Our Story

Hey there! Let us introduce ourselves: we're the Ottaway family, Trevor, Kristen, and our two lovely daughters. We call North Brisbane our home and we have a shared passion for wholesome, fresh food and living a healthy lifestyle. We believe in the importance of knowing where our food comes from and taking care of our environment for the generations to come.

We used to spend our Saturdays jumping from Farmers Markets to organic supermarkets and then to the big supermarket for those extra bits and bobs; it was taking up so much of our time! That's when we stumbled upon our farmer friend Kelly Strow (aka Farmer Kel). We asked her to put together a box of fresh produce for us, and we were blown away by the incredible quality and value we received. Plus, the absence of unnecessary packaging was a huge win in our book.

Word got around to our friends about these fantastic boxes, and before we knew it, we were partnering with Kel and offering them to the wider Brisbane community. And that's how Spray-Free Farmacy was born!

Spray-Free Farmacy is more than just a business to us - it's a community. 

It's about connecting with people who care about their health and the environment. We’ve built a family of like-minded individuals who share a love for locally grown, organic, chemical-free food - all at an affordable price. Our family gets a box every week, as do all our staff, so you can always rest assured we’ll only feed you the best (we quality test it ourselves!).

After 8 years in business, we now feed more than 500 families every week right across Brisbane, Bribie Island, Moreton Bay, the Redland, Ipswich and the Gold Coast. We love that we get to do this for a living!

How it all began...

Kristen’s Story

It all began with a book called “No Impact Man” by Colin Bevan. A dear friend handed it to me the year I turned 30.

Colin was on a mission to live with his family in New York City while having zero impact on the environment. In the book, he shone a light on what’s been done to our food. As I read it on the bus on my way to work in the city each day, my eyes were opened to a bunch of issues I’d been completely unaware of… like the toxic chemicals being sprayed on our food and making their way into our water, factory farming, artificial ingredients in packaged foods and the terrible impact all these things are having on our health and environment.

This started me on a mission to learn all I could so I watched documentary after documentary, read book after book and came to the obvious conclusion that my diet was S.A.D (Standard Australian Diet). Very sad indeed.

In fact, I was eating gluten for breakfast, lunch and dinner and because I ate some fruit and vegetables, didn’t really eat much “junk” food and always chose “low-fat”, I actually thought I was eating quite well and that it wasn’t my food choices causing my health issues. But I was continuously constipated, bloated, tired, always experiencing the 3pm slump and had mega sugar cravings.

Doctors told me my diet wasn’t the problem and that I was just going to have to take pharmaceuticals for the rest of my life. I knew there had to be a better way!

So, I took matters into my own hands and started researching. I quickly realised the modern day diet was most definitely causing a lot of my health issues. I learned about the impact of pesticides, gluten (which is heavily sprayed), preservatives and additives on our bodies and quickly switched to an organic, gluten-free, wholefood diet.

Not only was the food I was now eating delicious, I was starting to feeling better every day, and my symptoms were starting to disappear. I was sleeping better, I had more energy, my bowels were moving (regularly) and the cravings were gone. It was a revelation for me… I was a new woman!  

I was so inspired by this and all I was learning that I started my first business – Inspired Living Events.

Inspired Living Events

I held monthly documentary screenings complete with organic meals and guest speakers. I added quarterly weekend retreats and a group membership for wellness entrepreneurs – it was an amazing three years and we brought together a beautiful community of like-minded people in Brisbane.

Something we all had in common was the desire to eat organic food, straight from local farmers. We wanted quality food, that was easy to access, without excess packaging, for a reasonable price.

I tried many local, organic delivery services, stores and co-ops, and went to all the markets, but they were either poor quality, ridiculously expensive, time-consuming (as in you had to go to a location and help sort the food) or inconvenient (ie. trying to make it to the markets before they sold out with a baby and a toddler!).

Then when my second daughter was just a couple of months old (2015), I was gifted a vision for Spray-Free Farmacy.

It was so clear what I needed to do and I got to work immediately – forming a partnership with Farmer Kel, we started delivering a few boxes of fresh, local spray-free produce each week to family and friends.

Kel had her own small farm near Woodford and was already collecting spray-free produce from neighbouring farms and selling it at local markets. Her produce was so fresh, tasty and such good value, that we were able to put together a really enticing offering for locals that was waste-free, easy and affordable.

We quickly established pick-up points so customers could collect from a location near them to avoid the cost of delivery, and we had a range of set boxes, eggs and a few add-ons to choose from (a super small selection to start with!).

From there, things grew rapidly. Our team expanded, delivery days increased, and many milestones were reached. When the first lockdown hit due to COVID-19, we were perfectly positioned to deliver to homes, and orders skyrocketed. Now, eight years into this incredible journey, we have an amazing team, a network of over 30 spray-free and certified organic farmers, and a family of loyal customers across South East Queensland.

We are incredibly grateful for the opportunity to share our love for organic, sustainable, and nourishing food with so many people every week. Knowing that we can make a positive impact on people's lives and the world around us fuels our passion and keeps us excited for what the future holds.

We invite you to join our Farmacy Family and try out one of our boxes this week. We just know you’re going to love it!