This Commerce Life

People are always thirsty. Wolseley Kombucha is on track for it's best year ever. Michelle Leclerc talks about their success and what's next. In case you think this is an ordinary podcast hint, it's not - they've saved over 150,000 1L bottles from landfills.  Check out Wolseley Kombucha here: https://www.wolseleykombucha.com/Find Michelle Leclerc here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelle-leclair-a39382236/

Tatsuo Kan is the owner of Kojo, and founder of Kizuna. He came to Canada because he felt like it was the right thing to do. 4 kids, a bunch of restaurants later, he hasn't stopped moving - he now has two restaurants and a sake line and a sauce line.  check out Kizuna here: https://www.kizunasauces.com/Find Kojo here: https://sushikojo.com/

He retired, started a business, retired again. Ran a triathalon, got his bike stolen, bought a bar and the rest is history. Blair Wilson is the Founder of Forbidden Spirits.  We wouldn't have met him if Peter Boyd didn't drag us to the Kelowna Farmer's Market.  Find Blair here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/blairwilsonforbiddenspirits/shop Forbidden spirits here: https://forbiddenspirits.ca/

We take a tour of Pealow's Your Independent Grocer with Brian Pealow. We're blown away by his focus on local, and helping the community out. Surprise surprise, he knows Peter Boyd.  Pealow YIG is here: https://www.yourindependentgrocer.ca/store-locator/details/1734Find Brian here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-pealow-b-b-a-h-130a844a/ 

Rochelle teaches us about kombucha. Phil meets Oprah. MotherLove Ferments is a Kelowna-based business that is dedicated to creating healthy and tasty ferments. We had a great talk with Founder Rochelle to learn more about their story. Shop MotherLove here: https://www.motherloveferments.com/Find Rochelle here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rochelle-minagawa-7617491a5/

Stephanie Horman has a plan to give back. It's called Cabin 5 granola, and it's awesome.  This was recorded during our last trip out to Kelowna at the end of August, and we're sorry it took so long to get this out.  check them out here: https://cabin5granola.ca/Find Stephanie here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephanie-horman-a9046759/

Cam Bruce, owner of Famous Foods in Vancouver talks about coming to retail late in life, and what it takes to be successful  as an independent grocer.  Shop Famous Foods here: https://www.famousfoods.ca/  

From 1 to 150. Ben Osmow talks about the Osmow family hustle, building a business from scratch and introducing Ontarians to shwarma. If you're from Ontario, "chicken on the rocks" is like a whopper or a big mac. You have the Osmows to thank for that. check out Osmow's here: https://osmows.com/find Ben Osmow here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benosmow/  

We talk to Kurstin Leith and Christine about helping brands, how to know when you're ready for expert help like Agency Brand Management.  Find Kurstin Leith here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kurstin-leith-68832131/Find Christine De Biasio here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christine-de-biasio-1444a914/ Check out Agency here: https://agencybrands.ca/

We hung out  with Marie Morden and Haddas Lederman to talk about Ontario Made.  A pandemic initiative that has been growing like crazy and creates a lot of exposure for SMBs.  This podcast is produced in Ontario, but without amazing Canadian made brands, we wouldn't be here ❤ Find Marie here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marie-morden-61529814/Find Haddas here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/haddas-lederman-201575120/Check out Ontario made here: https://supportontariomade.ca/ 

There's always time to talk about coffee. Founder of  Smoking Gun Coffee Brandon Liton talks about moving from social work to roasting coffee. Connect with Brandon here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brandon-litun-739b242b0/Find the cafe and Smoking Gun products here: https://smokingguncoffee.com/

We get a chance to talk to the guy who might make the best butter we've ever tasted. Bill van Nes talks about his transition to organic farming and the establishment of his creamery, St Brigid's butter. Wondering about the dairy industry? Heard about the milk quota but don't know what it is? Bill talks about this. We learn a ton about the dairy industry.  shop St Brigid's Butter: https://www.stbrigidscreamery.ca/Find Bill Van Nes here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bill-van-nes-a7902b24/   

We get a whole episode this time with Tareq Hadhad, Founder of Peace by Chocolate.  check out Peace by chocolate here: https://peacebychocolate.ca/ You can find Tareq here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tareqhadhad/  

"All tomato school stories stay in tomato school." Dwayne Boudreau  talks about challenges for brands growing up in Atlantic Canada. We talk about his experience from HJ Heinz, Cavendish Farms, Nestlé Foods, and Greco Pizza and celebrate some of the amazing brands that have come out of Atlantic Canada.  Find Dwayne here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dwayne-boudreauIf you're not signed up for the FBA awards ceremony - it's not too late! sign up here:https://atlanticfood.ca/fba-conference-awards-2024/ 

In 1999, it all started as a labour of love with Nova Scotian entrepreneurs Gerry McConnell and the late Dara Gordon.  Head Winemaker Jean-Benoit Deslauriers talks about the process of setting up a "new" winery, and how long it takes for great wine to take hold.  Thank you to Food and Beverage Atlantic for connecting us with Benjamin Bridge. To find out more about FBA:https://atlanticfood.ca/ To shop for Benjamin Bridge: https://benjaminbridge.com/We'll be at FBA's award ceremony : https://atlanticfood.ca/fba-conference-awards-2024/

We're walking the show in today's episode. If you ever wanted to know what retail folks talk about during show walks, this is the episode for you. Come along with us, we're going to walk some aisles with some of our friends. Thank you to Izzy  (Izabella Shaker), Christine De Biasio and Coby Palidwar for walking us through some of their really cool brands.  Find: Izabella here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/izabella-shaker-96504422/Izzy took us to:https://www.allergysmart.com/https://www.umyum.ca/https://www.egglifefoods.com/Christine here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christine-de-biasio-1444a914/Christine took us to:https://chiwis.co/https://earthsown.com Coby Palidwar here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/coby-palidwar-1246608a/Coby took us to: https://www.leftcoastnaturals.com/https://carbsbakery.com/https://www.madewithlocal.com

Paloma & Andrew created a place where culture, quality and respect come together as Paz Bakery. As the maker of the ball-shaped Cheese Dots, Lara and her husband Andrew Hoto have spent a good amount of time distinguishing between their Brazilian-inspired snack and that sedate, spherical milk product taking up space on charcuterie boards or the deep-fried bad decision also bearing the cheese ball name. Check out Paz Bakery here: https://www.pazbakery.ca/ Thank you to Haddas at Ontario made for introducing us. To find out more head to: https://supportontariomade.ca/  

Like many pet food companies, Rob & Geraldine Brouwer didn't start out thinking they would create a dog food company. They started by simply trying to feed their dog the best food possible.  Big Country Raw started d2c and never looked back. Check out Big Country Raw here: https://bigcountryraw.ca/ Check out Ontario made here: https://supportontariomade.ca/

Michael Clark is the Winemaker, General Manager and co-owner of Clos du Soleil. We stop to sample some beautiful wines, talk about the winery, how Michael approaches wine making, and what consumers should know about the wine business in the Okanagan and Similkameen Valley Check out Clos du Soleil here: https://www.closdusoleil.ca/

We're on a roadtrip. We get some real feedback on wine in the Okanagan valley, and the BC Fruit Grower's situation. If you're curious what we're doing, head to our instagram to check out where we are and what we're doing.Thank you for Paul Martin from Peter's YIG, Avi and Binne from Farming Karma and of course, to Peter Boyd, Peter's YIG for setting all this up.