It’s all about community for My Dad’s Honey, as the local family-run business opens a cafe on the top level of the Watson St kiosk.
Bradley and Lee-Anne Jackson, who own the business, said it took a lot of hard work and support from family and friends to get the cafe up and running in nine days.
“The community has been really, really positive. We couldn’t wish for anything better than the community support we’ve had. It’s been really good,” Mr Jackson said.
“For the last five or six days, so many people have come in and told me stories about this premises back in 1973 or 74 when we were kids. It’s great to be in a spot with so much history.”
As well as stopping in for coffee, people can get honeycomb, cheese platters, a range of drinks, and even samples of locally created honey and mead. The red gum, black box and Coolabah honey are some of the varieties available for people to sample in-store.
Mr Jackson himself brewed the mead, and there are plans to include more varieties of the drink. On Saturdays, as well as sampling the mead, the drink can also be purchased at the kiosk.
My Dad’s Honey is looking to grow in the kiosk by extending the food menu and being a place where people can hold meetings or birthday or engagement parties.
The Jackson family is even considering creating a honey museum in the area.
“We will bring a honey museum in because there is not one in Australia,” Mr Jackson said.
“The general public needs to be more aware of what bees do, the fruits, the honey, the drink that people will be drinking here.”
Bradley and Lee-Anne Jackson said they couldn’t have got their cafe off the ground without the help and support of local shire officials.
“Anything we’ve needed done or if we needed help with researching anything, they were there to help,” Mr Jackson said.
“They had a massively positive attitude about the whole thing and just wanted to help us be able to open up here. The mayor stopped in to say hello. The support has just been amazing.”
It’s the love of the work and the enjoyment of sharing it with the local community that has encouraged the Jackson family to open up in the kiosk.
“It’s not just a job. We love what we do. I’ve been a beekeeper for 37 years. That’s all I’ve ever done, and that’s all I’ll ever do,” he said.