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Vendor Spotlight: What’soup

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VENDOR SPOTLIGHT

Keep an eye out for our Vendor Spotlight feature where we bring you short interviews with our amazing vendors!

This Week: What’soup

Find them online here and on Instagram here.

Photo of Bella, owner of What’soup!

How did your business start?

What’Soup started when I was on my maternity leave and had the need to have nutritious and quick meals on hand. Being a chef, I started putting recipes together and thought that frozen “ready to eat” soups would make a great quick, easy and nourishing meals and that’s how the business was born.

 
What is one piece of advice you would give to someone considering starting their own small business?
 
Be Brave and don’t give up! The struggles are real and they can hit you hard sometimes but so is the local community. So, talk to people, share your fears and hear from the ones that are doing it longer than you and learn from them. Investing in your dream is not always easy but once you do and believe in it there is nothing better or more satisfying.

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Thanks, Bella! We appreciate you joining us this season! 

Find What’soup this week at the market, September 22nd, from 3-7pm in Tipperary Park.

Vendor Spotlight: Abundant Acre Family Farm

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VENDOR SPOTLIGHT

Keep an eye out for our Vendor Spotlight feature where we bring you short interviews with our amazing vendors!

This Week: Abundant Acre Family Farm

Find them online here and on Instagram here.

Photo of Cara, farmer and co-owner, in the field

What’s your favourite product and why?

Tomatoes! Our family doesn’t eat tomatoes out-of-season, so when these sweet beauties are around we really savour them. Greek salad, tomato sandwich lunches and just mowing down a couple yellow romas for a snack. A huge priority for us is the flavour of our vegetables, and we feel like we have the varieties of tomatoes that we grow pretty dialed-in, as we are in our 14th season of growing. I, Cara, first found out what a tomato could taste like when I was getting to know Andy (my husband). His Dad grew some tasty big beef tomatoes in his big backyard garden. Over the years we’ve paid close attention to which varieties not only grow well in our climate (soil-grown in our unheated greenhouse) but to those who have a depth of flavour.

 
What is your favourite part about selling at farmers markets?
 
The people! Not only do we need food to survive, we need relationships. I love hearing about what you’re making with our vegetables, how satisfied you are to do your shopping at the market or a little bit about what you’re up to. I am honoured to share a small part of your day and hope our vegetables help bring physical nourishment to you, in the joys and struggles of life.

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Thanks, Cara! We appreciate you joining us this season! 

Find Abundant Acre Family Farm this week at the market, September 15th, from 3-7pm in Tipperary Park.

Vendor Spotlight: Faceplant

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VENDOR SPOTLIGHT

Keep an eye out for our Vendor Spotlight feature where we bring you short interviews with our amazing vendors!

This Week: Faceplant Organic Skin Care

Find them online here and on Instagram here.

Photo of some of Faceplant’s gorgeous products!

Interview done with owner, Marissa.

How did your business start?

Having sensitive skin, my daughter having eczema, and my mom having rosacea, I always had to read ingredients labels. Even when I read the labels and did not list anything I had a known allergy to, I would still react. When I did some research on cosmetic laws, I was appalled to learn that a company can say they are organic when only one ingredient is. The kicker for me was that if an ingredient was below a certain percent, it did not need to be listed. The term “greenwashing” was coined by so many companies claiming to be chemical-free when in fact, they were just not listing them.

Having the word perfume or fragrance can mean a blend of 300 chemicals. This did not sit well with me, and I wanted to come up with a brand that only used organic, vegan ingredients, was transparent (lists everything on the label), and did not use preservatives or any unnatural chemicals.

I went back to school to learn to formulate, aromatherapy and a naturopath program. For years before Faceplant was a business I was creating products for my loved ones. My partner told me my products changed his life as he thought he would struggle with dry skin and dandruff for the rest of his life. He believed so much in the products and me that he helped me create Faceplant Organic.

 
Do you have a funny anecdote you could share?
 
When my daughter was little she would refer to when I was formulating or making products as “potioning”. She also would proudly tell people she was Faceplants “hamster”. Misremembering that the term was being a Guinea Pig!
 
What is your favourite product that you sell and why?
 
The Calendula salve. It has so many purposes. I used it on my lips, cuticles, any cracked skin, bites, burns, scrapes. My daughter puts it on her eczema.

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Thanks, Marissa! We appreciate you joining us this season! 

Find Faceplant this week at the market, September 8th, from 3-7pm in Tipperary Park.

Vendor Spotlight: Luppolo Brewing

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VENDOR SPOTLIGHT

Keep an eye out for our Vendor Spotlight feature where we bring you short interviews with our amazing vendors!

This Week: Luppolo Brewing Company

Find them online here and on Instagram here.

Photo of some of Luppolo’s line up!

 

How did your business start?

It was a case of good timing and great minds thinking alike! Anique and Federico moved back from Italy in 2013 after falling in love with craft beer over there. The craft beer scene had just started taking off in Vancouver after some regulation changes allowing for breweries to open lounges and [the other founders] Ryan and Eleanor were avid craft beer drinkers and home brewers. Both couples dreamed of opening a brewery and after many discussions over beers they decided to start working on a business plan. It took a few years, but we opened our doors in 2016!
 
What is your favourite part about selling at farmers markets?
 
I [Anique] love anything in from our Serie Selvatica (wild series) which uses seasonal local fruit. It’s a real labour of love processing hundreds of pounds of fresh fruit for these beers but it makes so much difference in the final product. It’s also amazing to be able to work with local farmers, some of whom we’ve met at farmers markets! Right now we have our Tart Wild Ale with Naramata Apricots and our Tart Wild Ale with Raspberries!
 
What is one piece of advice you would give to someone considering starting their own small business?
 
Prepare yourself for the work/life balance challenges that come with running a small business and make sure to carve out time for you and your family.

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Thanks, Anique! We appreciate you joining us this season! 

Find Luppolo Brewing this week at the market, September 1st, from 3-7pm in Tipperary Park.

Vendor Spotlight: EMKAO Foods

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VENDOR SPOTLIGHT

Keep an eye out for our Vendor Spotlight feature where we bring you short interviews with our amazing vendors!

This Week: EMKAO Foods

Find them online here and on Instagram here.

From EMKAO’s Website:

“When our founder and CEO, Ayissi, arrived in Canada in 2016, she harnessed her love of chocolate and marketing background to launch EMKAO Foods. EMKAO brings cocoa beans from Kotou Farm to Mission, BC, where they are processed into chocolate ingredients for customers seeking premium quality and directly traceable products.

Today, our teams in Cameroon and BC share a common vision of elevating communities – and chocolate – through traceable and sustainable products.”

Photo of EMKAO’s cocoa display!

Interview completed with Ayissi, EMKAO’s owner and CEO!

How did your business start?

Our business started from a conversation I had with parents in Cameroon telling me about the challenges they are facing with the family plantation that year. They reminded me about the work of my grand-parents and what they have tried to accomplish. I felt compelled and wanted to support the best way I could.
 
What is your favourite part about selling at farmers markets?
Sharing my passion with my community, seeing the support from my community . And, being able to be part of the change.
 
What is one piece of advice you would give to someone considering starting their own small business?
Always focus on your vision. No matter how hard it will get.

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Thanks, Ayissi! We appreciate you joining us this season! 

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