Flip Grater: from singer-songwriter to food entrepreneur

Frank Film: Stories from the South

Flip Grater’s musical talent once made her a household name in New Zealand. Now she’s taking the business world by storm.

The singer-songwriter has released five critically acclaimed albums and toured her music internationally. But music is not her only hobby: since her teenage years, she has been a passionate environmental activist and vegan foodie.

Now Flip has returned to her roots by opening a vegan restaurant and food production company: Grater Goods. She and her husband, Yousef Iskrane, began the business in 2018.

“The business world is a bit of a strange beast,” Flip says, “that I don’t quite feel like I belong to.” And yet, Grater Goods is thriving, with plans to expand and distribute their plant-based products to Australian markets.

She invites Frank Film into Grater Goods’ factory to see how their entirely plant-based food range – including carrot lox, vegan chorizo, and furkey, or soy “turkey” – is made.

“It’s really easy to get overwhelmed by the problems of the world and to feel negative, and to get angry,” she says, “but it’s so much more sustainable and positive to put something good into the world.”

Chef Flip Grater and her husband Youssef Iskrane. Photo / Supplied

Flip admits she had an “angry stage”: she was a fierce activist for animal rights in her teenage years, when she began working with various animal charities and environmental groups.

Flip’s dad John Grater tells us that when Flip (originally named Clare) became vegan at 15, she put together a petition to save the Hector’s dolphin. Friends nicknamed her Flipper, which was shortened to her current moniker.

These days, Flip is all about putting good things into the world, whether that’s plant-based platters or soulful songs. Her music is “on pause,” she says, but it’s not done yet – as is clear when she plays her daughter a delicate lullaby from her recent EP, Lullabies for Anaïs.