Meet The Makers

Get inspired by this month’s interview with Vresh Naga from OG Ghee. He and his best friend Thomas turned a career setback into the starting point for their successful business—a line of caramelized ghee made from Canadian butter. They channeled their positive energy and passion into products that pay homage to Vresh’s South Asian heritage and Thomas’s food-based family traditions. With a lot of hard work and a good dose of fun, OG Ghee started to gain a foodie following and is now a breakout hit. Let’s hear how it all began.

Meet Eric and Michelle, the power pair behind Untamed Feast, the line of wild mushroom products that bring the earthy flavours of the forest to your table. From wild-harvested dried mushrooms to rich risotto mixes, hearty soups and more, their creations are a true celebration of nature. With a shared history of foraging with their families, it feels like destiny brought these two together to share their love of mushrooms with the world. Read on to discover more about their journey and passion for fabulous fungi! 🍄

We’re thrilled to introduce you to the inspiring founders of Benny, the Vancouver-based beverage brand making waves in the wellness industry. Paige Cey and Julie Letizia, university friends turned business partners, have created a functional beverage line rooted in their personal journey towards better health. Benny offers jitter-free yerba mate energy drinks infused with brain-boosting adaptogens, crafted with the help of a naturopath. These low-sugar, all-natural energy drinks come in three delicious flavors: lychee peach, elderberry yuzu, and raspberry hibiscus. Dive into their world and discover the magic behind Benny!

This month’s Meet the Maker interview features Vancouver’s Game Changer Foods, creators of deliciously nutritious chickpea bite snacks. A fantastic family recipe full of healthy, high-quality ingredients, along with Arun and PD’s passion for business—have created a recipe for success. This journey wouldn’t have started without a pandemic setback that pushed them to take a leap of faith. Read on to discover more about this inspiring local family business!

This month we’re introducing you to Asha Wheeldon, the maker behind Vancouver company Kula Foods, who brings us a line of plant-based foods combining vibrant flavours from her cultural heritage with locally-sourced ingredients. Through Kula, Asha is on a mission not only to deliver delicious, Afro-Vegan inspired nourishment, but also to unite people through food—fostering connections, and promoting wellness through events, partnerships, and education.

Awareness of the growing problem of food waste has been on the rise lately, so we’re excited to bring you the story behind another business that’s helping to solve this issue. The Pretty Ugly company saves tomatoes that are still good enough to eat— but not perfect enough for store shelves—and transforms them into some darn tasty salsas. The perfect pairing? Their line of tortilla chips, made with spent grain from breweries. Co-founder Lysanne Bourret shares how this Montreal-based company went from an idea to a successful coast-to-coast business.

Carrying on the family business of traditional bread making started by their father, Olivier, is the brother and sister team of Solal and Thais Audibert who run Olivier’s Breads (Olivier’s La Boulangerie) in Coquitlam. These delicious breads have come to be a favourite at Pomme, enjoyed for not only their taste, but the fact that all their products are made with as few ingredients as possible and nothing artificial. Olivier’s daughter Thais tells us how it all started with her father back in France.

We’re delighted to bring you our interview with Gina Arsens, founder and CEO of Vancouver company Yumasoy, maker of OmNoms—those amazingly flavourful, wholesome and scrumptious plant-based meat alternatives. OmNoms was created to help make it easy and convenient to eat a plant-based diet, without giving up taste or compromising your standards for healthy ingredients. With flavours like Mediterranean, Teriyaki, Thai Yellow Curry, and Original (so you can get creative with your own seasonings), your taste buds will be very satisfied. Read on to hear how it all began.

Supporting local, sustainable farms is a principle we share with this month’s featured Meet the Maker, Desiree Lyver, founder of Hornby Island Tea. She wanted to start a business that would support practices that were good for both our planet and our bodies, and crafting herbal tea blends with local herbs fit this model perfectly. Hornby Island teas are blended in Fanny Bay on Vancouver Island with locally-grown herbs from Hornby Island, along with tea carefully selected from sustainably sourced family-run farms in India and South Africa for unique flavour profiles with health benefits.

This month’s Meet the Makers interview is with Rouvé Hembling, the founder of Your Green Kitchen, the eco-friendly company from Nakusp, BC, that helps you transition to using less plastic in your kitchen and home with reusable, organic cotton fabric bowl covers, tea towels, produce bags, tote bags and more—all while enjoying the beauty of nature-themed local artwork. 

