March 1, 2019
Launching business proves to be a test of perseverance and patience It takes a certain type of person to become an entrepreneur. You need guts, stamina, faith, strength, a vision, and sometimes you also need the patience of Job to make things work. Robert van Waarden has all those qualities in spades, and Red Island Cider is the result of…
March 1, 2019
Considering everything from nutrition to environmental impact in business It can be difficult to find plant-based, gluten-free snacks and healthy dessert options in PEI. Michaela Uchtenhagen helped change that by creating Earth Bitez, a local business in Charlottetown that provides healthy bites to satisfy people’s taste buds, leaving them feeling good. A Red Seal chef with a degree in Foods…
February 1, 2019
Elegant lavender-infused foods from Picnic Girl treat the eyes and tastebuds Hélène Bouchard has a taste for the exquisite. She was on-site for the entire construction of her charming lavender-coloured home in Stanley Bridge, inspecting building details with keen precision. Before moving to PEI in 2014, she and her husband ran a successful, holistic training studio in Montreal; her focus…
February 1, 2019
Prince Edward Island’s first cidery, located in Bonshaw, finds great success with award-winning hard cider When you are a retired police officer and a director of learning at a secondary school in Scotland but you feel “too young to retire”, you move to PEI to make award-winning hard apple cider, right? That’s not quite how Anne and Alex Jamieson’s story…
February 1, 2019
Handmade botanical chocolates bridge love, indulgence, and health Katlin Doyle is the creator and founder of Nurturing Essence, a botanical chocolate business based in Charlottetown, PEI. Handcrafted with love, Doyle only uses fair trade, organic, raw cacao. Her chocolate is free of dairy, gluten, and refined sugar, and she uses as many local ingredients as possible. “I find if people…
January 1, 2019
Celebrating Island culture through a fresh new brand of locally-roasted coffees and specialty teas If you’ve dreamed of launching your own business you may be familiar with some common advice given to aspiring entrepreneurs: start a business that solves a problem. Jen Vandermaar saw her problem and promptly started a business. Only a year ago, PEI Coffee Company was just…
December 1, 2018
Island couple finds worldwide audience on YouTube eating in front of the camera Familiar with mukbang? What about ASMR? It’s not surprising if you’re not familiar with such terms, but a couple in PEI is slowly making a name for themselves in both genres of online food videos. Hearing someone slurping, gulping, chewing, and smacking their lips while eating may…
December 1, 2018
How an Eastern PEI hydroponic farm has grown its business to produce flavourful greens and herbs year-round Hydroponic farming could be called an art, but it’s most definitely a science, and on the south side of Hillsborough River, somewhere between Mt Stewart and Stratford is a 3000-square-foot greenhouse full of fresh plants grown using that science. Darren Gill, one of…
November 1, 2018
Handcrafted donuts prove to be popular product for food entrepreneurs “Do or donut; there is no try.” Or something like that. When Via Reyes moved to PEI from the Philippines in 2013, she noticed that local dessert options were limited. With the help of her partner, Justin Wilson, she set out to change the Island’s dessert culture for the better.…
October 1, 2018
Al Picketts’ Eureka Garlic is used across Canada Sit down with Al Picketts for a conversation about garlic, it doesn’t take long to discover that his wealth of knowledge about this flavourful vegetable is abundant, and he is more than happy to share it with those who are interested. A beekeeper for 30 years, Picketts started Eureka Garlic out of…