This Commerce Life

Hosted by Phil Chang / Kenny Vannucci

Business Entrepreneurship EducationExplicit

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Episodes

492

Latest episode

Aug 2026

Language

EN-CA

About the show

A Canadian Podcast, focused on Canadian brands, determined to talk about Canadian success stories. We are retail educators and experts, teaching Canadian businesses how to build, grow, and scale in retail. As industry connectors, Kenny & Phil bring decades of experience as buyers, sales strategists, and marketers into delivering practical, actionable education grounded in real-world application.

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60 recent

August 18, 20261 hr 18 min

Aaron Skelton on Getting Retail-Ready: Inside CHFA's Greenhouse

Getting on a show floor was never the hard part — being ready to do business once you're there is. In this episode, Phil and Kenny sit down with Aaron Skelton, President & CEO of the Canadian Health Food Association, to unpack how the CHFA show is evolving from an exposure play into a readiness engine for Canada's next wave of natural, health, and CPG brands. Aaron walks through Greenhouse — CHFA's new curated program that gives emerging brands seed and scale stages, a dedicated show-floor section, and a retailer breakfast that puts founders in front of buyers before the doors open. It's built around a simple truth Phil and Kenny hear constantly from brokers and distributors: "Are they ready?" That one question decides everything. The conversation gets into why brands should sometimes say no to a listing, how 1,000 doors can sink a company that isn't prepared for the cost of growth, the financial-literacy gap founders don't see coming, and why the merchandising space on the floor is a free education most brands walk right past. Plus a look at red-tape reduction for the natural health sector and what it really means on the ground. If you're building a food, beverage, or CPG brand in Canada — or you're a buyer hunting for the next thing before everyone else finds it — this one's for you. In this episode: Why "exposure" isn't enough anymore — the shift to retail readiness Inside Greenhouse: seed vs. scale stages and the curated show floor The one question every broker and distributor asks: "Are they ready?" When saying no to a listing is the smartest move The real cost of growth — and why 1,500% growth was the biggest challenge Using the Hive merchandising space to learn what buyers actually see Connect with Aaron Skelton and the team at CHFA and see what's coming on the show floor this September. Find Aaron here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aaronskelton/ Make sure you register for CHFA Now: https://www.chfanow.ca/toronto/

August 14, 20261 hr 0 min

What a Distributor Really Wants Before They'll List Your Brand

The real scoop on getting into distribution — straight from the person who reviews the applications. Amanda Coish of Purity Life breaks down what actually earns a "yes." We've had the big-picture conversation about distribution before. This time we wanted the unfiltered version, so we sat down with Amanda Coish, who leads brand selection and onboarding at Purity Life — one of Canada's major natural-channel distributors. She reviews hundreds of brands a year while managing a portfolio of 400-plus, and she tells us exactly what separates the brands that get picked up from the ones that never hear back. If you're a founder eyeing distribution, this is the conversation to listen to twice. Amanda walks through the review process, the compliance and readiness gaps that get an application quietly declined, why "I'll do Instagram and Facebook" isn't the promotional support retailers are asking for, and the realistic timeline from application to product actually shipping out of the warehouse. Phil and Kenny pull on their buyer and CPG experience to translate what she's really signalling — including the two-word tells that make a buyer think "no." It's a candid look at the mechanics of Canadian retail: finite warehouse space, the fight for shelf, hip-pocket deals, brokers, national vs. regional compliance, and why that first year of a partnership demands real work from the brand, not autopilot. Want the big-picture view first? Catch our earlier conversation with Matthew from Purity Life: https://open.spotify.com/episode/1JHvuuWIQNhnMPqRTm1o7b?si=0d057c5cc302413c In this episode: How Purity reviews new brands — and the first things they check The readiness and compliance gaps that get you a quiet "no" Why promotional support (not social media spend) is what retailers want The real application-to-launch timeline and why it takes months What a healthy distributor relationship looks like after you're in A big thank you to CHFA for sponsoring the podcast. If you're a brand thinking about the natural channel, this is where you need to be — learn more and register: https://www.chfanow.ca/toronto/

