Nornie Bero’s Mabu Mabu Has Entered Liquidation

Nornie Bero is a trailblazer in the Australian food world. The chef, originally from the Komet Tribe of the Meriam people in the Torres Strait, launched her brand Mabu Mabu in 2018, selling spices and condiments made using native ingredients, at a South Melbourne Market stall. In addition to a product line stocked in major supermarkets, the stall led to a catering arm, a cookbook, a Yarraville cafe that closed at the start of the pandemic, and a Fed Square restaurant, Big Esso by Mabu Mabu.

Bero says it was a “shock” when she found out on Wednesday March 26 that the business needed to enter liquidation. She closed the doors to Big Esso the following day and has now ceased operations of all arms of the business.

“This has come as an overwhelming surprise to me, and I don’t think any of us were prepared for such a sudden turn of events,” she wrote in a statement to Broadsheet. “It’s been a shock to us all, myself and the staff included. The emotional toll has been immense for everyone involved.”

Big Esso was arguably Melbourne’s most high-profile Indigenous-owned and run restaurant, serving dishes including emu steak, charred crocodile tongue and myrtle fried crocodile shank with lemon aspen sweet and sour sauce. And Bero says the brand was a platform for celebrating Indigenous foods and bringing native Australian ingredients to the forefront of Australian cuisine. “It is difficult to see everything come to such an abrupt end, especially after so many years of hard work,” Bero says. “Saying goodbye is heartbreaking.

“We’re working hard to understand where we stand and are … determined to learn from this experience, and, though I can’t comment on specifics just yet, we hope to come back bigger and stronger in the future.”

For now, Bero says she is “taking all necessary measures to honour [the business’s] commitments to the team, the community, and everyone who has supported [Mabu Mabu].”