I was lucky enough to meet with Donna just before we all heard about the Corona Virus pandemic sweeping the world, when social distancing and non essential travel became law. If we could only have one retailer in this edition then we are happy to have Organics With Love Wholefoods grace our pages.
Located 63kms from Brisbane Canungra is your typical country town, quiet, peaceful and full of country folk. With a population of approximately 1,300 people the residents of this area are no strangers to adversity, having dealt with devastating bush fires in September 2019, and then ironically floods in February 2020. Throughout these ordeals the community spirit of the township shone through. Situated in the centre of the town you will find O.W.L. Wholefoods (Organics With Love) a shop that was originally opened approximately 4 years ago and was then called “In The Raw Health Food Store. In 2018 Donna Purtill became a partner in the business and the name changed to O.W.L. Wholefoods Donna bought out her partner just after the bushfires in September, 2019, 
which was probably not the best time to be purchasing the business, but she felt that things could only move forward from there. As she says “We have a beautiful little community and are part of the Scenic Rim, which has many great producers and other businesses. Everyone is great at supporting each other and I just love our little town and the people in it.” After taking over the shop on my which was probably not the best time to be purchasing the business, but she own I have continued to build the stock up in the shop, which has brought more customers in. I also offer to source any products I don’t have in store for my customers to the best of my ability, and have recently added veggie boxes into the mix. I feel my store is different from a lot of the others as I am a standalone store, which offers very personable service. I know a lot of my customers by first name and always enjoy a chat with them, I feel that’s what helps makes a great community. I entered this industry as I had a few health problems myself and after many doctors visits turned to the natural side of things and have never looked back. I also, have a daughter on the spectrum and found that by modifying her diet we were able to notice significant results.” OWL Wholefoods also has a bulk room where customers can bring their own container or use one of the paper bags provided to purchase everything from flour to hikers’ mix, laundry and dish washing liquid as well as dried fruit and nuts. She has noticed a significant increase in the bulk food over the last month, and feels people are getting 
back to basics. Donna has extended the cafe menu, kept the organic coffee and added to the range of healthy, organic grocery lines in stock which feeds her passion for nutrition and health. There is no doubt that Donna has found her true calling, as she says, “I love my little shop and can only see it moving forward more and more each week. I hope that if any good comes out of COVID-19 that it will be that people will get back to good eating habits and taking care of their health and I am happy to be here to help.” You can visit OWL Wholefoods located on the corner of Kidston Street and Lawton Lane and is open seven days a week.
