• Meet some of Fremantle’s new entrepreneurs: Bena Andriani (Teassential), Leah Gilbert and German native Paul Harms (Gypsy Elixir), and Adam Semple (Stampede gelato). Photo by Matthew Dwyer
A BUNCH of young and intrepid entrepreneurs are bucking Freo’s retail doldrums and have all launched new brands this year.
Stampede Gelato owner Adam Semple sells his icy desserts from a small stall in The Mantle, Cottesloe’s Boatshed Market and several local IGAs after launching his business just two months ago.
Expanding fast, he is looking to buy a factory and hire more workers.
Flavours include bacon, salted fennel, rosemary and pepper and custard: “I just employed a baker to make caramels, cookies, brownies and other things to mix in my gelato,” the 25-year-old says.
“In summer, I’m going to open a pop-up shop with a goal of selling gelato every day.”
He says he’s trying to find a balance between wholesale and retail, and has this month spoken to distributors to sell Stampede across Australia and Asia.
Bena Andriani and business partner David Levi aim to use their brand, Teassential, to raise cash to one day open a tea-focused cafe in Fremantle. Their product is found at High Street’s Beehive Gourmet Pantry, a shop supporting WA-made products.
The brains behind Gypsy Elixir—a brand of fermented kombucha tea—is Leah Gilbert, 24, and Paul Harms, 25. Launching the product in January, Ms Gilbert has since quit her job as a chef to brew full-time and stocks several Perth cafes including Raw Kitchen on High Street. “It’s all happened for us by word of mouth,” Ms Gilbert says.
Fremantle Chamber of Commerce chief executive Olwyn Williams says the young entrepreneurs are doing the local economy a much-needed favour.
“Using established points of distribution—other people’s shops—when you are developing a new product, building a brand or are a small-scale producer is the smart way to get started,” Ms Williams says.
“It means you focus on what you do best and any capital and energy you may have doesn’t get tied up entirely in fit out, equipment and keeping the doors open. More things made in Fremantle on shop shelves is a great thing.”
by EMMIE DOWLING
