After more than two decades in hospitality, Amelia Birch has built a business that reflects exactly what she believes in.

Amelia is the founder of Famelia, Australia’s only wine bar and bottle shop dedicated exclusively to championing women winemakers and women-led wine businesses. But her journey to Famelia was far from straightforward.

In this episode of Straight To The Source, Amelia joins Lucy Allon to share how losing her award-winning restaurant, The Book Kitchen, forced her to rebuild, reassess and create something with deeper purpose.

She explains why Famelia became exclusively focused on women-made wine, how conscious consumerism can drive meaningful industry change, and why hospitality should feel welcoming rather than intimidating.

The conversation also explores sustainable hospitality, achieving two Food Made Good stars from the Sustainable Restaurant Association, entrepreneurship, motherhood and Amelia’s belief that authentic, values-led businesses can make a greater impact than those focused on profit alone.

This is an honest conversation about women in wine, rebuilding after adversity and creating a hospitality business that genuinely stands for something.

What You'll Hear in This Episode

From The Book Kitchen to Famelia: How losing her award-winning restaurant during Sydney’s light rail construction reshaped Amelia’s career and approach to business.

Why Famelia exclusively champions women winemakers: The customer behaviour and industry realities that inspired Amelia to create a wine bar and bottle shop dedicated to women-made wine.

The visibility gap for women in wine: Why many customers still do not realise how few women are represented across the wine industry.

Making wine more approachable: Amelia’s mission to remove intimidation, gatekeeping and unnecessary complexity from the wine experience.

The power of conscious consumerism: How everyday purchasing decisions can support women winemakers, independent producers and businesses with purpose.

Purpose over profit in hospitality: Why Amelia measures success through authenticity, community and impact rather than revenue alone.

Building a values-led hospitality business: How purpose can guide decisions, strengthen customer loyalty and create a clearer point of difference.

Sustainability at Famelia: What achieving two Food Made Good stars from the Sustainable Restaurant Association means and how Amelia is embedding sustainability into daily operations.

Leadership shaped by adversity: How business loss, resilience and reinvention influenced Amelia’s leadership style.

Motherhood and entrepreneurship: The realities of raising two teenage boys while growing an independent hospitality business.

The future of Famelia: Amelia’s ambitions for the business and her broader vision for women in wine and hospitality.

Going Straight To The Source: Amelia's powerful definition of respecting provenance, recognising producers and choosing to support the people behind every product.

Follow Amelia Birch & Famelia

• @famelia.wine
  • @amelia.famelia

Resources & Mentions

• Famelia Wine Bar & Bottle Shop: https://famelia.com.au 
  • Sustainable Restaurant Association – Food Made Good Standard: https://www.foodmadegood.org

About Straight To The Source

Straight To The Source brings you closer to the chefs, producers, growers and makers across the entire food chain, the people shaping where food is headed and why it matters. Hosted by food experts Tawnya Bahr and Lucy Allon.

Follow, rate and review Straight To The Source to help more people discover the stories shaping Australia's food and hospitality industry.

You can find us:
• Straight To The Source Podcast: https://lnk.to/jBCTBE
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/straight_to_the_source/
• Website: http://straighttothesource.com.au

Keywords

Amelia Birch, Famelia Wine Bar, women winemakers Australia, women in wine Australia, hospitality leadership, purpose driven business, conscious consumerism, sustainable hospitality, Food Made Good, Sustainable Restaurant Association, Australian wine podcast, hospitality podcast Australia, female entrepreneurs Australia, Sydney wine bar, sommelier Australia, hospitality sustainability, hospitality leadership podcast, Straight To The Source podcast, Lucy Allon, Tawnya Bahr