Member Update: May Highlights

Hello Zest members and food community,

May was a busy and exciting month for Zest, our members, and the wider BC food and beverage community.

We started the month by attending the From the Ground Up Trade Show, a BC-focused powerhouse event that brings together food businesses, distributors, retailers, buyers, and industry experts. It is a fantastic place to network, learn from roundtable discussions, meet potential partners, and explore real opportunities for growth.

Dave Allard and William Milk win Gold for "Outstanding Product" for CarneBar

I was there representing Zest, as well as my own business, CarneBar, and I was also very happy to see ZoGood Snacks, a staple Zest user, showcasing her products at the event. It was a great opportunity to share what makes Salmon Arm and the Shuswap special on the provincial food and beverage stage.

ZoGood snacks preparing their famous Nuts + Bolts at Zest

We were lucky enough to win Gold for Outstanding Product, and ZoGood received an incredible amount of interest and offers for her products from stores across BC. It was a proud moment and a great reminder of the quality and potential coming out of our local food community.

I would love to talk more with each of you during our one-on-one meetings about the benefits of trade shows like this, including when they are worth attending, how to choose the right ones, and how to prepare so you can get the most value from them.

May also brought more Zest users into the spotlight at the Salmon Arm Farmers Market, including Pommodorrini and Will’s Foods. If you have not had a chance to try either of them yet, I highly recommend making time to visit the market. The green onion mayo from Will’s Foods has become a staple in my house, and the Italian food from Pommodorrini is amazing. You can order at the farmers market or online and have it delivered hot and ready to your door.

Will's Food Inc showcasing their new flavoured mayo

Later in the month, I was back in Vancouver for the Thrive Conference and the first in-person meeting of the BC Food Hub Network in two years.

This gathering brought together non-profit food hubs from across the province. We discussed the recent closure of our friends at The Stir in Kamloops, as well as the risks facing many non-profit food hubs in BC. These conversations were honest, important, and focused on how we can build stronger systems together to ensure food hubs remain available to support producers across the province.

As a network, we are now under the wing of BC Food & Beverage, an organization with more than a decade of experience helping food and beverage entrepreneurs grow their businesses. We feel this is a great fit for food hubs, and we hope it will eventually give our members better access to the many tools, resources, and opportunities that BC Food & Beverage offers.

Pommodorrini serving fresh-made Italian fare at the Downtown Salmon Arm Farmers Market

At the Thrive Conference, I attended several valuable panels on topics that matter directly to growing food businesses. These included upcoming packaging changes, new expectations from large retailers, required margins, product presentation, shelf readiness, and what major buyers are looking for when considering new products.

I also had the opportunity to speak directly with buyers and representatives connected to Loblaws, Shoppers Drug Mart, and London Drugs, gaining useful insight into what larger retailers are looking for from producers who are ready to take the next step. I also spoke with several distributors, including Dovre, Lekker, and Simply Canadian, to learn more about their onboarding processes and what they need from food businesses before taking on new products. In addition, I gathered great information from store managers at Choices Markets and Nature’s Fare. I have compiled these insights into informational packages that I am happy to share during our one-on-one meetings going forward.

Lastly, I know there is a lot of talk right now about difficult financial times across Canada. I have always believed that when things are at their tightest, it is important to invest carefully and intentionally in the areas that help us grow. Of course, that is not always easy or possible for everyone.

With that in mind, I wanted to share some good news: FCC has announced its Grow Canada initiative, offering affordable funding and support for food, farm, and beverage producers across Canada. This could be a useful opportunity for some of our members, and I encourage you to look into whether it might fit your business goals.

At Zest, we are continuing to create more free workshops, business resources, and “Business Bites” for all of you to use. I also strongly encourage you to book time for your free one-on-one consulting with me and our team.

We have seen that producers who take advantage of these meetings are often able to grow their businesses, face scaling and production challenges with more confidence, and make stronger decisions as they move forward.

We are in your corner. Zest is more than a kitchen, it is a growing community of food producers across the Shuswap and Okanagan, and we are proud to support the work you are doing.

Thank you for being part of this community,

Will

Facility Manager

Zest Commercial Food Hub