Tawnya Bahr is a trusted voice in Australian food. For almost two decades, she has been an industry leader, bringing together primary producers and the nation’s top chefs. Alongside her business partner, Lucy Allon, she runs Straight to the Source.
Tawnya is also a seasoned food consultant, chef, product developer, food show judge, mentor for women in hospitality, Le Cordon Bleu exam assessor and industry advisor for the Sydney Royal Fine Food Awards. She’s also the Group Executive Chef for The Orchard Early Learning Centres, feeding children aged 0–5 five meals a day across seven centres. She promotes her key values – supporting great Australian food producers through her menus, and educating like-minded chefs about where their ingredients come from through consulting and food tours – across multiple social media channels, from Instagram to the Straight to the Source podcast.
“It is essential that everything we produce for social media is aligned with the core values of our business,” says Tawnya. “And this is true for everyone. Social media content is just another way of connecting with people to establish a relationship. And if I had one piece of advice for anyone making content, it’s don’t overthink it! Make sure everything is authentic. Be true to who you are, because the expectation you create has to be followed up by the delivery of the service – or the dish.”
Tawnya and Lucy’s latest season of the Straight to the Source podcast dropped in July and was met with much acclaim. It features unfiltered discussions with some of the biggest names in the Australian food scene, including fine dining chef Mark Best, macaron king Adriano Zumbo and farmer-advocate chef Karena Armstrong. “We are both seasoned professionals with back and front-of-house experience. The podcast is a creative space to have open conversations, share experiences and inspire food producers, chefs and the foodservice industry. We are on the frontline, so in our podcast we cast the net wide across the broader food industry to get a broad perspective.” Filmed also for YouTube, the podcast includes on-screen tastings of ingredients from their network of producers as well as their guests, so viewers can see their reactions when they try them.
Despite the success of the podcast, Tawnya feels most at home using LinkedIn. However, Instagram has proven to be the perfect vehicle for followers to engage with their curated tours of regional Australia, where she and Lucy take chefs on immersive journeys. Short videos, intimate stills, wide shots of olive groves and salt lakes, slow-motion footage of vegetables cooking over an open flame – the Insta account has become a window into Straight to the Source’s popular regional bespoke tour program. “When we’re on tour,” says Tawnya, “introducing chefs to farmers and producers, I am responsible for feeding the chefs. Sometimes we cook together and other times I’m cooking. Either way, it tells that provenance story, which makes great content. But it’s also real. As is the reaction of the chefs when they taste the food and meet the farmers. You can’t fake that. All social media content should be about that real conversation – showing people what you do, how you do it, and how people enjoy it.”
Great social media content doesn’t happen by accident. Tawnya and Lucy schedule their podcast recordings in advance and use spreadsheets to plan content to ensure it’s relevant to their audience. “Podcasting takes planning and investment,” explains Tawnya. “When we first started, we simply threw ourselves at it – not something I would recommend for anyone thinking of podcasting themselves.” She says it’s important to get great visuals and audio out there and worry less about finessing the content when you’re just starting out. “It has to feel like it’s come from you, as it’s an extension of you and your brand.”
At the end of the day, says Tawnya, all content creation replicates the relationship-building that happens in real life. “I never wanted to do it just for the sake of it,” she says. “But it’s an extension of the relationships you make in real life. Ultimately, it’s all about making connections and starting conversations. My advice? Keep everything aligned to your core business. And keep it real. Nothing is better than authenticity.”
