How love sparked Kadio’s rise at Queen Victoria Market

After arriving in Melbourne from Port Macquarie, Tash Macleod “fell in love with the diversity, the bustle of the city”, and decided to stay.

She had come to study baking and patisserie but had a job as a waiter in the market’s food court.

“I’d walk through in the early morning, through the fruit and veg section as they were setting up, and then back in the afternoon when everyone was packing down,” the 27-year-old told CBD News.

One of the things she noticed there was Omer Kadioglu, who is now her partner and the inspiration for their business name, Kadio.

“He was working in the fruits and vegetables, and so we naturally passed each other every day,” she said.

“And then, you know, it grew from there.”

In 2021 it was Omer who talked Tash into turning her COVID hobby of polymer clay jewellery-making into a business, and the pair got themselves a market stall.

He also had computer skills and created a website to take things online.

Around the time of the lockdowns, polymer clay jewellery really took off, Tash said.

People were drawn to “the fun and colour” of the earrings she was making, especially because in that time “extra vibrancy was needed”.

“As life settled back to normal, that fashion adapted and we noticed people were looking for simple everyday jewellery,” Tash said.

She and Omer identified a gap in the market for quality, durable, waterproof pieces that wasn’t too expensive.

She still has a small range of clay polymer earrings and makes items – recently some bridal earrings – on request but the main focus of the business now is waterproof jewellery.

Kadio also offers personalised laser engraving and does a lot of portraits of pets and tributes to grandparents.

“It’s really special for us to be able to put that memory onto something physical for people,” Tash said.

After starting small, with a single table under the sheds, Kadio has grown to having a permanent container in String Bean Alley for the past year-and-a-half.

In that time the workload and hours have increased.

“We’ll often find ourselves when we go out for a nice dinner still talking about business,” Tash said.

“But that being said, we wouldn’t change it at all.”

The couple are now shipping their creations to countries around the world and have featured in promotional campaigns organised by the market.

When she arrived in Melbourne, Tash would not have imagined she would one day see herself on the side of a tram and pasted up on the carpark wall.

Kadio is open Thursday to Sunday and at the QVM night market. •