From Argentina to the Sunshine Coast: How a Simple Jar of Chimichurri Became Part of Our Story

If you had told us a few years ago that a simple jar of chimichurri would become such a big part of our lives, we probably would have laughed, topped up your beer and gone back to the barbecue.

Because for us, chimichurri was never some big business idea. It was never something we sat down and planned with spreadsheets, branding boards or grand ambitions. It was just part of who we were. It was part of our childhood, part of our culture, and part of some of our favourite memories growing up.

We are two best mates, both from Argentinian heritage, both raised on simple traditional food, and both lucky enough to now call the Sunshine Coast home with our families. Long before Chimmi & Co existed, long before there were jars and markets and stockists, there was just the two of us, a shared heritage, and a deep love for the kind of food that brings people together.

Growing up in households shaped by Argentinian tradition, food was never rushed and it was never overcomplicated. Some of the best meals were the simplest ones. Good bread. Quality meat. Fresh herbs. Garlic. Olive oil. Vinegar. Food made with care, shared with family, and eaten slowly around a table or standing near the fire. That was normal for us. That was home.

And of course, there were the barbecues.

In Argentinian culture, a barbecue is not just cooking. It is ritual. It is family. It is conversation. It is laughter that rolls through the afternoon and into the night. It is learning from the people around you. It is the smell of smoke in your clothes, the sound of sizzling meat, the chopping of herbs and garlic, the clink of glasses, and the feeling that there is nowhere else you need to be.

For us, that was such a big part of growing up. Chimichurri was always there. It sat on the table as naturally as the meat itself. You did not think twice about it. It was not trendy or exotic. It was just what you had. It was what made a good barbecue even better.

Then life took us across the world.

Like a lot of people, we built our lives in Australia, and over time we both ended up on the Sunshine Coast with our families. There is something about this place that just makes sense to us. The weather, the laid-back lifestyle, the connection to the outdoors, the appreciation for good produce, the love of gathering around food, it all felt right. In many ways, it reminded us of the things we loved most growing up, even though we were a long way from those early memories.

As the years went on, we found ourselves doing what we had always done, catching up over barbecues, sharing food, opening a few beers and talking about life. And like most good ideas, Chimmi & Co started in one of those moments.

It really was almost a joke at first.

We were chatting about how not many people had heard of chimichurri outside our South American communities. Every time we had friends over who were not Argentinian and we pulled out the chimichurri, they absolutely loved it. There was always that same reaction, curiosity at first, then surprise, then straight away wanting more. It got us thinking that maybe this simple staple we had grown up with was something worth sharing more widely.

That was when the idea started to take shape.

At first, it was just about making it ourselves and sharing it with the people around us. But as we started looking into it more, we found that so many of the brands out there were filled with preservatives, and we were genuinely confused by it. Chimichurri is meant to be simple. It does not need to be overcomplicated. It just needs to stay true to what it is: fresh, honest and full of flavour.

That became really important to us from the beginning.

We made our chimichurri the way we believed it should be made: simple ingredients, no compromise on quality, and nothing in it that did not belong there. Fresh herbs, garlic, extra virgin olive oil, vinegar, seasoning, the right balance, the right bite, the right freshness. We made a conscious choice from the start that we were not going to cut corners. No cheap and nasty seed oils. No preservatives. No fillers. If we were going to do it, we were going to do it properly.

Then we took it to the Caloundra Markets.

Looking back now, that first market feels massive in our memory. At the time, though, our expectations were very modest. We honestly hoped we might sell ten jars. That was the goal. Ten jars. Enough to cover the cost of the market stall and say we had given it a crack.

That was it.

We were not dreaming of sell-outs or stockists or building a brand. We just thought, let’s show up, let’s put it out there, and let’s see if anyone likes it.

What happened next completely caught us off guard.

We sold out. Forty jars, gone.

We were blown away.

There is a particular kind of feeling that comes when something personal, something tied to your roots and your memories, is embraced by complete strangers. It is hard to describe. It is excitement, of course. It is disbelief. But it is also something deeper. Pride. Gratitude. A little bit of shock. Maybe even relief. Because when you put something like that into the world, you are not only selling a product. You are sharing a piece of yourself. You are offering people something that means something to you and hoping they can feel it too.

That first market told us they could.

Then came the second week.

We went back hoping the first week had not just been luck, not just curiosity, not just a one-off. And then it happened again. Another sell-out. Another forty jars gone.

That was the moment we really knew we were onto something.