August 11, 202657 min

Seven Summit Snacks: A Chocolate Scientist Builds an Energy Bar Brand

Kristyn Carriere went from running taste panels at Cadbury and formulating for Godiva to founding her own Canadian chocolate brand. This is what happens when a real food scientist decides to build a CPG company. On this episode, Kristyn Carriere of Seven Summit Snacks joins Phil and Kenny to talk about turning deep R&D experience into a grab-and-go energy chocolate — and why a big-company background changes how you launch. We get into the science of chocolate (conching, flavour optimization, why the same bar tastes different in five countries), the consumer-led product development that got the recipe right in three tries instead of hundreds, and the packaging and branding choices that help the bar stand out in two of the most saturated aisles in the store. Kristyn also shares the deeply personal story that gave the brand its name and brought her back home to Canada. There's a real lesson in here for founders: making something in your kitchen is one thing — knowing the industry, the iterations, and the science behind market fit is what actually moves a brand forward. Find Seven Summit Snacks at https://sevensummitssnacks.com/ , on Amazon, and in retailers like Running Room, MEC, and Community Natural Foods. In this episode: From Disney on Ice to food science to global chocolate R&D Inside Cadbury and Godiva: how big chocolate really formulates The origin of Seven Summit Snacks and the story behind the name Consumer-led development: nailing the recipe in three tries Building for two customer types — online buyers vs. in-store shoppers Winning the aisle with packaging, iconography, and clean ingredients A big thank you to CHFA for sponsoring This Commerce Life. CHFA is the voice of Canada's natural health and organic products industry, and their trade shows are where the best emerging brands and buyers connect. Heading to Toronto? Sign up for CHFA East and be part of it: https://www.chfanow.ca/toronto 🎧 Listen on Spotify & Apple Podcasts. Learn more at https://sevensummitssnacks.com/

August 4, 20261 hr 8 min

From a Yukon Farmers Market to Dragon's Den: How Klondike Kettle Corn Is Going National | Katie Young

Katie Young moved to Whitehorse, Yukon in 2007 for the adventure — dog sledding, mountains, and a winter practicum — and ended up building one of the North's most beloved CPG brands. In this episode, she sits down with Phil Chang and Kenny Vannucci to tell the full story of Klondike Kettle Corn: from taking over a popcorn kettle at the local farmers market, to testing packaging at Christmas markets, to landing on shelves and now pushing for national distribution. It's a candid, funny, and genuinely useful conversation about what it actually takes to scale a food brand from one of the hardest logistics environments in Canada — where you can't grow the corn, shipping air isn't cheap, and there's exactly one Save-On-Foods and one Superstore in town. In this episode: Growing a business and a family "up alongside each other" at the Whitehorse farmers market Why the Yukon is both the challenge AND the secret advantage (single-store markets, fierce local pride, built-in test population) The move from farmers market to retail: learning wholesale vs. retail pricing on the spot The Venture Park Accelerator, the Sobeys Local conversation, and "get into my competitor first, then come back" Landing TJX and going coast-to-coast fast — and why a Kamloops co-packer made it possible Filming Dragon's Den, the hometown watch party, and the e-commerce boost that followed The reality of the national grind: brokers, funding, and trusting-but-verifying your numbers Whether you're a founder in a remote market, a CPG operator, or just love a great Canadian entrepreneur story, this one delivers. Thank you to CHFA for sponsoring this episode. Make sure you're signed up for CHFA East! https://www.chfanow.ca/toronto 🎧 This Commerce Life — Canada's longest-running commerce podcast. #KlondikeKettleCorn #DragonsDen #CanadianCPG #Yukon #Popcorn #FoodAndBeverage #RetailStrategy #Entrepreneurship #ThisCommerceLife #CPGBrand

