This Commerce Life

Mitsoh ("Eat" in Cree Nehiyaw) was founded by Ian Gladue of Wabasca's Bigstone Cree Nation in Alberta. We talk to Ian and his partner Brandon about restoring, preserving and sharing North American Indigenous culture while bringing great products to market. Find Brandon here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brandon-markiw-071b0946/Find Mitsoh here: https://www.mitsoh.com/Be sure to sign up for CHFA Now here:  https://www.chfanow.ca/toronto/ Thank you to CHFA for sponsoring our September Podcasts. Be sure to sign up for our newsletter here: www.thiscommercelife.com

If you had 250,000 people at your disposal what would you ask for? Jeff Doucette talks about some of the retail wishes he and Fieldagent fulfill every week for brands. Find Jeff here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeff-doucette-72b3556/ Check out Fieldagent here: https://www.fieldagentcanada.com/ Make sure you sign up to CHFA Now here: https://chfa.ca/en/Events/chfa-now#upcoming

A what? A dacquoise + macaron = Dacaron. Jimmy Kim talks about their journey to bring the Dacaron to Canadian consumers.  Find wonderful Dacarons at: https://www.earthlingfoods.ca/Talk to Jimmy here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimmy-kim-8219838b/Vote for Jimmy here: https://www.bcfbawards.com/voteMake sure you sign up for CHFA here: https://www.chfanow.ca/toronto/ 

Riaz Meghji, Author of Every Conversation counts comes on to talk about conversations, journaling and connections. Find Riaz here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/riazmeghji/Riaz's book is here: https://riazmeghji.com/book Make sure you sign up for CHFA here: https://chfa.ca/en/Events/chfa-nowSign up for our newsletter here: www.thiscommercelife.com  

Karen Danudjaja the founder of Blume comes by to talk about startups, not knowing retail and celebrating wins. We were pretty excited to talk to Karen - she's an incredible founder with a wonderful outlook on how she wants to approach her business. Find Karen here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karen-danudjaja-8275682a/ Shop Blume here: https://itsblume.com/ Make sure you sign up for CHFA here: https://chfa.ca/en/Events/chfa-now  

We get the '101' about chocolate and social enterprises. Mara Mennicken is the 'GOOD' in the The GOOD Chocolatier.  After studying about social enterprises, she wondered why companies don't give back every step of their journey to growth.  Find Mara here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mara-mennicken-24609469/Shop the Good Chocolatier here: https://thegoodchocolatier.com/ Make sure you sign up for CHFA NOW at https://chfa.ca/en/Events/chfa-now Sign up for our newsletter at www.thiscommercelife.com

She takes risks. She loves learning  and she's made a  habit of sharing her wins and mistakes. Bro-Dough founder Erica Rankin comes on to talk about learning CPG and selling a product that she loves. Find Erica here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericabrodough/Shop bro dough here: https://eatbrodough.com/  Make sure you subscribe to the This Commerce life Podcast at www.thiscommercelife.com Thank you to CHFA for sponsoring this episode. If you're a retailer, sign up at https://www.microspec.com/reg/CHFAE2023/

One of his greatest fears is that he will talk without saying anything. That isn't true - while he was with us, VP Strategic Partnerships / Ethical Food Group Corwin Hiebert has a lot to say about helping brands grow. Find out more about Ethical Food Group here: https://www.ethicalfoodgroup.com/Check out Corwin here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/corwinhiebert/ Don't forget to subscribe to our newsletter here: www.thiscommercelife.com If you're a retailer, make sure you sign up for CHFA NOW here: https://www.microspec.com/reg/CHFAE2023/

This guy finally makes it onto the podcast. Kirk Homenick talks about getting kicked out of London Drugs in his first week, and the long hard road back to being a Canadian made, hand-crafted snack.  shop Hardbite here: https://hardbitechips.com/Find Kirk here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kirk-homenick-a19bb71/ Make sure you subscribe to the podcast newsletter here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kirk-homenick-a19bb71/  

Near 90 years of farming in Pitt Meadows BC, Hopcott Farms continues to thrive as a Family Farming Business.  Started by their Grandparents in the 1930's and then run by their parents Bob & Debbie, it's now been the mission and passion of the 3 siblings, Jean, Travis and Brad,  to continue and expand this family enterprise and truly become your one stop shop for locally raised meats, vegetables and specialty grocery items.   check out Hopcott Farms here: https://hopcottfarms.ca/ be sure to subscribe to our newsletter here: www.thiscommercelife.com

