How Facebook Marketplace put a Sydney food business back up on its feet

Detailed summary

From simple desserts to seafood boils, the platform has become more than just a place to sell second-hand items.

A viral food trend sweeping the US has arrived in Australia, with home cooks using Facebook Marketplace to sell homemade meals directly from their kitchens.

Instead of ordering from restaurants through delivery apps, Sydneysiders are now browsing Facebook Marketplace for dishes, then messaging sellers, and picking up meals from their homes.

From simple desserts to seafood boils, the platform has become more than just a place to sell second-hand items.

Abigail Reyel-Enriquez, founder of Get Shrimped, a food business specialising in Hawaiian cuisine, recently started using Facebook Marketplace to sell her food for the first time in her 10-year business journey.

“It came from a passion from a travel that we did in Hawaii,” she said.

“We were doing pop-ups in markets. The dream was to eventually make it into a food truck, but that just didn’t transpire yet.”

Abigail said doing doing food stalls and pop-ups took a toll on her and her husband, Stephen’s bodies due to intense time constraints and hours spent setting and cleaning up.

“It’s easier (at home) because we can just prepare everything and cook it straight away and cleaning up as well,” Stephen said.

The surge of influencers making videos on the phenomenon gave them confidence to start their Marketplace journey as a way to “spread the word” about their Hawaiian food.

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