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The insider’s guide to finding fresh produce and groceries within the Scenic Rim

14 Jan 2024
8 mins read

You’ve booked a getaway in the Scenic Rim, you’re ready for a big breath of fresh air, to be immersed in lush rainforests, to kick your feet up on the deck and feel your stress melt away.

While your accommodation will deliver a serene place to relax, you’ll find that an equally big stress relief comes from locally-sourced fresh produce and grocery supplies.

When you holiday within the Scenic Rim, the food bowl of southeast Queensland, farm-fresh produce spills from the shelves of our local stores. Make every meal a treat when you stock up locally at these great places:

Boonah, Kalbar and the lakes district

Scenic Rim Farm Shop and Café
If the weekend visitors are anything to go by, the Scenic Rim Farm Shop and Café near Kalbar is the place to visit for getting your hands on farm-fresh produce. The team at the café are experts in locally sourced goods, and even run their own Farm Box service, delivering locally harvested goodies to homes across southeast Queensland (should you get too attached to the juicy produce grown in our fields, tap here for more information). Visit the café to see what a professional chef can produce with quality local ingredients and, after validating our credentials, take a wander about the Farm Shop to browse their selection of local produce, cheeses, and gourmet pantry items. For those who can’t holiday without their furry travel buddy, The Scenic Rim Farm Shop and Café welcomes pets, along with these places in our region.

Oppys Fruit and Veg Shop
Family-owned and run, Oppys Fruit and Veg Shop in Boonah offers a curated selection of high-quality fresh produce. This open plan market-style setup oozes charm at the repurposed Old Butter Factory. Having trouble finding the goods of your favourite producer? Have a chat with the friendly staff, and don’t forget to ask for their favourite recipes to whip up at your own accommodation.

Scenic Rim Fruit and Veg
So much more than a fruit & veg shop, Scenic Rim Fruit and Veg in Kalbar is your one-stop shop for fresh fruit and veg, gourmet products and pastries, take-away coffee, fresh juices and smoothies, homemade ice cream and fabulous Meals for One made on site with the freshest ingredients. Run by a local family who have lived in the region for three generations, Scenic Rim Fruit and Veg excels in bringing you the freshest market produce at the best possible price.

Scenic Wandering Foods
Discover Boonah’s thriving wholefood cafe and pantry at Scenic Wandering Foods, where the highest standards prevail for the items they stock, and you can be rest-assured that their ingredients are produced using sustainable methods, fair trade practices, and without chemicals. Here you can grab a specialty organic coffee to sip with your delicious meals and snacks, or browse their fantastic range of organic and whole foods and gift items.

Arthur Clives Family Bakehouse
As the name implies, Arthur Clives Family Bakehouse is proudly family-owned and operated. You’ll find Arthur Clives in Aratula, Kalbar and Boonah, giving you a familiar face and the same delicious baked goods no matter where your holiday is within the Scenic Rim. With flour running through the veins of the Pennell family for over 80 years, their traditional bread, delicious pies, decadent cakes, and pastries are sure to make your baked goods leaderboard. Our suggestion? Plan your visit for early in the morning (for maximum freshness) and grab their barista-made coffee and pies to fuel your visit.

Butcher Co.
When the team at Butcher Co. in Kalbar and Boonah aren’t setting records in the tractor pull at the annual Scenic Rim Winter Harvest Festival, they’re supplying the Scenic Rim with delicious cuts of meat from local farms, including owners Kane and Ashleah’s own family property in Aratula. Pop instore to stock up on mince, sausages, steaks, bacon, cutlets, and their flagship cut; the Lutters breed Angus and Grangus cattle cut that’s hung for over 21 days to create the perfect, tight steak.

Elite Meats
When it comes to purchasing quality cabana, it’s hard to beat the award-winning honey-cheese cabana from Elite Meats in Boonah. Owner Gary is a perfectionist and artisan, which is reflected in the taste of his goods and supplies meat to many of the Scenic Rim’s well-known eateries. Visit their store in Boonah to purchase a 16-hour smoked ham, Cabana and chorizo for the grazing platter and various other items to impress friends and family at your next home BBQ.