It's not about fear, it's about being aware.  Mike Nunn from TLC Solutions walks us through the threats we face today in the world of Cybersecurity whether from a business stand point or personal.  Mike chats with the Knuckleheads and goes through how we can do a better job and make some relatively easy changes to how we view and protect our data online. check out Mike here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikednunn/check out Mike's company here: https://tlcsolutions.ca/ Make sure you subscribe to our newsletter at www.thiscommercelife.com  

Still hurting from a de-llsting years ago with Kenny; we catch up  with our CPG Industry Recruiting Guru, Trevor Baker.  A chat about the workplace today, post Covid, the job market now and what people are looking for in employees and employers, and we ask, and seek Trevor's wisdom, when asking the proverbial "Where has everyone gone?"  Whether you are looking for work or looking to hire, what does it look like for the prospective candidates and those looking to fill positions.  Always an informative discussion with Trevor. Find Trevor here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/trevoratmacdonaldsearchgroup/Find MacDonald Search Group here: https://www.macdonaldsearchgroup.com/ make sure you subscribe to our newsletter: www.thiscommercelife.com

We meet a fan, become fans. Sarah Kinlin will be a world reknowned speaker, coach and educator.  We're proud to be her first podcast. talk to Sarah here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-kinlin-253917137/check out Sarah's website here: https://sarahkinlin.com/pages/podcast make sure you subscribe to our newsletter at www.thiscommercelife.com 

Mushrooms! We talk mushrooms and building a mushroom farm from scratch with Brian Thomas. Brian’s career started as a mental health and addictions counsellor working in detox facilities, treatment centres and later on adult outreach for mental health and addiction for Fraser Health. During that time his passion for supporting communities and helping people led him to start co-op food buying programs and daily juice clubs.  Check out Myca Farms here: https://mycafarms.ca/ Make sure you subscribe to our newsletter at www.thiscommercelife.com  

"It's like running up a down escalator"  CEO of BC Food and Beverage James Donaldson talks about member challenges, being a not-for-profit industry association representing food and beverage manufacturers in British Columbia. Find James here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamessdonaldson/If you're in BC, you should be signing up to be a member of BC Food and Beverage. https://bcfb.ca/ Sign up to our newsletter: www.thiscommercelife.com

A ballet dancer, model, actress, and scuba instructor turned to beverage maker. GnuSante Chief Strategy & Ideation Officer  Autumn Kendrick  talks about making kid friendly, nutritional drinks.  Talk to Autumn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/autumn-kendrick-829015184/Shop for Gnubees here: https://www.gnusante.com/Make sure you subscribe to our podcast newsletter here: www.thiscommercelife.com

Dean Yachison jumps in to talk about Health First network - the first network of independent natural food stores joined together to reduce costs and increase effectiveness of marketing and communication giving consumers greater access to the benefits of natural products in Canada. To find Dean: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dean-yachison-63497315/to subscribe to our newsletter: www.thiscommercelife.com 

We take a road trip to Fancy Food show in New York City. Favorite brands, how we think about imported products and costing are a few of the things we talk about. If there's anything you want to know, shoot us a question at podcast@thiscommercelife.com Could be anything - something retail related, or just if you want to know something about Kenny and I that's ok too.  sign up at www.thiscommercelife.com to get additional content we're building on retail.   

They met in law school. While they were there, they decided that the health benefits of a plant-based diet  was a worthy cause to work on as a side hustle.Fast forward, Emily and Kyle have made it their mission to knock down barriers to eating a plant-based diet by making accessible vegan versions of traditional products, being uncompromising on taste and quality.talk to Emily here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emily-wilson-61050a134/check out their products here: https://livingtreefoods.ca/ make sure you subscribe to the podcast newsletter here: www.thiscommercelife.com 

He's a CPA by training, but he was employee #2 with Choices.  It turns out that retail stuck, and now Arif Ahmed runs two stores, and has ambitions for more locally focused, community driven stores.  Get in touch with Arif here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hwmarif/ Sign up and subscribe to our newsletter at www.thiscommercelife.com