Tawnya Bahr

Essential ingredients for life

How do you become one of the leading food consultants in Australia? It takes business skills, an entrepreneurial drive, a strong work ethic… and you have to be able to cook, of course. Fortunately, Tawnya Bahr can do all that and more.

As an industry connector, chef, and founding partner of bespoke food tour company Straight To The Source, she uses her culinary experience as a platform for promoting and supporting sustainable agricultural practices and producers. Tawnya takes chefs and the public to our Australian farms to understand produce - how it is grown, where it is grown and by whom. This allows her to share her passion for our growers, regenerative agriculture, sustainable ingredient sourcing and draught and bushfire consequences.

Today, she runs her two businesses and is also the group executive chef of The Orchard Early Learning Centres. When she not watching the seasons, weather conditions and the ebb and flow of produce in the market, she mentors’ entrepreneurs and critical thinkers to help take their concept to market.

Tawnya’s energy is palatable, and her presentations are thought provoking and delicious. Her audiences leave hungry for more. And you will, too.

Ask about Tawnya Bahr

Key Points

Tawnya Bahr is a business leader and entrepreneur. She was the recipient of the 2017 TAFE NSW Excellence Award for Innovation and Entrepreneurship.
She is a pioneer, an innovator, an original thinker. She was awarded 2018 Australian Culinary Advocate of the Year by Gault & Millau L’expert Gourmand.
Was 2019 International Women’s Day guest speaker for Women in Hospitality.
Sits on the innovation advisory panel for Fine Food Australia and has facilitated many professional panel discussions focussing on food trends.
Is a prominent judge for the Royal Agricultural Society and Acting Chair of Judges for the RAS Fine Food Competition and professional restaurant reviewer.
Is the Group Executive Chef of The Orchard Early Learning Centres.

Topics

Reframe career
Tawnya moved from a successful career in IT in the USA to moving to Australia and starting from the ground up a new business in the food industry, repurposing her skills, networking and educating herself to becoming one of the leading food consultant chefs in Australia.
Finding your purpose
Tawnya was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 32. She talks about resilience, her lifestyle changes, motherhood, career compromises and following her passion on the back of being a cancer survivor.
Navigating our food source
Tawnya has been taking chefs and the public across Australia to learn firsthand where our food comes through Straight To The Source. She can share her story and passion for our Australian growers, regenerative agriculture, sustainable ingredient sourcing, draught and bushfire consequences to our rural communities and city farmers markets.
Female leadership
Tawnya is a highly respected food industry expert and communicator. She mentors’ entrepreneurs and critical thinkers in the pursuit to take their concept to market.
Challenging perceptions
Tawnya is an American female chef running two businesses and a family in Sydney Australia. She’s a pioneer that has taken many risks (not all have worked mind you) and continues to grow and pull people up with her along the way.
Diversity in children’s dining experiences
Tawnya is experienced in writing children’s menus and developing kid food recipes for cafes and early learning centres. She works with leading dietitians in writing menu’s that children enjoy eating. An advocate for educating children and parents from all cultures and backgrounds and inspiring them to get creative in the kitchen, cook food that looks amazing and tastes great.

Testimonials

Professional Conference Organiser

The team at ICMI offer a fantastic and professional service that allows us (event organisers) to focus on the delivery of our events

Corporate Client

I was very happy with the whole process from initial call through to performance, every question or detail was explained in a professional friendly manner. I will definitely be in touch with ICMI again.

Insurance Client

All ICMI staff I dealt with were exceptionally efficient, collaborative and responsive to ensuring our talent was informed.

Government Client

ICMI were flexible and accommodating, this year finding a speaker for your event that would work in a virtual setting was a challenge, but we ended up with a very successful event and the perfect speaker! Always patient and responsive to my calls or emails.

Corporate Client

Association Client

We were impacted by a COVID-19 outbreak in South Australia that threatened to de-rail our Northern Territory based event, but the ICMI logistics team made it happen when the window of opportunity arose.

NFP Client

ICMI listened to our needs and were very supportive with the change of plans with dealing with the pandemic. They gave great advice and helped us secure the right talent for our event.