At the beginning of this year, George Prasad launched Homegrown Me, an online marketplace to connect local food producers directly to buyers.
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And now she's taking things even further, giving local producers easier access to a commercial kitchen.
"As I was contacting other people who were in the market stall scene, the thing that always came up was the issue of accessing commercial kitchen space," said Prasad.
"I'd sort of looked into it a couple of years ago myself. But you really had to know the right people so I gave up."
When she saw a container at Westside Container Village come up for sale, formerly the home of Daana Indian foods, she saw it as a solution.
"I thought why not take the leap? So I bought it," said Prasad, who also works as a public servant and is a mother of two.
The commercial kitchen is fully functional and fitted with equipment and utensils, and is available to rent either for a few hours or on a regular basis.
Prasad's first client, Liz Cotton from Free Range by Burra Berkshires, previously had to travel to Sydney to cook up her pulled pork products and sauces. "Now I can come here - it's fantastic," said Cotton.
Now that the Homegrown Me kitchen is up and running, Prasad is hoping to get more clients on board to use the space, while also trying to secure a future home for her shipping container which will have to move when Westside Village is closed in 2017.
See: homegrownme.com.au.