This month, we’re delving into the world of coffee substitutes with the herbal coffee alternative, Raven Roast. This Slocan Valley based business was founded by Brendan Murray-Nellis, an acupuncturist and former coffee enthusiast. We checked in with Brendan's wife, Rachelle, who joined the venture in 2017 and shares her husband's deep passion for the soothing blends that comprise Raven Roast's line of mindfully sourced, organic products. These blends aren't just delicious; they also offer a harmonious experience, leaving you relaxed, energized, and in balance, all without the downsides of caffeine.

What do you get when you blend together the ethos of an ethical, earth-friendly,  heart-centred business with all-natural, high-quality ingredients and a generous dose of creativity, fun, and rebel spirit? You get the revolutionary success story of Routine! Founded by sisters-in-law Neige and Pippa back in 2012 in Calgary, Routine has grown over the years thanks to their wildly popular, beautiful and effective products, a loyal fanbase, and an ever-evolving range of naturally scented deodorants, body, and hair care products.

It’s a pleasure to introduce you to Kimberly and Jasmine, the mother-daughter team behind Big Mountain Foods! This Vancouver company was one of the pioneers in the plant-based protein movement, bringing veggie patties to the market in the 1980s. Continuing to innovate and expand, their recent development of revolutionary soy-free tofu products is ensuring that their mission of “creating food for everyone at the dinner table” is being met. Learn more about this fantastic family business in our mini interview.

Meet Arnaud and Max, founders of Vancouver-based Wize Tea, the revolutionary coffee leaf-based drinks that not only taste great and are good for you, they help support the livelihoods of coffee growers in Nicaragua while helping to reduce food waste. It’s an ingenious product and a win-win for consumers, growers, and the environment. Let’s get to know one of the co-founders, Arnaud, in this month’s mini interview.

Hornby Organic Energy Bars and new O-Snack Bars are tremendously popular as healthy, grab-and-go, gluten-free snacks. What you might not know is that this local family business was inspired by another great product we love: Hornby Island Energy Balls. It’s a wonderful story of a cross-generational family working together, entrepreneurial innovation, and the power of simple, wholesome ingredients, made with love.

Meet the powerhouse pair behind Ginger Dog! This Vancouver company only started in 2022 and has blitzed onto the scene, gaining a loyal following with their phenomenal ginger boosters. As you’ll find out in the interview, getting the formulation just right wasn’t easy, but they nailed it with all-natural ingredients that pack a punch and have just a touch of sweetness. Whether you want to start your day with a bang, add some intense ginger flavour to your cooking, or make up a special cold or hot drink, these shots are super convenient and provide many health benefits to boot!

We have the pleasure of sharing the story of Vancouver-based company Blume for May’s Meet the Maker Mini Interview. Founder and CEO Karen Danudjaja is who we can thank for creating a beautiful collection of functional superfood lattes made from healthy ingredients, chosen for targeted wellness as well as flavour. Blume is the perfect solution for anyone wanting a coffee shop style hot drink ritual, without the jitters or syrups. Get to know more about Karen and Blume in our interview.

We love a good “problem meets solution” business start up story, especially when it solves an important issue like food waste. Vancouver company Susgrainable is the perfect example of this with their brilliant concept of rescuing spent grains from breweries and repurposing the grain into high-protein, nutrient dense baking mixes.

Our mini interview with Allison Landon, founder of Cowichan Valley based company Truffula, is an inspiring story of how challenging circumstances can not only be overcome, but can result in an incredible business and product line that otherwise may never have been realized. Truffula’s “foodie-worthy” cultured cashew cheeses are dairy-free, plant-based, certified organic and full of flavour without compromise.

We have a wonderful story to share with you this month that shows you how sometimes the most challenging problems can result in beautiful solutions. When Alia Sunderij was teaching a Sustainable Innovation class at Simon Fraser University, one of her students brought the issue of food waste to her attention. She learned that tons of BC produce was being discarded before it had a chance to reach consumers simply for cosmetic reasons. She decided to do something about it and created Luv the Grub, which rescues “ugly” produce before it would otherwise be tossed out, and transforms it into delicious gourmet chutneys and spreads. Read on for the other ways Luv the Grub is supporting their community!