Once upon a time (ok, so about 5 years ago.. ), there was a lovely couple who both had to medically retire around the same time. She (Laura) was an educator and loved her job, but after acquiring several severe auto immune diseases and a weakened immune system could no longer work and he (Terry) from long term workplace injuries as a 31 year Air Force veteran, they had to start all over.
He took a desk job (still working for the military) and she began experimenting with different foods. As a global gastronome who has now become allergic to many foods and the environment, instead of going to live in a bubble, she began playing with different herbs, spices, legumes, pulses and as many natural food items as she could that Once upon a time (ok, so about 5 years ago.. ), there was a lovely couple would still satisfy her global palate (don’t worry, he likes all kinds of foods too). Several friends and family complimented the soups and said they should sell them.
Being green kind of folks, they wanted to do it as safely for the environment as possible, so felt that dried soup mixes which last at least 1 year would be the best option. She began to contact local farms, food distributors and made a vow to use all Canadian products when possible (only a few spices are not Canadian). Sourcing green lentils from Ontario’s only lentil farm (all the rest of Canadian lentils grow in the prairie provinces), barley from Alberta, quinoa from Manitoba, beans from Saskatchewan, etc. She found local farmers with carrots, green beans, corn, peppers and tomatoes and began to dehydrate them (using low energy dehydrators, of course.. lol). (P.S. We are the ONLY dried soup company that curates and dehydrates some local items). She sourced Canadian soup bases and each time she found a brand she felt was healthier (more veggies), would pivot to that one (MSG free, gluten free, lower sodium, etc.).
We found a local licensed and inspected commercial kitchen (Kanata Legion which also gives money back to the veterans) in which to make the mixes. After extensive reading of (insanely) long government documents on food safety, allergens, federal labelling standards and requirements and incorporating all these in our labels (and french of course), we were off to our first small farmers market and thus began our small business.
We have now grown and are expanding across stores in Ontario (We are currently in 6 real Canadian superstores in eastern Ontario and moving into 9 more in and around Toronto). We are also now doing fundraisers for schools, sports teams, etc.
We have made a vow to always keep this a family business, stay green (we use compostable spoons, bowls, lids, sample cups, low energy items and even our soups are compostable) and never get too big as we always want our items high quality and hand made.
That’s our story (and we’re sticking to it.. lol)
