Family food allergies sparked Tezzi’s multi-million-dollar business
Every cookie Terri-Anne ‘Tezzi’ Daniel has created was inspired by the needs and memories of a loved one.
Tezzi began baking for her daughter with food allergies, so she wouldn’t have to miss out on sweet treats – beginning with dairy-free Christmas cakes – and then creating vegan treats for another friend.
Tezzi began baking allergy-friendly cookies, inspired by the needs of her family. Supplied
“One of my triplet daughters has a serious lactose allergy,” Tezzi, a Wiradjuri woman, told nine.com.au for National Reconciliation Week (May 27-June 3).
“Their grandmother is a celiac and my son and his wife are on a vegan journey. I just want to create one plate of food and put it on the table.”
She then learned of a child at ‘kinder’ who was anaphylactic to nuts, and wanted to cater to him too.
Tezzi was asked to make 500 cakes for a local chain of IGA supermarkets, but wanted to pivot to a product with a longer shelf life, which is what sparked her journey with cookies.
The first she created was traditional choc chip, followed by triple choc, chai, and white chocolate. Next came Nan’s Jam Drops, dedicated to her grandmother.
“As a little girl, I was very, very close to my grandmother and she used to make jam drops when we’d go for the school holidays,” she said.
“[My husband] lost his mum 20 years ago to cancer, she loved everything that was citrusy and lemony, so we created Jude’s Vanilla Cream and dedicated it to my husband’s mum.”
Before she knew it, she had a range of allergy-friendly cookies, which she now sells under the brand Cooee Native Superfoods in July 2023.
The allergy-friendly cookies are served on Qantas flights. Supplied
Tezzi always wanted to use the native ingredients that were unique to her culture.
“I was making cookies, and my sister and I went home to Gilgandra to see family, and seeing where our grandmother was buried ... I felt really strongly connected to something that had been kept from me most of my life,” she said.
“We weren’t allowed to tell people we were of Aboriginal descent. Driving home that day, there was a sea of yellow from the wattle seeds, and I went, ’That’s it. I need to put native foods in everything I do.
“My kids don’t even know what a wattle seed tastes like. So, from then on, I went home and designed the cookies and put native foods in them, and it just started to come together.”
These days, Cooee Cookies include native ingredients such as munties, bush blueberries, kakadu plum, as well as wattle seeds, all of which are allergy-friendly.
Native ingredients feature in all Cooee Cookies products including Davidson Plums. Supplied
Toasted wattle seeds replace the nutty flavour. Supplied
All of the ingredients are sourced locally from native food producers.
“It just makes me so proud now that we can have a significant impact on country and community and mob growers,” she added.
“Native foods in Aboriginal culture, it’s women’s business. We’re from the land to the hand to the plate.
“We’re really trying to help Indigenous growers in the community and we’ve got four or five we’re working really closely with at the moment, helping them grow their scale and commerciality.
“For me, it’s not about me owning a multimillion-dollar business. For me, it’s about having real, authentic impact. The more things I can create with native ingredients, the more knowledge we can get around native foods, and then the more impact we can have.”
Her favourite in the range is Nan’s Jam Drop, “which I just love because of the gooey jam in it”.
“I also love the white chocolate. Most people do a chocolate with macadamia, but because we don’t use nuts, I was trying to find something that had that same sort of nutty sort of crunch through the cookie, which is the wattle seed.
She decided on the name Cooee Cookies because the word “cooee” is the “Aboriginal word for keeping safe in the bush”.
“When people see Cooee we want them to think, ‘That’s safe for me to eat.’”
Cooee Cookies are so safe for everyone, they are served on Qantas flights. You can also find them at Ampol Fooderies nationally. They usually cost $4 for a twin pack but are currently two for $7.
The company has also just launched a range of flavoured popcorn, also using incredible Indigenous flavours.
Tezzi is proud of how Cooee Cookies support native communities. Supplied
150,000 Nan’s Jam Drops, made with Davidson Plum, are served aboard Qantas domestic flights as the national carrier’s exclusive Indigenous food supplier.
Cooee Native Superfoods is the exclusive Indigenous supplier to Qantas on domestic aircraft during Reconciliation Week.
