Rick Harrison (co-founder) welcomes us to her farm to talk about heritage, health, and her incredible regenerative farm. 25 questions for 25 years of Nutra Organics.

In 1998, Mark & Darlene Powell started Nutra Organics on the kitchen table of their family home. Their passion for wholefoods came from their heart and soul - their family. Studying naturopathy, they might have been labelled certified hippies back then, but they knew the best stuff for you came directly from Mother Nature. From wearing garlic in their socks to bed when they got sick, to eating mung bean sandwiches for lunch, everything was about using what the earth had provided for extra support.

However there came a point when they realised that their wholefood diet wasn’t giving them everything they needed nutritionally. Due to modern agriculture, soil quality significantly deteriorated over the years (and continues to do so) - and food just doesn’t contain the same amount of nutrients that it did 100 years ago. Resolved to do something about it - Mark & Darlsy sourced the absolute best quality superfoods they could get their hands on, that delivered a potent spectrum of nutrients while tasting delicious, and mixed together their first iteration of Super Greens + Reds on their kitchen table.

After feeling an incredible difference in their health and vitality, their community became intrigued & hooked on this superfood concoction after experiencing the difference themselves. Thus, Nutra Organics was born.

Mark worked full-time (at a biscuit factory— ironic right?) while also working full-time on Nutra Organics, door knocking on the weekends to continue to spread Mother Nature’s goodness. And don't think Mark was a one-man show. Oh no, this was a whole family affair! Everyone was involved—Darlsy, Ricki (eldest daughter), and Brit (youngest daughter).

Ten years passed, and passion still fueled the family's mission, creating products that their local community and friends needed. In 2010, they invested everything they owned into the business, selling their family home and moving into a rental all together (the family had grown to six adults and two kids). One big happy family, right? Most of the time!

The next three years were met with the hurdles of newborns, developing their kids' nutrition & fitness range, supply chains, manufacturing—making just enough to break even every year. But to this family, the small wins were all they needed. Over time, they found that every new customer they served would always come back. And if that's any sign that they were doing something right - they had thousands of loyal customers.

After learning the ropes of doing business for 13 years and growing very organically, with no money spent on advertising up to this point, Nutra Organics started to quickly snowball and run freely on its own legs. The word-of-mouth from loyal customers had been multiplying tenfold.

Focused on solving their customers’ problems with more new products that a) taste amazing, b) were easy to incorporate into everyday busy life, and c) had real health benefits, their trailblazing broth & collagen range were born in 2015 & 2017 - Australia’s first range of bone broth powders & targeted collagen supplements. Selling out at least 10 times in the first few years, customers couldn’t get enough!

And at the same time, the world was changing. People had started questioning their food and the sources of which it came from - understanding that natural & organic nutrition is far better than synthetic supplements and processed junk. In a time where food & supplements was becoming less trustworthy for nutrition, Nutra Organics was way ahead of the curve, loudly banging their wholefood drum for everyone to hear.

To this day, Nutra Organics believes in quality above all else: real nutrition that delivers real results and tastes really delicious. It is at the core of what they do, how they move forward, and what they're most proud of. Sourcing ingredients from wholefoods, within Australia wherever possible, they create products that are scientifically backed and safe for the whole family - while never sacrificing on flavour. What they have built over the last 25 years is truly a celebration of community, quality, and deep nourishment.

So, there you have it! The history of Nutra Organics, a (very) brief summary.

A 2022 snapshot

Mark, Darlsy and their daughters Ricki and Britt are our wonderful family who founded Nutra back in 1998. Recently, Mark and Darlene moved to their new property, The Northern Rivers Estate. This estate is a property set aside as a destination and training facility for the next generation of kids. Mark and Darlene have planted an impressive 35,000 rainforest trees to regenerate their property while remaining 100% carbon neutral. As well as dedicating 20 acres to a permaculture market garden which will include fruit trees and seasonal vegetables which they will sell along with organic meat from Ricki’s farm.

Speaking of Ricki’s farm - Ricki and her family moved to their farm in January with their 3 kids, with her husband working full time on the farm. At the end of February our town of Murwillumbah was hit with horrendous floods, it rained heavily for about 3 months, how could we forget that one right? With the floods came extreme amounts of weeds, and being a 100% regenerative farm brought multiple challenges as you can imagine. Ricki commented saying “we have been learning to catch the rhythm of the seasons, and it might sound silly but looking to the land to prioritise our time through trial and error and lots of observation and reflection.”

The evolution of Nutra Organics since 1998

Nutra Organics started with a dream, from Mark and Darlsy to 40 staff members, 100 stores to 2000 stores and international distribution. Gradually the dream transferred via osmosis to their daughters who became a core part of the business too. Although the journey was a little rough in those early years, the family was committed to deeply nourishing people! Nutra Organics' range has grown and changed too, starting from a few small products into the extensive range you see today and will continue to grow in the years to come (and very near future too, wink wink).

Farming endeavours

Wild Five Farm is the very appropriately named farm that Ricki, her husband Simon and their 3 kids have dreamed up. The wild five are passionate about farming for regeneration of the land, carbon capture and cycling, soil health and pasture-raised livestock. They only produce what is good for the land, so there is a limited availability and only at particular times of the year. The land is a safe environment for both the family and animals with no chemicals, nasties or fertilisers.

Here’s a little snippet from Ricki herself - “we raise approximately 60 grass fed beef cattle, pasture raised pigs and pastured goats, rotational grazing on fresh pasture. We also have bees to enjoy their lovely honey and help with pollination and fertility. We are about to introduce 130 chickens to follow the cattle to help the cycle and the spreading of nutrients across our land, plus lovely fresh eggs everyday and a constant source of delightful entertainment! We have fallen in love with farming. It is beautiful and brutal and everything in between. It has taught us so much about our food systems, our soils, our driving force, our kids and ourselves. We have become accustomed to constant change which we are leaning into (most of the time).”

Sustainability endeavours

The founding families are trying to develop a fully closed system in each of the major cycles. Carbon cycle, energy cycle, water cycle, mineral cycle, microbial cycle and community that ties it all together. Take for example their water cycle; capturing their rain water in a series of dams, then watering livestock exclusively with that captured water, taking care to repair and restore the areas around the dams. As well as trying to slow water down with a series of dams in succession in order for the land to absorb as much as possible, making it more resilient to no rain and lots of rain. The families mentioned they are constantly monitoring the health of their paddocks as they are really soil farmers above all else, testing for minerals and observing the level of animal impaction which is so important.

What’s next for the family

Mark and Darlene’s vision is to expand their balanced lifestyle of mind, body and spirit as they leave behind a legacy for future generations. And as for Ricki and her crew, their vision is to grow as much as they can eat on their land and feed up to 50 families in their immediate community. They will continue to build soil health and diversity in all their systems to mimic the natural cycles of nature. Ricki commented that 2023 is their garden adventure, planting a three mandala system to grow enough produce to feed themselves and all those who work with them on the farm to begin with, as well as introducing some products they are passionate about like tomato relish, pickles, preserves and more. Yum!

We’ll leave you with this quote from our gal Ricki (both literal and a metaphor) that accurately sums up 2022 and beyond. “What we know is that there is so much we don't know and that we are committed to the journey of learning on the daily. We will continue to seek a deep connection with the land and the animals under our stewardship and have as much fun and deliciousness as possible in the process.” - Ricki Harrison