversial as to whether they actually help or just stop everyone from focussing on their actual work, but loved by all – or they’d better be, it’s a condition of employment. |  |
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| Brooke (Current absentee) - The mother-figure in the business – who has left to become a real mother for the first time. Brooke has put in 15 years at the shop and is indispensable. Please don’t take long for maternity leave. | |||
| Tess – Our freshest face….. | |||
We have a great team and have a lot of fun together. If you love food and are interested in working with us, we’d love to hear from you. Send us the following information (see contacts page for details):
- Your resume
- Availability (hours and days)
- Your ‘sash’ moment - your fifteen minutes of fame. The time you were awarded or recognised for something cheesy and obscure; cutest baby awards, junior debate champion, hockey encouragement awards. We'd love to hear it.
