THE STORY SO FAR

An Apple A Day started with one woman determined to put her knack
for finding fresh, delicious, value for money produce to good use!

Hi, I’m Shereen

Founder and creator (and a million other hats) of An Apple A Day. I’m a wife, mum of 3 fabulous children and 2 super cute border collies. I love to cook and create big, bold flavours along with my husband, Caleb.

I’ve always been an avid lover of fresh produce markets, be it in my glorious hometown of Melbourne or exploring the wares in our travels through Asia.

When Caleb & I started a family and made Newcastle our home, it didn’t take long to discover the freshest local produce and bulk bargains at the Sandgate based Newcastle Markets. As good news is always better shared, I gathered a group of friends who quickly joined my family as fresh produce enthusiasts.

Four years later, this group of friends had been enjoying the weekly benefits of bulk buying & the freshest seasonal produce, collecting their fruit & veg each week from our back deck in Mayfield.

We were happy to end the story there — but then COVID-19 happened. Like many Australians, Caleb and I found ourselves in lockdown with minimal income and knew we needed to do something differently.

So, with 4 years of market experience and box planning under my belt, the birth of An Apple A Day was a very unexpected change. We decided on the first Saturday of lockdown to create a fruit and veggie box business. By the Wednesday we had our ordering platform live and by the following Friday we had 80 orders in the system.

Once Newcastle resumed a level of normalcy, An Apple A Day found it’s rhythm as a side hustle, while I continued running my newly established paediatric physio practice and Caleb regained full time employment in the hospitality industry.

When lockdown 2.0 happened in August 2021 the community decided that they really wanted An Apple A Day to be more than just a side hustle. Order numbers quadrupled within hours of lockdown being called, the garage was bursting at it’s seams and the entire yard was covered in produce during the box pack.

Within weeks, we had expanded our borders to include an offsite packing venue and were receiving enquiries for Christmas gift hampers. Working across 5 different commercial kitchen and packing locations, our team produced 1000’s of jars of artisan products and fulfilled an order of over 1000 Christmas Hampers. Slighty crazy? Yes! But in the process, I found my passion and knew this would be my new full time venture.

With the business having now well and truly outgrown the home space, it was time to find a new home for Newcastle’s newest Local Grocer. Along came 173 Maitland Rd, Tighes Hill, and the team worked tirelessly over Summer 2022 to create gorgeous warm, light, airy space that feels like home.

Welcome to the Apple family and we look forward to meeting you in our store and introducing you to our vast range of fresh produce and more.