How to eat local on the Sunshine Coast

If you have limited time but want a good taste of what it's like to eat local on the Sunshine Coast, jump on a tour. 

Tasty Tours runs unique small-group day tours along the coast and into the countryside, where you'll not only get to feast your way through but meet the master distillers, head brewers, winemakers and chefs who share their stories and take you behind-the-scenes.

Local tour guides at Sunshine Coast Craft Beer Tours offer a range of beer-focused tours, but if you're a foodie you can't beat the chance to explore from the paddock to paddle on the unique ‘Hinterland Farm to Fork Experience'. The private tour will take you from the coast to the countryside, calling in at a local coffee roaster, a private seasonal focused farm that produces the goods for high-end restaurants throughout the region, a wagyu farm, and finishes with a four-course lunch with paired beers at Brouhaha Brewery, where you'll be joined by the chef and brewer who share the local stories behind the food and beer. 

Want to mix your meals with local sights? Coast to Hinterland Tours runs small group tours where you can sample farmgate and cellar door produce while exploring mountain villages, markets and iconic Sunshine Coast scenery. 

2. Have a brew (or two)

The Sunshine Coast has quickly become a craft beer mecca, with over 20 breweries tucked into the beach 'burbs, hinterland towns and industrial neighbourhoods - all bringing something different to the table. 

Drink local while you're here and check out some of the best. From punk-themed Blackflag Brewing to good vibes at Your Mates, or Brouhaha where everything from the raspberries in the sour ale to the ice cream in your dessert is sourced locally. 

3. Pick your own strawberries

The simple act of twisting and plucking a red, ripe strawberries straight from the vine has everyone flocking to local farms like Cooloola Berries to experience pure farm-to-table eating.

With 85% of Queensland’s strawberries hailing from the Sunshine Coast, the sprawling acres of strawberry fields here play a sweet part. During peak strawberry season, much of the farm is pick-your-own so come to traipse through to harvest, buy some small goods and perhaps even stay for a coffee or ice cream.

Cooloola Berries’ farm and café are open year-round for tours and tastings, with the PYO season from June to November, but be sure to check their website before you visit as seasonal conditions can vary.

Here are other great spots to pick your own fruit across Queensland.

4. Flex your skills at cooking school

If it's not enough to simply eat local on the Sunshine Coast, why not step into the kitchen and learn a few tricks of the trade?

Spirit House Cooking School offers an Asian-inspired cooking class set among lush rainforest gardens, while you can team your cooking experience with a luxurious weekend escape at Spicers Tamarind Retreat, where a few hours of learning in the kitchen can be followed by indulgent spa treatments, dining at the chef-hatted restaurant, and retreating to your own private villa - complete with a private cedar hot tub on the deck. 

5. Embrace farm life at Maleny Dairies

Few things taste better than fresh farm milk. Join one of the walking tours at Maleny Dairies to learn more about this local dairy farm, feed the baby animals and taste test their milk – including the pasteurised-only Farmers Choice – and yoghurts.

Tours run several times per day, Monday to Saturday – and pre-booking online is essential.

Advice from the locals: this property is stunning and you’ll want to spend some time here. From Monday – Saturday you can BYO picnic or BBQ ingredients to make use of the electric BBQ and stay to soak up the views and atmosphere (and snap a few more photos of those pretty cows). Be sure to pick up a few treats from the Milkbar while you’re here: there’s coffee, ice cream, milkshakes and snacks.

6. Taste wine at local vineyards

Make your way to the highest point in Montville for wine tasting at Flame Hill Vineyard. This winery produces 100% estate wines from the vines on this property and a second property on the Granite Belt, all hand-harvested.

Taste your way through a wide selection of drops from crisp pinot gris to the deep Montville shiraz, and fortified wines as well. But this property has more than just wine to offer: it’s a mini food bowl with its own farm and kitchen garden. Choose from the seasonal menu and you’ll taste their very own grass-fed Angus beef, plus herbs and veggies pulled straight from the dirt.

Further north, drop into the cellar door at Dingo Creek Vineyard from Friday - Sunday, to learn all about wine at an interactive tasting session, or pre-book a gourmet picnic hamper to enjoy among the vines.

7. Learn beekeeping 101 at The Ginger Factory

You’ll have a degree in beekeeping after the Live Bee Show and Tastings tour with one of The Ginger Factory’s passionate beekeepers.

Become a full-blown honey advocate as you learn how the hierarchy in the hive goes down, what each bee’s role pertains, and see these workaholics hard at it through the demonstration behind a handy mesh screen and enclosed in glass. On the way out, duck into their retail precinct for take-home loot.

While you’re here, be sure to take a tour of the Ginger Factory too – which includes some taste-testing – then take a little train ride through the grounds, fun for the young and young-at-heart.

8. Hit the farmers markets

Eating local on the Sunshine Coast is as easy as popping into one of the many farmers markets hosted each week. Taste your way through food stalls ranging from smoothie bowls to gozleme, fill your pantry with fresh fruits and veggies, and soak up local music along the way. 

Held on Sundays, Noosa Farmers Market is a local favourite, while you'll find all sorts of antiques and handmade goods alongside the food stalls at Eumundi Markets (Wednesdays and Saturdays).

Or take a scenic drive into the Noosa Hinterland where farm stands line the country roads, and stops at Kin Kin's Black Ant Gourmet and Cooray Harvest Fresh will fill your car to the brim with goodies. If you make it out this way, lunch at Pomona Distilling Co is a must.

A few more ways to eat local on the Sunshine Coast

• Get the down-low on Australia’s most famous nut, the macadamia, and peer into the factory at Nutworks in Yandina (across the road from The Ginger Factory).
• Join the Camel Cuddles tour to get up-close-and-personal with the animals behind QCamel milk (Saturdays and school holidays, bookings are essential).
• Visit the Johnson family at Obi Obi Essentials to buy some green and olive leaf teas and olive oil, and give their alpacas a pat (call ahead to arrange your visit).
• Feast on trawler-fresh seafood from Moreton Bay bugs to prawns and crab. Pop into Mooloolaba Fish Market or the Seafood Market @ Caloundra for local, wild caught delicacies – grab seafood to cook yourself, or get the staff to cook it so you can picnic nearby.
  

Still hungry? Make a reservation at one of the Sunshine Coast's best restaurants.