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Jeff Bennett shares Three Blue Ducks’ vision

Chance brought the Three Blue Ducks together and they’ve since forged a reputation for real, no-fuss and sustainable cuisine. We chat with the Ducks’ Jeff Bennett ahead of his visit to the region.

Three Blue Ducks member Jeff Bennett.
Three Blue Ducks member Jeff Bennett.

JEFF Bennett says he was “having a sook” to a mate about his job and the lack of good dining options in his neighbourhood when he impulsively decided to open a pizza shop in 2010.

That decision, and another to grow herbs in a garden out the back, were a catalyst for a culinary adventure that would turn into four venues and lasting friendships.

Soon after he opened his pizza shop, Jeff met Mark Labrooy, one of the blokes who had opened a cafe in the shop next door.

“There was a little walkway in between. I had a garden out the back of my place. I had all these fresh herbs that were going on the pizzas. Then these guys moved in and they had bigger plans for growing stuff, so we started talking about doing little things together like that,” Jeff says.

A year later, Jeff officially joined Three Blue Ducks, which has since forged a reputation for real, no-fuss food, using local and ethically-sourced ingredients. His pizza shop became the restaurant’s bar.

The Three Blue Ducks team.
The Three Blue Ducks team.

The boys, who describe themselves as mates who enjoy cooking, fishing and surfing together, are now a band of six, with a second Sydney restaurant, a farm at Byron Bay and a restaurant at The W Hotel in Brisbane.

Jeff has gone from sourcing quality craft beer and working on the restaurant floor to managing director.

“We just all got on really well and were very similar. We’d all travelled a lot, we were all doing this as a big life change. We all had very similar ethics in terms of the way we lived our lives,” Jeff says.

Those ethics have influenced every business decision along the way — where they source their produce from, how best to support farmers and whether they sold glass or plastic water bottles at their Byron Bay farm. “We’ve never bought anything off big corporations or we’ve done everything we can to avoid it,” Jeff says.

“All of our beers from day one have been from Australian independent craft brewers and as soon as any of them have been bought out by a big multinational, we’ve dropped them. That’s just what we’ve chosen to do.”

The boys from the Three Blue Ducks.
The boys from the Three Blue Ducks.

Jeff is heartened by the debate about conscious consumerism and the fact people are thinking before they buy a coffee in a disposable cup, or produce that’s travelled halfway around the world.

“I haven’t watched a lot of MasterChef, but I did see an ad for one, a bit of an episode where they were making food out of the sort of foods that were generally wasted. I thought ‘how amazing’,” Jeff says.

“We do the Oz Harvest CEO cook-off thing every year, we work with a liberation Larder here in Byron. But now it’s on MasterChef. It’s awesome and it’s just the conversation … that one episode may have changed one person.”

Jeff says he and the rest of the Three Blue Ducks team are not perfect, but they are doing what they can. “I don’t think anyone can be perfect but if you have this thought and bring it in to every decision, I think it’s a start. I feel better about it,” he says.

Former MasterChef winner Andy Allen at Three Blue Duck. Picture: John Appleyard
Former MasterChef winner Andy Allen at Three Blue Duck. Picture: John Appleyard

Gourmet business event

Three Blue Ducks’ Jeff Bennett and Andy Allen will speak at a luncheon at Mon Komo Hotel on August 23, presented by Business Moreton Bay Region. Tickets are $89, includes two-courses, drinks, networking

Where: Mon Komo Hotel, 99 Marine Pde, Redcliffe

When: 11.30am-2.30pm

Visit: businessmoretonbayregion.com.au to book your seat.

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Original URL: https://www.couriermail.com.au/questnews/moretonlife/jeff-bennett-shares-three-blue-ducks-vision/news-story/bf20802879c1c4922e328a69a47acdb4