About Us
Our Mission
To crisis-proof rural Australia by enabling small business and empowering founders.
What We Do
Support small business in rural Australia through capacity building.
Foster the growth of female-led business.
Diversify rural economies, supporting recovery from drought, flood & other crises.
Foster greater connection between the city and the bush.
Celebrate and showcase rural talent, ingenuity and creativity.
Tell a great yarn about life in the bush!
Our Story
In the midst of Australia’s worst drought on record, Buy From The Bush began as an Instagram campaign showcasing the beautiful things available to buy from rural communities facing drought.
The impact was immediate. Small businesses were saved, jobs were created, city and country were united and hope was restored.
We encouraged all bush businesses to start using the #buyfromthebush on their social posts and we started to curate a social media feed filled with some of our favourite things.
Seven weeks later @buyfromthebush had over 130,000 followers on Instagram and had increased rural postage figures by 30%. Shops were selling out of stock. Landcruiser utes on outback stations were being loaded up with parcels to be shipped across the globe.
It seemed the city heard the call for help and as Slim Dusty would say provided a ‘flood of human kindness’ directed at small bush businesses. By December 2019, ‘buyfromthebush’ was the second highest search term used nationally.
In 2020 we launched an online marketplace to become a channel to market for rural businesses. Since then we have processed over 77,000 transactions and shipped to all corners of the globe. In 2023, we closed the marketplace to focus on supporting small business through capacity building and story-telling.
Campaigns
It’s a Family Business
Easter 2023
A Customer Perspective
‘Prawns’
Social Campaign Christmas ‘22
‘Record Player’
Social Campaign Christmas ‘22
Our Founder
Grace Brennan grew up in Sydney but after falling in love with a farmer, made the move to the western plains of NSW and now lives on a sheep and cropping farm in Gin Gin, NSW with her husband Jack and their four children, Eliza, Maggie, Charles and August.
She is passionate about the power of positive storytelling and community driven change.
Grace was named by the Sydney Morning Herald as one of the nine most influential women entrepreneurs for the 2020 International Women’s Day. In January 2020, Grace was invited by the Premier of NSW, to give the Australia Day Address to the nation and in 2021 was a NSW finalist for Australian of The Year.
She is an accomplished speaker and has successfully partnered with multi national corporations like PayPal, Visa, Meta and Xero to create compelling content and lasting change.
Through her BFTB and SITB platforms Grace hopes to introduce her friends (acquaintances and anyone who’ll listen) in the city to the incredible beauty of the bush.
Our Business Community
97%
of BFTB businesses are female-led
65%
makers, producers, artists or designers
3K+
small rural business database members