This Commerce Life

What do you do when your product is so unique that no five-second pitch can explain it?

This week, Phil and Kenny sit down with Brad and Sheila, founders of Natural Farmworks — a regenerative farm in BC's Boundary Country that grows barley greens and processes them using traditional Chinese tea methods to create green, oolong, and black teas that deliver a serving of greens in every cup. No bitterness, no flavourings, no "barley shivers."

Brad's journey starts with a Crohn's disease diagnosis in the 1980s, runs through buying a decommissioned Saputo spray-drying plant ("How do we even turn it on?"), and lands on two years of WhatsApp messages with a tea master in China to learn an entirely new craft. Sheila shares how they hand-cut greens in their kitchen, trained with a certified herbalist, and turned lab results from BCIT's nutraceutical program into a genuinely new product category.

 

Whether you're a food and beverage founder, a CPG brand builder, or just love a great Canadian entrepreneur story, this one's packed with honest, practical retail advice.

Check out Natural Farmworks here: https://www.naturalfarmworks.com/

If you think you fit in the Export Navigator program - check it out here: https://exportnavigator.ca/

Ashley Sauve was 12 years old when she started selling mini straw bales to Canadian Tire stores from her family's cash crop farm. Today, she owns Sauve's Country Market in South Woodslee, Ontario — a destination farm market in Windsor-Essex County that customers happily drive 45 minutes to visit, even though there's no gas station, grocery store, or Tim Hortons anywhere nearby.

In this episode, Ashley shares how a $20 fall porch package posted on Facebook — no paid ads — sparked a business that outgrew a 400 sq ft shed built by her dad and uncles, and led to a brand-new 2,400 sq ft store with a walk-in cooler, commercial kitchen, donuts, and ice cream.

 

Check them out here: https://sauvescountrymarket.my.canva.site/

Thank you to Haddas Lederman and Rebecca Schuetz at Ontario Made for the introduction to Ashley

Check out Ontario Made here: https://supportontariomade.ca/

Thank you to Maritime Good Food for sponsoring today's podcast. If you're interested in getting connected with Dwayne: https://maritimegoodfood.ca/

Special thursday episode: Julie Therrien of Biscuits Leclerc is back — and this time we're picking her brain on one of the biggest opportunities for Canadian food and beverage brands right now: exporting to Mexico.

Julie's export career started in Mexico in the mid-90s, and she's spent nearly 30 years navigating the market — from co-packing for Bimbo to building branded distribution across Mexican retail. Fresh off our own trip to Guadalajara and Mexico City for Expo ANTAD, we asked her the questions every Canadian brand should be asking before shipping a single pallet south.

 

If you haven't heard her first episode - it's here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5NXPW7QMY06QeWTPeHDUnY?si=1OdnoEk1SmaUA-CkNy8gHg

check out Leclerc here: https://leclercfoods.com/en/

What happens when a food scientist and a hairstylist-turned-entrepreneur team up to reinvent cottage cheese? You get Fromage Protein Pops — a frozen treat that started with a $90 thrifted cart, 170+ recipe iterations, and a whole lot of sister chemistry.

In this episode, Phil Chang and Kenny Vannucci sit down with co-founders Nuala and Fiona to talk about:

🍦 How a trip to Japan and a "better-for-you" Coke sparked the original idea

🧀 Why cottage cheese (not protein powder) is the secret to their creamy, indulgent texture

👨‍👩‍👧 The surprising discovery that families — not just health enthusiasts — are their real target market

🚚 Self-distributing by reefer van across Metro Vancouver while juggling full-time jobs

🏆 Landing recognition at CHFA and the challenge of finding novelty pop co-manufacturing in Canada

 

check them out at https://fromageprotein.com/

Thank you to Dwayne and Maritime Good Food for sponsoring this episode. https://maritimegoodfood.ca/

Andy Mollica, founder of Anducci's, joins Phil Chang and Kenny Vannucci for an unfiltered look at one of Vancouver's most legendary Italian food stories. Andy shares how he opened his first pasta bar at 19 years old, built Anducci's into a 27-year East Van institution, and accidentally pioneered Costco's Home Meal Replacement (HMR) category by selling lasagnas out of his car trunk to Costco's original Burnaby location.

The conversation also breaks down trends from the BC Grocery & Specialty Food Showcase, including why small and independent food brands deserve better floor placement at trade shows, how Buy BC initiatives are changing the playing field for indie vendors, and what it really takes for a founder to scale a food business in the Canadian grocery industry.

 

https://www.anduccis.com/