This Commerce Life

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.  

David Giffin shares his journey in establishing a hemp business.  We talk about the challenges of  hemp - the launch of the Earthli brand, addressing marketing challenges and consumer misconceptions about hemp. Find David here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-giffin-899947163/Find Earthli foods here: https://earthli.ca/

Andrew Elliott, former President of Foley's Chocolates comes on to talk about growing companies and the importance of leadership.  This was our first live podcast, filmed and recorded at JJ Bean's in East Vancouver.  You can find Andrew here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-elliott-936bba26/

A coast to coast podcast. Patrick Griffin, the Founder of the Oat Company joins us from Newfoundland. We talk about Patrick's move from public policy to oat maker, the logistics of manufacturing product from the east coast and trying to make it across the country.  Check out the Oat Company here: https://www.oatcompany.com/Find Patrick here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrick-griffin-94397556/  

We catch up with Michael Mazur, President at Freshfield Naturals, Inc. Freshfield won the 2024 CHFA Launchpad award in Vancouver To check out Freshfield, head to https://freshfield.life/To reach Michael: https://www.linkedin.com/in/micmazur/