Food & Drink

Creating Sustainable Meal Kits Using Reusable Cooler Bags

With a lifelong interest in building things and solving problems, Dhruv Sood tried a lot of different work after completing his studies in Finance and Logistics at the University of British Columbia. He worked a variety of jobs, from part-time security guard to equity research associate, but has now found his home as Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Fresh Prep, a meal kit and prepared food delivery service.

Starting off as a small retail location in Vancouver, Fresh Prep now delivers straight to homes across BC and Alberta. Fresh Prep sources local ingredients wherever possible to help busy people create world-class dinners in under 30 minutes.

Since its inception in 2015, Fresh Prep’s goal has been to become the most sustainable meal kit in Canada. To accomplish this, all Fresh Prep orders come to your door in reusable cooler bags. Meals are packed in compostable paper bags or in reusable Zero Waste Kits (an industry first), and kept cool with reusable and recyclable ice packs. Anysoft plastics are returned by customers in the reusable cooler bags for responsible recycling through a partnership with Urban Impact Recycling. Fresh Prep is also the only meal kit company in Canada to be a Certified B Corporation, prioritizing people and planet over profits.

Dhruv is a recipient of BC Business’ 2018 30 Under 30 awards. When Dhruv isn’t working on Fresh Prep, he enjoys playing tennis and making up diets for himself that don’t make it past day one.


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Farm-to-table and the growing passion for gathering around the table

Chanelle Belliveau’s Farm-to-Table NB was a beautiful project built out of her work experience and a growing passion for gathering around the table.

With a background in holistic nutrition and culinary nutrition, Chanelle was deeply passionate about making the connection between where our food comes from, and how it got to our plate. This lead her to work on an organic farm, to make that connection, learn, and finalize the cycle of farm-to-table.

Chanelle has been teaching cooking classes locally in Moncton and Cap-Pele, NB, since 2016.

Cooking classes themes and recipes varies from month to month, all with the purpose of highlighting local ingredients, farmers and producers.

Her team’s farm-to-table outdoor dining experiences only started last year, but with a bang! They hosted our first dinner in beautiful Cocagne, NB, with a small intimate group of 25 people. The goal with the outdoor dining experiences is really to show guests directly where their food comes from, and then experience the ultimate farm-to-table meal, enjoying the ingredients collected from the farm during dinner.

Farm-to-Table NB is focused on serving New-Brunswickers – currently in the Greater Moncton area and surroundings – but looking to expand to various locations all across New Brunswick in the new year!


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Adapt your business for each province‘s culture

Ritou Maloni is the Co-Founder, President and COO of Pür & Simple, a proudly Canadian-owned breakfast and lunch franchise. Originally founded in Quebec in 2016, Pür & Simple has become one of Canada’s fastest growing breakfast chains with more than 20 locations from the Maritimes to British Columbia. Ritou is driven by a passion for hospitality that has allowed her and her team to successfully reinvent breakfast, bringing affordable luxury to diners from coast to coast.

Growing up in a very entrepreneurial family herself, Ritou has always been eager to run her own business. A dynamic leader, Ritou’s charismatic nature and genuine interest in the success of everyone around her have allowed her to excel in business development and in providing an intuitive support system for her franchise partners.

Ritou has maintained hands-on involvement in opening every Pür & Simple location over the years. She has trained both franchise partners and front/back of house staff firsthand, while finding balance as a parent to also be hands-on in her family life. For Ritou, finding balance and setting an example as a strong female entrepreneur has been about understanding the ebbs and flows of both her personal and professional life. Equally important to her success has been having a support system in place that has allowed her to prioritize each aspect based on where her focus was most needed at any given point in time. Ritou credits her business partner, her family and the Pür & Simple team with the success of the business and encourages her franchise partners to find their own definition of success.

Ritou holds a BAC in marketing from Concordia University and has more than a decade of entrepreneurial experience from a variety of business ventures. She currently resides in Montreal, QC.


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Growing Ancient Grains for Healthy Eating

John Schneider is owner of Gold Forest Grains, a family-owned and operated farm located north of Edmonton in Sturgeon County. The Schneider family descendants have farmed in Sturgeon County since 1884. The company says it is proud to offer the highest quality flour as they put lots of love and careful attention into growing these grains. They hope people enjoy their flour as much as they enjoy bringing it to consumers.


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Comment démarrer une entreprise en alimentation

Alexane Thiffeault est co-fondatrice de Les Snorôs; une entreprise qui offre des gaufres congelées à base de légumes aux parents voulant favoriser les saines habitudes alimentaires de leurs enfants. Diplômée du baccalauréat en science et technologie des aliments, Alexane est reconnue pour son sens de l’organisation et son dynamisme contagieux.