Ritchies SUPA IGA
To round out your Scenic Rim getaway, grab your last-minute holiday grocery supplies in one hit at local favourite Ritchies SUPA IGA in Boonah. Open 6.30am to 8.00pm every day, you’ll find a great range of groceries and their friendly team at 58 High Street in Boonah.

Tamborine Mountain

Picnic Real Food Bar
The passion project of famed chef Brenda Fawdon, a path-maker in the food industry who owned Brisbane’s first organic restaurant, Picnic Real Food Bar serves local and seasonal produce, and nourishing food made with care for you to eat-in, takeaway and take-home. Sustainability is important, and there’s a closed-loop system that turns the kitchen waste into compost to minimise garbage and nourish the soil. Their food bar is stocked daily with freshly made salads, house-baked pastries and a range of healthy, wholefood options. The sausage rolls are life-changing!

Franquette Bakery
Serving up freshly baked goodness, coffee and deli-style sandwiches in the heart of Tamborine Mountain from Thursdays to Mondays, Franquette Bakery stock their shelves with authentic French pastries, croissants, artisan sourdough loaves, baguettes and their infamous fougasse loaf, all handmade with sustainable flour. Translating from French as, ‘without any fuss’, the team at Franquette Bakery substitute fuss with love, and for you, it’s sure to be love at first bite. Bon appetit!

Eagle Heights bakery
For bread that’s 100% organic, 100% rye, and 100% mouthwatering, don’t miss Eagle Heights Bakery. Nestled in Queensland’s Top Tourism Town of 2022, Tamborine Mountain, you’ll smell the delicious scents of this bakery before you see their store where golden loaves line the walls. Perfect for an on-the-road snack or special treat for later, taste their signature sourdough loaf and stock up on pastries to treat the folks at home.

Weekend country markets
Tamborine Mountain is blessed with Sunday country markets galore that are your key to sourcing the freshest of fresh local produce and the best artisan gifts, homewares and clothing along with the chance to enjoy some well-earned rural retail therapy. Pack the esky and stock up at The Green Shed every Sunday morning, the Tamborine Village Lions Community Market in the morning of the first Sunday, the Tamborine Mountain Country Markets in the morning on the second Sunday, or the Tamborine Mountain State School Markets in the morning of the last Sunday of each month.

Foodworks and IGA
To round out your Tamborine Mountain getaway, grab your last-minute holiday grocery supplies in one hit at local favourites IGA and Foodworks. You’ll find Foodworks on Southport Street in Eagle Heights, and IGA SUPA on Main Western Road in Mount Tamborine.

Heading for the mountains

If you’re travelling through Beaudesert, Rathdowney or Canungra to Lamington National Park or Mount Barney National Park, stop here to stock up on your holiday supplies:

The Scenic Rim Farmers Market
A visit to the Scenic Rim Farmers Market in Beaudesert ticks fresh groceries off the holiday checklist. Formerly known as The Big Pumpkin, their rebranding brough a new name along with a top new deli section stocking freshly-cooked hot chickens and gourmet savoury delights, alongside their ample supplies of fruit and veggies, preserves and cheeses.

Heit’s Quality Meats
Heit’s Quality Meats is a local favourite butcher on William Street in Beaudesert. This family-owned and operated business offers a delectable array of meats including lamb, beef, chicken, pork, and turkey that tick the box on both quality and affordability. But it’s not just the variety that’s made them the go-to butcher for many Beaudesert locals; it’s the personal touch. Need a specific cut or marination for your upcoming feast or BBQ? Consider it done!

Supermarkets
When you’re heading for a Scenic Rim getaway, grab your last minute holiday grocery supplies at the following:

  • Canungra – the IGA on Christie Street,
  • ,Beaudesert – Woolworths or Aldi on Brisbane Street, Coles on your route along William Street, SPAA Express on Telemon Street, or the IGA on Oakland Way, off the Beaudesert-Nerang Road,
  • Rathdowney – Rathdowney Store, opposite the Visitor Information Centre,
  • Kalbar – SPAA Express on Edward Street,
  • Kooralbyn – Foodworks on Wellington-Bundock Drive.

Looking for more places to shop local and support our local producers? You can also catch them at these country markets.