No matter how busy life gets, Dan and Steph Mulheron carve out time each night to enjoy dinner with their five-year-old daughter, Emmy.
“It’s my favourite part of the day,” Steph said. “After we’ve worked our butts off, we can sit down together and talk about the best part of our day, the worst part of our day and what we’re going to do tomorrow. That’s what life is all about – family.”
In 2013, the Hervey Bay couple won the fourth series of reality television show, My Kitchen Rules (MKR). Dan and Steph captured the hearts of Australian viewers with their down-to-earth approach to life and love of sausages.
“We cook for a living, but when we come home we are very simple eaters. Steak and vegetables or a roast chicken; that wholesome food just makes my heart sing,” Steph said. “We probably eat sweet potatoes three nights a week.”
Sweet potatoes feature prominently on the menus of their two Hervey Bay restaurants: Eat at Dan & Steph’s and Black Bear.
“We just love the versatility of sweet potatoes and they’re so good for you,” Steph said. “I make a delicious spiced sweet potato bread. They can be mashed, pureed, roasted and barbequed. You can have it raw in smoothies. We put them in salads, strudels and sausage rolls and even use it as pizza topping.”
So when Sweet Potatoes Australia invited Dan and Steph to be their brand ambassadors, they jumped at the opportunity.
“We love working with Australian farmers,” Steph said. “It was right up our alley. They’re a family business, trying to make a difference. We had aligned ourselves with Sunpork, who make our sausages that are available nationally in Coles and, as everyone knows, pork and sweet potatoes are a match made in heaven.”
A joint venture between Greensill Farming and Holt Farming, Sweet Potatoes Australia grow gold, white skin and purple flesh varieties of sweet potatoes year-round in Bundaberg for domestic and international markets. The Region produces 80 per cent of Australia’s overall sweet potato crop. Sweet Potatoes Australia is the largest sweet potato producer in Australia.