We hope your appreciation of what we do deepens once you know the full story. Like a lotus flower – pure and resilient – we grew from filth and decay.
RESTORE was born of the realisation that, together, we can make a difference in our overreliance on plastic. Wrappers and bottles bobbing about in Sydney’s beautiful harbour, carried there by stormwater, and washed up on the foreshore near Luna Park, were the catalyst. While admiring the Clean Up campaign and its community, we wanted to go further by addressing the root cause of the problem. Look closely, and you'll see that much of that plastic pollution comes from food packaging, sold by the supermarkets that prioritise profits and short-term convenience over long-term impact. An economic model that is failing both people and the planet. Plastic-free options are frustratingly limited.
Additionally, our farmers are under tremendous pressure, caught between natural disasters and a highly concentrated grocery sector that limits their retail options. When not rewarded fairly, it hurts the farmer, the farmed and the consumer.
Our founder, Dominic Ryan, explored options of how we could providore for everyday staples from excellent local farmers while eliminating single-use plastic. The result is RESTORE, a clear-conscience and considerate way to shop for the freshest possible groceries.
Beginning in July 2023, Dominic turned to his local North Sydney community, surveying and consulting with more than 400 neighbours to determine whether they shared his concerns. The results were clear. 96% of respondents were equally frustrated and sought alternatives to plastic packaging and the supermarkets. It was out of these conversations that RESTORE was born.
In October of the same year, a pilot delivery of Jersey milk in glass bottles was made to 10 neighbours, and the word soon spread via a stall at North Sydney Produce Market, local ads, and community board notices. Despite the challenge of implementing a system that requires more manual labour and customer participation than single-use plastic products, our community is flourishing. We now deliver to homes and businesses across 52 Sydney postcodes.
RESTORE is a disruptive grocery service that is kind to the planet and good for your soul.
We form close alliances with family-owned and run regenerative farmers and producers to deliver the freshest possible, nutritious produce. Our evaluation process ensures we have shared values and a commitment to ethical practices, animal welfare, and sustainability. They are justly paid.
RESTORE empowers shoppers to take meaningful action. When suitable, our pure products are packaged in our library of locally made glassware, which we collect, launder, sanitise, and refill an average of 25 times. 96% of bottles are returned and remain in circulation, meaning that to date (May 2026) our RESTORE community has saved 161,000 plastic bottles from landfill and waste. Our other packaging is compostable. Our labelling is minimal.
Our convenient subscription service delivers quietly overnight at the same time each week, there’s no waiting around, your shopping load is lightened and the chore of buying staples removed.
By restoring good-old-fashioned milkman service, while adapting it to today’s challenges, you open your door to pure joy with each early morning delivery.
Our name, RESTORE, has a double meaning. We’ve revived a beloved tradition and serve as a store for those committed to reducing unnecessary waste. Together, we are believers in the power of returning, refilling, and repeating. Our subscribers help eliminate single-use plastic, one user-friendly sparkling glass container at a time, and we challenge the supermarkets’ stronghold over farmers and the food supply.
We’re a small, proud and devoted circular-economy team committed to trailblazing. Early in our first Autumn, Victoria Alexander joined as Creative Director. At the heart of our pioneering circular system is our operations team, who diligently arrange every order, sort, launder, and sterilise our glassware, then refill it by hand. Rain, hail or shine, our small band of cheery milkmen cross their dedicated neighbourhood quietly from midnight to dusk delivering our goodness and then return to our headquarters with the empties so the cycle can begin again.