Our story
One mum, two girls, and a habit of making the thing I couldn't find.
Saffiome is made by Regan Merka, the mum who designed Burleigh Wagon for her autistic daughter, took it to Shark Tank, and was named the Gold Coast Bulletin's Women of the Year for 2024 in the entrepreneur category. This is her story, in her words.
-
The start
Burleigh Wagon, made for my daughter
FounderMy eldest is autistic. She hated the pram, outings were a battle, and there wasn't a wagon anywhere in Australia. So I designed one, found an Australian engineer, patented it, and launched Burleigh Wagon in September 2019. It became NDIS-fundable, and so many of the families who bought it were neurodivergent families like ours.

-
Shark Tank Australia
I pitched, and left with a deal
Shark Tank AustraliaI took Burleigh Wagon onto Shark Tank Australia in 2023 and left with a deal with Davie Fogarty. The lesson that stuck was that a plain explanation of what you make beats a clever one.

-
Exporting
Premier of Queensland Export Awards
AwardBurleigh Wagon won the e-Commerce category at the Premier of Queensland Export Awards in 2022 and was a finalist for Emerging Exporter in 2024, which mostly means a lot of pallets, a lot of paperwork, and years of listening to families about what actually helps. The wagons now roll in Australia, the United States, Canada and South Africa.

-
Regan
Gold Coast Bulletin Women of the Year 2024
AwardIn 2024 I was named Women of the Year in the entrepreneur category at the Gold Coast Bulletin awards, and in 2024 the Gold Coast Women in Business Awards named me Rising Star in small business for Burleigh Wagon. I mention it because the same habit runs through Saffiome: make the thing properly, then say plainly what it is.

-
2024
Gold Coast Women in Business Awards: Rising Star
AwardIn October 2024 the Gold Coast Women in Business Awards named me Rising Star in small business for Burleigh Wagon. I keep the certificate on the wall, mostly because the girls like to point at it.

-
Now
Saffiome
Then I turned to the thing we talk about most at home: what my kids eat, morning and night. I'd tried everything. Saffiome is what I wanted and couldn't find: real food, studied ingredients, no preservatives, no additives, no junk. Made for my own kids first, on the Gold Coast, with a label you can read aloud.

Why I made it
Our house is loud, fast and full of feeling. My husband and both our girls are neurodivergent. I'm the one who isn't, and honestly, most days that makes me the translator, the planner and the one holding the map.
I've lived the mornings where nothing happens in the right order. The 3pm crash that comes through the door with the school bag. The bedtime spiral, when a tired kid has nothing left and neither do you. I don't know them from a book. They're my week.
The first thing I ever made was for my eldest, who is autistic. She hated the pram, outings were a battle, and I couldn't find a wagon anywhere in Australia. So I designed one. That became Burleigh Wagon. It went on Shark Tank, it won export awards, and it became NDIS-fundable, which meant a lot of the families who bought it were families like ours. I spent years talking to neurodivergent families about what actually helps at home. That was my education, and it never really stopped.
Then I turned to the thing we talk about most in this house: what my kids eat, morning and night. I had tried everything. The gummies that were mostly sugar. The powders they wouldn't touch. The pills they couldn't swallow. The labels I had to google. What I wanted was a natural path: real ingredients that had actually been studied, in the amounts the studies used, with no preservatives, no additives and no junk, in a form my kids would take every single day without a fight.
I couldn't find it. So I made it.
Saffiome is two little sachets of honey. One starts the day, one ends it. Inside is Australian honey with certified Manuka, a saffron extract that has been through clinical trials, fermented saffron, and a probiotic. The evening sachet adds tart cherry, chamomile and lemon balm. That's the whole list, and it tastes the same every day, because for a lot of kids, same is safe.
What I left out matters just as much. No dyes. No artificial flavours. No preservatives. No pills, no chewing, no mixing.
Saffiome isn't a treatment for anything and it doesn't replace anything your family already does. OT, psych, school supports, medication if you use it: all of that stays. It fits right in with what you already do.
I make it here on the Gold Coast, where we live. If your kid feels everything, I made this for you. From one mum who lives it too.
Regan

Regan Merka
Founder. The mum behind Saffiome and Burleigh Wagon.
Regan designed Burleigh Wagon for her autistic daughter, took it from a Gold Coast idea to Shark Tank Australia, export awards and NDIS funding, and spent years listening to neurodivergent families about what helps at home. Gold Coast Bulletin Women of the Year 2024, entrepreneur category, and Rising Star (Small Business) winner at the Gold Coast Women in Business Awards 2024. Saffiome is the routine she wanted for her own two girls.
Start with the bundle. One to start the day, one to end it, from my kids to yours.
Find your bundle





