Saskia Jones: 2023 Business of the Year

Saskia Jones and her best friend Kaitlyn Riles (KJ) are living their dreams, each with one year old baby boys born two weeks apart and having a successful business together called Prim and Platter which began with making platters for themselves and friends and sharing images of their creations online.

Platters that greet the eye

“The presence of social media built it up without us really knowing,” Saskia said. “Then when people started asking us to make platters we thought ‘Oh, really?!’, so we started our Prim and Platter Instagram page putting up pictures of our platters and it grew exponentially from there.”

Their business originated in Orange and recently Saskia’s sister-in-law Alecia has started doing the Bathurst orders to reach growing demand there.

Custom boxes for all occasions

Saskia and KJ have developed a unique style for each box, which is their own vision for how a platter should look and has become their branding. Their range caters for couples, groups, picnics, children’s parties, special occasions, breakfasts, grazing, weddings and desert.

“When Alecia jumped on board I taught her the sort of products we use, who our suppliers are and how we present the boxes. There are many little things that set the boxes apart from a standard platter,” Saskia explained. “We do really like to make them special and unique to Prim and Platter so people will immediately recognise them as ours.”

Fresh, colourful and delicious

By incorporating foods of bright, rainbow colours with fresh, quality local ingredients, edible flowers, herb garnishes, nuts and seeds their boxes look almost too good to eat and are definitely Insta-worthy.

“If we do a picnic we also set-up some rugs and cushions, and add a sponge cake filled with local jam and topped with flowers for something sweet, and some Turkish Delight as a starter,” she said. “Our bride and hen’s picnics have a few different options to make them look especially pretty, too, which adds a different level for their celebration.”

Packed with love for all group sizes

Luckily the website describes the dozen or so box-types very well, as their enticing colours and contents can make choosing quite challenging owing to their art-like presentation. But thankfully, Saskia is there to guide you every step of the way and the online ordering system is a breeze for any sized group.

“People know that they can just reach out to us and we are going to help,” she said. “We greet everyone with a friendly smile. We are just two best friends, and mums, who happen to be sharing the great journey. We understand as mums that there is more to consider and juggle, and people know that we just understand that.”

Spreading their wings

Just recently, KJ moved with her family to Bicheno, Tasmania for her partner’s work and has started doing their signature boxes from there. Saskia and KJ are finding being this far apart challenging, but the silver lining is that the locals on the east coast are are enjoying KJ’s beautiful boxed delights, too.

“Now we say to one another that when we are making up boxes we feel close to each other, and we continue to inspire each other and bounce ideas together which is really nice,” Saskia said.

The best local produce

Prim and Platter (Central West NSW) boast using fresh local products where possible, and mainly include Fresh Fodder dips, Flour Mills Wife sweet and savoury biscuits, Second Mouse Cheeses, Four-J Farm’s hazelnuts, Kristy Cunningham’s quince paste, Cured Meats and fresh goods from Ashcroft’s IGA.

Where-ever the location, Prim and Platter’s promise is to give outstanding customer focus and meet their brand promises for each order. “We promise our unique style in presentation and customer service,” Saskia said. “We love to knock on the door and deliver a platter with a smile and chat. We love meeting people and have made so many great connections, but we also believe that it’s over food that you have so many good times with other and it brings people together. That’s how we grew up – enjoying food.”

Helping everyone to thrive

Saskia said the nomination means a lot them. It is something they never dreamed of – or thought they’d get recognition for making a platter – but even when they were both heavily pregnant they were still delivering platters without a break because they love their business so much. “It brings a lot of joy to us so it means a lot to get this recognition.”

Visit Prim and Platter

Our 2023 Business of the Year is sponsored by BurMac Insurance