Not because we were chasing numbers, but because people were connecting with it. They were tasting it, getting excited about it, telling their friends, coming back for more. There was a genuine response, and that meant everything to us.

Then something happened that changed the course of the whole story.

A local butcher approached us. He had tried our chimichurri in that first week at the markets and told us he would love to stock it in his shop.

That conversation was huge for us.

Up until then, this had still felt like a little market idea, a passion project, something we were figuring out as we went. But when someone in the local food community, someone who knows quality and works with good produce every day, tastes what you have made and says, this belongs in my butcher shop, that hits differently. It gives you confidence. It tells you this is not just nostalgia talking. This is something people genuinely want.

That was how it all began.

From there, things started to grow steadily and naturally. We kept showing up. We kept making our chimichurri by hand. We kept backing the quality of the product. And little by little, we started working with premium gourmet butchers around the Coast, people who cared about what they put on their shelves and what they recommended to their customers.

That has been one of the parts we are most proud of.

There is something really special about seeing our chimichurri sitting alongside quality local meat, knowing it is now part of how other families cook at home, how mates gather around the barbecue, how people bring flavour to their table. It still does not feel ordinary to us. It still means something every time we see it.

What also means a lot is that we have stayed true to what mattered from day one.

It would have been easy to take shortcuts. Easier to use cheaper oils. Easier to add preservatives. Easier to make certain choices that might improve shelf life or margins. But that was never the point for us. This product came from our upbringing, our culture and our standards. If it was going to carry that story, it had to be done properly. We wanted something we would be proud to put in front of our own families, something we would happily eat ourselves every single day.

That is why our chimichurri is built on simple ingredients without compromising on quality. We wanted it to taste clean, bright and real. We wanted people to look at the ingredients and recognise every single one of them. We wanted it to feel like something made by actual people, not manufactured to be as cheap as possible.

And the most rewarding part of all has been watching what the Sunshine Coast community has done with it.

It has been such an honour to bring this part of our heritage to the Coast and introduce chimichurri to people who may never have even heard of it before. At the beginning, a lot of people would walk up to the stall and ask, what is chimichurri? We loved that. We loved seeing that first taste, that reaction, that moment when someone’s eyes widened and they got it straight away.

Now, what amazes us even more is hearing all the ways people use it.

As people from Argentinian heritage, we are creatures of habit in many ways. Chimichurri, for us, traditionally belongs with steak, and maybe chicken. That is where our minds naturally go. It is how we grew up. It is what we know. So hearing customers come back and tell us they are using it on roasted vegetables, mashed potatoes, omelettes, sandwiches and all sorts of meals we never would have thought of has been such a joy.

We have vegetarians and vegans who absolutely love it.

That still makes us smile.

To see this humble, traditional condiment take on a life of its own in other people’s kitchens has been incredible. It has shown us that while the roots of chimichurri are deeply traditional, its place on the table can be far more versatile than we ever imagined. The flavour is unmistakable. It cuts through richness, lifts simple meals, and adds something exciting to food without overpowering it. People have made it their own, and in doing that, they have helped write the next part of our story.

That is something we never expected when we first turned up to the Caloundra Markets hoping to sell ten jars.

When we look back now, what stands out most is not just the growth of the business. It is the feeling behind it all. Two best mates who grew up with the same flavours. Two families building a life on the Sunshine Coast. One conversation over a barbecue that could easily have gone nowhere. A simple idea that started with laughter and turned into something real because the community embraced it.

For us, Chimmi & Co has always been about more than a jar.

It is about heritage. It is about friendship. It is about family. It is about keeping a part of where we came from alive and sharing it in a way that feels generous and grounded. It is about the old memories of growing up with these flavours, and the new memories we are making here on the Coast. It is about introducing people to something we have loved our whole lives and watching them fall in love with it too.

There is something very moving about that.

Food has a way of crossing borders without needing translation. It carries stories, memories and identity. It connects generations. It brings people together. And when you share food from your culture with a new community and they welcome it, that means more than we can properly put into words.

We are proud that something so simple has created such a connection.

What began as a joke over a barbecue and beers has become part of our family story, part of our local community and part of many people’s kitchens across the Sunshine Coast. We still feel grateful every single time someone picks up a jar, tries it, shares it, or comes back to tell us how much they loved it.

For us, that will never get old.

Because at the heart of it all, this is still the same story it was in the beginning: two best mates, simple traditional food, a love of barbecue, and a belief that the best things in life are often the ones shared around a table.

And to think, it all started with the hope of selling ten jars.