July 28, 202655 min

"We Dropped Out of University to Make Ice Cream" — The Shaw's Ice Cream Story

When Shaw's Ice Cream announced it was closing its doors in 2001, three sisters — Christine, Kelly, and Kim — made a decision most people would call reckless: they dropped out of university and bought the shuttered 1950s manufacturing plant. Their logic? "We know retail. How hard can manufacturing be?" Twenty-five years later, Shaw's is a Southwestern Ontario institution — and one of the best "green, naive, and figured-it-out" founder stories we've had on the show. In this episode, Phil and Kenny sit down with the sisters behind Shaw's Ice Cream (based in Tillsonburg & St. Thomas, Ontario) to unpack how they rebuilt a brand from nothing, survived on a two-week crash course and a wrench, and grew into a three-part business spanning retail, wholesale, and co-pack/private-label manufacturing for other brands. Whether you're a founder, a CPG operator, or just someone who loves a good Ontario road-trip-and-ice-cream day, this one's a treat. 🍦 check them out here: https://www.shawsicecream.com/about-us/ Thank you to CHFA for sponsoring this episode. https://www.chfanow.ca/toronto 🎧 This Commerce Life — Canada's longest-running commerce podcast. #ShawsIceCream #OntarioMade #CanadianCPG #IceCream #FoundersStory #FoodAndBeverage #ThisCommerceLife #Tillsonburg #FamilyBusiness #RetailPodcast

July 24, 202652 min

"I Know a Guy" Isn't a Sourcing Strategy | SURCH Foods

Phil Chang and Kenny Vannucci sit down with Sylvia Bennett, founder of SURCH Foods (that's S-U-R-C-H), a B2B search platform built to solve a problem the food industry has quietly lived with forever: there is no good way to find ingredients, packaging, co-manufacturers, or expertise. Sylvia spent her career in the industry — starting in a Sobeys bakery, then product development and private label at Sobeys and Walmart, then R&D at a cookie plant — and kept watching sourcing managers dig through old business cards because "I know a guy" was the only system available. We flipped this episode on its head. Instead of starting with Sylvia's story, we start with the platform, walk through it live, and then back into why someone with her background decided to build it. The honest takeaway: a search engine for food ingredients shouldn't be revolutionary in 2026. But it is — and it only works if the industry actually shows up and gets listed. Find Sylvia at surchfoods.com or sylvia@surchfoods.com . 🎧 This Commerce Life is Canada's longest-running commerce podcast — 450+ episodes on food, beverage, and retail. 👉 Subscribe for weekly conversations with the people building Canadian CPG. #FoodIndustry #CPG #Sourcing #FoodManufacturing #SupplyChain #CanadianFood #FoodAndBeverage #Procurement #FoodStartup #ThisCommerceLife

July 21, 20261 hr 0 min

From Farmers Market to Retail Shelves: How Kettle & Hive Built a Lemon Honey Tea Brand

Trish, founder of Kettle & Hive, joins This Commerce Life to share how a coworker's break-time basket of lemons, ginger, and honey sparked the idea for a fresh, spoonable lemon and honey tea — made with just two ingredients, no corn syrup, no thickeners, no shortcuts. From her first job as a day baker at Tim Hortons to quitting her job after one exhausting-but-successful farmers market season, Trish walks us through the real journey of building a small-batch food business in BC: honing recipes 20 jars at a time, using baker's math to scale batches, moving from a home kitchen to shared commercial kitchens to her own facility with a 60-gallon steam kettle — and learning the hard way what it costs to sell out and cancel a Christmas market because production couldn't keep up. Whether you're still selling at craft fairs or eyeing your first distributor conversation, this episode is a masterclass in growing a CPG food brand the right way — one honest customer conversation at a time. Find Kettle & Hive: 🍋 Shop online: https://kettleandhive.com 📍 Available at independent grocers and health food stores across Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland — full store and market list on the website Thank you to Maritime Good Food for sponsoring this podcast. https://maritimegoodfood.ca/

July 14, 20261 hr 6 min

They Turned Barley Greens Into Tea — Natural Farmworks' Wild Founder Story

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/

July 7, 202656 min

How She Built a Thriving Farmers Market in the Middle of Nowhere | Ashley Sauve, Sauve's Country Market

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/

July 2, 202645 min

Exporting to Mexico? What Canadian Food Brands Need to Know | Julie Therrien, Leclerc Group

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/