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From a stay-at-home mom with a sweet tooth and big ambitions to a well known confectionary brand!

Kathy Leskow, Founder of Confetti Sweets, was a stay-at-home mom with a sweet tooth and big ambitions. She started off baking cookies in her home kitchen and selling them at local farmer’s markets. In 2014, Kathy secured a storefront for Confetti Sweets in Sherwood Park and now employs a team of 25. Kathy has expanded her reach in Alberta and now sells her cookie mix at grocery stores throughout the province. During the pandemic, she branched out and founded Confetti Collective where they sell curated local food from small producers. Kathy has a commerce degree from the University of Lethbridge with a major in marketing and has experience in the event planning and hospitality industries. She is no longer found scooping cookie dough and baking, but working on growing the business and seizing all opportunities that come her way.


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Stand Up For Your Ideals… and Push Back if Necessary

Alex Simonelli is a 25-year-old Toronto-based entrepreneur who founded Daydream, a hemp & adaptogen-infused sparkling water. With a background in sales & entrepreneurship since the age of 17, Alex has always been a free thinker, and most importantly someone who lives by his own ideals. His previous intrapreneurial experiences have taken him through different organizations where he led teams, drove revenue, and witnessed other founders exit their startups as different markets immerged for growth.

Daydream is an accumulation of his own personal growth, and his first step into full business ownership. Alex saw a gap in the market for “better for you” hemp & adaptogenic beverages in Canada and has not looked back since. Daydream’s branding is just as calming as the ingredients inside. Alex refers to this as his art to the world.

Outside of the office, you can find Alex playing his piano, or traversing across Toronto for the city’s best takeout restaurants!


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When it comes to capital to grow your cannabis-infused topicals business? “Just ask for it!”

Ashley Short and Tijen Yalchin are the founders of Earth Kisses Sky. Earth Kisses Sky aims to provide you with high-quality all-natural cannabis topicals—developing next-generation products to support your wellness journey. Tijen has had a long career in holistic health practices, is a Registered Massage Therapist and an Acupuncturist who additionally is certified in a number of other approaches to wellness such as Reflexology and Reiki. Ashley is a Certified Holistic Nutritionist & Clinical Herbalist. EKS services the growing cannabis wellness & lifestyle community through competitively priced and enviro-conscious cannabis-infused topicals.


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Tyler Crowdis brews cider for people with Celiac Disease

Tyler Crowdis and his wife started Bramble Cider to create ciders that were not available in Canada, due to his diagnosis with Celiac Disease. From the kitchen of their tiny century home, his crafts were gaining many fans through friends and family. Wanting to bring their innovative ciders to the masses, Alicia and Tyler are embarking on a journey to bring craft cider to Calgary and beyond. Inspiration comes from the growing West Coast cider scene to the funky ciders of Northern France and sours of Spain. You can find Bramble at SunnyCider taproom and all the cool places to get beers and spirits in town!


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The resurgence of ‘foraging’ and why its good for local food security, business and your soul

There’s been a resurgence of the commitment to “local food security” and with it a growing number of businesses foraging for food. The practice of hand gathering plants and animals for bait, money or the table has long taken place, but more recently top chefs have been popularising the idea, urban foragers have told of the lengths they go to find wild food in big cities, while rural foragers have access to an abundance of wild food…if you know what to look for.

But why, in an age where most things we want or need are only a few clicks away, do many seek the thrill of finding their own food? Why do local commercial gatherers choose to pursue these ancient livelihoods when there are less arduous alternative careers?

In today’s Podcast, Angela Faye speaks with Celia & Benjamin – a couple-preneur that has followed their hearts from France to Australia to Canada to follow their calling to provide greater education and access to Wild Food!

Collectively, Celia and Benjamin have formal educations in sustainable business development & administration, biology and agroforestry, plus lived experience as contract fruit pickers. Caring deeply for people and social justice, they advocated for fruit pickers’ rights, leading to the creation of a platform known as “Pick the World”. And, they knew their next venture would involve caring for the environment while integrating a sustainable business model. A true equilibrium between their passion for the wilderness and an opportunity to focus on an emerging market in the ‘food business’ led them to the creation of Forest For Dinner (http://www.forestfordinner.ca), providing foraging experiences, education and product harvesting and value-added boutique manufacturing, thanks in part to being part of a local Food Hub.


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