A family business built on Aunty Donna's recipes, her standards, and a lifetime of country cooking.
Country Heart Catering started where every good meal does — at the family table.
Aunty Donna has been a chef for more than thirty years, and has run her own private catering business for the last fifteen. Country Heart is her family business, built on her recipes and the way she's been cooking for the people she loves all her life.
We named the business Country Heart for what it means to us.
Country, because we're proud of where we come from — the red earth, the people, the land that raised us.
Heart, because that's what goes into every meal we make. Cooked the way we'd cook for our own family.
And because we're based in Central Australia — the dead heart of this country — the name fits us twice over. Cooking from the Heart in the Heart of the Country.
We're proudly Aboriginal-owned — the only fully Aboriginal-owned catering company in Alice Springs. Being First Nations isn't a tagline for us; it's how we work. We care about the people we feed, the communities we travel out to, and the impact we leave behind.
Whether we're catering a corporate lunch in town or driving meals out to a remote community, the standard is the same: cooked from scratch, with care, like we're feeding our own.
Aunty Donna has lived in Alice Springs for more than 30 years, where she raised her three children and built a strong connection to the community. With over 35 years of experience as a chef, and 15 years running her own catering service, she brings a lifetime of care, patience, and love into every dish she prepares.
She has a deep appreciation for Alice Springs and the people who call it home, and sees her cooking as a way to give back to the community. For Aunty Donna, food is about bringing people together, making people feel looked after, and sharing something made from the heart. She takes great pride in hearing from clients who enjoy her food, and that joy continues to inspire the amazing meals she creates.
We're an Aboriginal family business serving Aboriginal communities across Central Australia. Out here, food is more than food — it's how we gather, how we look after one another, how we honour and remember. Every meal we cook for community is a chance to give back. Cooking for community is about coming together, connecting, sharing, lifting your spirit, building memories and supporting positive outcomes for others.
Country Heart is also about jobs and opportunities. We hire and train locally, growing our team from community wherever we can. When you choose us — for an event, a meal service, or a worksite supply — you're supporting an Aboriginal-owned business and the Aboriginal employment we create. That's the impact we want our work to leave behind.
Country Heart Catering acknowledges the Arrernte people as the Traditional Owners and Custodians of Mparntwe (Alice Springs), where we live, cook and gather. We pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging, and to all First Nations peoples we serve across Central Australia.
