Food Matters co-founder James Colquhoun considered London, LA and Sydney for his HQ. It was only after really focussing on his most important business values, that he realised his childhood held all the secrets…
As captain of the King of Qatar’s yacht, James Colquhoun dreamt of being a wellness entrepreneur.
Eight years on, the Aussie and his Dutch wife Laurentine ten Bosch are founders of global success story Food Matters, based on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast.
Food Matters has a worldwide audience of over 4.3 million people who crave its straight-talking documentaries and books focussing on food as medicine.
The business was nurtured from infancy on the Sunshine Coast, which James says “I was lucky enough to know about, because I grew up there”.
How on earth?
James and Laurentine met in naval school in Tasmania and then worked their way around Europe and the Middle East.
Their curiosity about nutrition had been piqued by a family member’s illness.
They were on a mission to learn everything they could about healing.
The result was a myth-busting film: Food Matters.
“We knew people were hungry for this kind of film. Our vision was to distribute it directly to our audience.”
Food Matters was born. The film became a global success, leading to further film projects and a streaming TV service FMTV.
A base for growth
“We were in Sydney looking for a place to grow. We knew we could go to LA or London, or stay in Australia.
“But we didn’t see ourselves as a normal film company. We wanted to continue to innovate. To bust the mould.”
James looked to the place where he grew up: the Sunshine Coast.
“What I saw on the Sunshine Coast was a strong start-up culture. At the heart of things was the Innovation Centre, nurturing new ideas and putting entrepreneurs in touch with advisors and investors.”
On the Sunshine Coast, Food Matters found the qualities they were looking for in a place to do business.
Almost 10 years on, James says he has witnessed the evolution of a broad economic base on the Sunshine Coast.
He has advisors both on the Coast and all over the world – an ingredient for success that he values highly as an entrepreneur.
