Meet the Makers Mini Interview: Suro
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Mini Interview: SURO
Meet Jacinthe and Sylvain, the founders of SURO, who turned their shared dream of country living into Canada’s first company to craft elderberry syrup! With Jacinthe’s expertise in natural medicine and Sylvain’s passion for farming, they discovered wild elderberries growing on their property and saw an opportunity to create health-boosting remedies.
Share your story with us in 150 words or less
We have been a couple since 1992 and in 2002 we bought a property hoping to start an agricultural project from scratch. It had been a shared dream of ours to live in the country and work with the land.
As Sylvain was studying the various possibilities on the land, I used my knowledge from my background in natural medicine as a chiropractor, osteopath and naturopath to start making herbal remedies for my family from wild medicinal herbs growing on our property, including wild elderberry. The elderberry extract and syrup quickly became a staple in the family.
Sylvain saw that there was an opportunity to start a new crop and use my formulas, since elderberries grew well on our property and there were no products in the Health Food store that offered Canadian-made and grown elderberry syrup. SURO was the first Canadian elderberry syrup!
The journey from conceiving an idea to establishing a small business is a lot of work! When did it first sink in for you that ‘this is really happening’?
Our products were originally just sold locally and when a Canadian distributor approached us to sell our line across Canada it was one of those moments when we thought this is really happening.
What motivates you on a day-to-day basis?
Knowing that we make a difference.
What’s your favourite thing about the town or city you live in?
Living in a small town out in the country. Being able to wake up in the morning and take a walk in the fields and get our own fresh eggs.
Describe your ideal Sunday morning, including your breakfast.
Get up whenever, take care of our animals, then read for a few hours and have a good breakfast including our fresh farm eggs.
What are your personal top three tips for feeling amazing?
1. Watching a fire.
2. Seeing wildlife in their natural habitat.
3. Getting a nice e-mail from a customer, like a recent one saying their 3-year-old child is feeling better using our syrup.
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