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!

Jed and Louise from Elderberry Grove Farm describe themselves as elderberry enthusiasts and it’s easy to see how that passion led them to create a thriving business based on these incredibly healthy and delicious berries. Elderberries are deeply nutritious and supportive to the immune system, which is extra helpful this time of year. We’re thrilled to carry Elderberry Farm’s juice, shrub, and syrup at Pomme and think that you’ll be an elderberry enthusiast too after hearing their story!

This mother and daughter duo know that good food is made even better with good spices and were fed up with the fillers found in many store-bought spice blends. So Mariam Anvarali Nichols, and her mother Masooma Anvarali, put together a curry spice blend from a generations-old family recipe, started selling it at their local Farmers Market, and from there, From the Earth Spices was born. Locally roasted and blended in Victoria, their spice blends have quickly become a culinary staple.

Umami Bomb Shiitake Chili Oils have become a staple in many West Coast kitchens over recent years. Having a go-to condiment is kind of like an easy way to turn any food into comfort food—just add a dollop and the flavours of whatever dish you’re eating blend with the flavours of the condiment you know and love to create an awesome balance of variety and familiarity.

It’s so nice to have the opportunity to introduce you to the founders of Yeshi, Paul and Barbara Kleinschmidt, who are not only partners in business, but in life! It’s no secret we absolutely love fresh, organic produce, so great salads are also very near and dear to our hearts.

We’re thrilled to chat with Miki Talebi of oomé smoked tofu for this month’s Meet The Maker Mini Interview. Smoked tofu is a staple in so many homes these days, and we love how thoughtfully crafted, local, and extremely delicious Miki’s take on this favourite is!

Nora's Plant-Based Ice Cream Mini Interview Nora’s Plant-Based Ice Cream is incredibly popular with our customers year-round but the height of summer makes ice cream just a little extra delicious, so we thought this would be the perfect time to introduce you to Kat, Ice Cream Maker and Co-Founder of this fabulous independent BC-business.

Squish Juicery is our close Pomme Port Coquitlam neighbour, and is such a wonderful part of our Pomme Community. Fabulous humans Jessica and Callan launched Squish Juicery in 2018 and it’s been awesome to see them connect with other locals and delight not only the PoCo neighbourhood, but BC and beyond, with their delicious, incredibly healthy, and really inventive juice blends.

Jessica and Heather of Treat Yourself Treats are proof that great minds think alike—and often collaborate to create wonderful things! The two entrepreneurs had a true grass roots start, meeting at their side-by-side farmers market stalls, where they were selling Sweetly Raw Desserts (Heather) and Singing Bowl Granola (Jessica).

One of the many things we admire about our fabulous local vendors is their deep commitment to not just tastiness, but to overall health—and Melinda and Todd of Alkeme definitely exemplify this!

Vancouver-based holistic nutritionist Chara and health focussed entrepreneur Vanessa designed Oat Of The Ordinary to make super healthy, all-natural breakfasts super simple. They’ve ‘levelled up’ instant oatmeal with a set of delicious flavours featuring all-natural, premium ingredients—and all their flavours are packed with protein while staying light on sugar.

Rawmbas has been a close neighbour of Pomme Nanaimo for a long time, and it’s been such a pleasure to see them grow, and to work with them over the years. Originally launched as a family run vegan take out spot, they have honed their small business to focus on their star product: celiac-friendly, plant-based, incredibly healthy, tasty and filling muffins!

Soul Bite Food is very special organization that we are so lucky to have in our Pomme community. You might recognize them from our aisles in the form of incredibly delicious vegan comfort foods based on recipes from Eastern Europe and the Middle East. But the story behind Soul Bite Food is as awesome as their creations. They began as a local Tri-Cities charity dedicated to fighting hunger and combating food waste, by redistributing viable food at risk of going to waste to families experiencing food insecurities. After five years of relying on volunteer hours and paying for various expenses out of pocket, they decided to create a social enterprise that would support their work. Using traditional recipes from their own families and communities, they developed their amazing retail line of appetizers, and the profits from these award winning products help them continue their incredibly important work. We’re really grateful co-founder Igor Bjelac found some time to answer our Meet The Maker interview questions this month.

From the UK to BC! Born in London, Parma Vik has had a really exciting and varied culinary career that has included working for the likes of no less than Jamie Oliver! Soon after relocating to Canada in 2013, he began working on Jann Foods, his own company designed to focus on clean eating. Jaan Foods' first product is an incredibly delicious plant-based butter chicken sauce based on family recipe: Parma's Butterless Chickenless Sauce. It's been super popular with our customers (and staff!) and we're so happy we get to share a little of Parma's story and personality with you. And we can't wait to try whatever fab creations Jaan Foods offers next!

We’re really excited to introduce you to Beth Campbell, of Viva Cacao! Based in the Slocan Valley, Beth’s approach to creating fabulous, ethical chocolate bars, barks, and drinking chocolates is to treat cacao like the superfood that it is—and combine it with more superfoods! She also uses super sustainable coconut sugar, or lucuma, as sweeteners. With keto, plant-based, and dairy free options, there’s something perfect and deeply nourishing for all dietary preferences, and her products come in incredible flavours, like Vegan Chai with Reishi, Raspberry and Camu Camu, and Coffee and Cardamom. As with so many of our awesome local makers, Beth started off in her own kitchen with some ideas, a willingness experiment, and a whole lot of determination. Read on to learn more about how her wonderful small business developed.

Charmaine Ng developed her Love Me Some line of keto, plant-based, non-gmo crackers using her Masters of Food Science from the University of British Columbia when her growing family drove home how important it is to balance convenience with real nutrition. Her made-in-Vancouver products are based on using the benefits of super seeds to help support our immune systems and natural cycles. These crackers are a delicious snack food with a fantastic nutritional profile designed to fuel humans of all ages—in as much time as it takes to dip your hand into a box! That said, they're also amazing with all kinds of toppings and spreads, and make a beautiful addition to snack and appetizer boards. We’re really grateful to Charmaine for sharing some insight into how her small business developed!