Featured Companies

Today, everyone says they're 'green'. It's meaning is washed out. All too often overlooked is the social side of sustainability, the people who make up our organizations, the communities in which we operate, social justice issues, and building diverse constituents in all our stakeholder groups. It's the people who I find interesting in the work that we do as they make me feel the rewards of our labour. In Vancouver's downtown eastside and inner city there's one organization that's been doing a great job at bridging the gap between socially distraught down and out people and the businesses that inhabit the neighbourhood and drive the economy, Building Opportunities with Business, commonly referred to as BOB.

Last month I got a call from Brian Smith, the on the ground business and social enterprise developer at BOB, letting me know about their 'Consultant Fees' grant program available to inner city businesses working with consultants on various projects to green their operations. Opportunity knocks! At the time we were just negotiating terms with our brand and marketing consultant Andy Maier at Courageous B, looking at revising our brand and redeveloping our website (Scheduled to go live on Sept.15/10, stay tuned for some upcoming changes!). Given the green emphasis of our business, the product sourcing we do from DTES social enterprises and our participation in BOB's social purchasing portal we were awarded a $7,500 grant to contribute to this work we're taking on. If successful, it'll help us to grow our business and further the positive social and environmental impacts we're having on the community. I'm honored to work with BOB and receive their contribution, every bit helps and allows us to take some risks and leverage our marketing budget for the year. With the Christmas gift basket season approaching we're eager to see how our investment will pan out.

In total $36,000 was distributed to 8 Vancouver businesses. We're in good company with our neighbours at the Strathcona Business Improvement Association whom we collaborate with on the Strathcona Green Zone and other leading DTES organizations including Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Garden, EMBERS, Recycling Alternative, Megaphone and Potluck Cafe. The Vancouver Aquaponics initiative received some funding as well which is an exciting opportunity to convert under utilized space in parking garages into highly productive aquaculture businesses to supply the local market demand for fish. Would love to see that happen! Thanks BOB!

I love it when things land in your lap. When you're on a path, putting energy in a certain direction, I'm always amazed how things find you. Over the last 4 years I've been on a search for the freshest, best tasting food products made in British Columbia. I was recently approached by Dyana Biagi the creator of Aji Gourmet Food Products to learn more about her line of products to be included in our selection of our Vancouver gift baskets.

First impression = Nice label!

I'm a big believer that things need to look real nice for people to pick things up in the store. I know, its superficial, but it's true. If you're packaging isn't spot on, not many people will ever try your product, even if it tastes amazing. Back to Aji ...

So I sat down with Dyana and tried her products, and there's nothing ordinary about them. So this 'salsa' Aji that I tried tasted great on a chip by itself. Check, nice, I'm down with salsa, but wait .... she mashed up some avocados and mixed them with the Aji and voila ... a super tasty guacamole! Boooom! And that's not all. If you add ketchup to Aji you get a zingy cocktail seafood sauce and if you add a mayo or sour cream and get a flavourful tarter sauce. Definitely not ordinary!

You'll be able to find Aji products in our Office Party gift baskets in the near future.

Top 3 things we like about Aji

1) Tastes like its made from fresh vegetables. That's because it is.

2) Lots of ways to use it. Not just a salsa or condiment, Aji can be used to make guacamole, seafood sauce, tarter sauce, on ribs, etc. For more ideas see the Aji site.

3) Local. Local producers, local food and the local economy. That's how we roll!

Meet Starworks Packaging and Assembly, a fantastic social enterprise providing employment for adults with developmental disabilities in Vancouver, BC. Part of the Developmental Disabilities Association (DDA) Starworks generates much of its operating expenses from their pick and pack assembly and fulfillment business. I originally met with Starworks over 3 years ago when I launched Saul Good seeing great potential for a social enterprise partner to take on various fulfillment tasks in our Vancouver gift basket and corporate gift business.

Attention to quality

On our tour we conducted a few spot checks to make sure the corporate gifts looked as per our specifications, all the products we defined were included and the placement of our greeting and story cards were all in the right places. It's no surprise that organizations such as BC Hydro, Finning, Tourism BC and VISA all work with the social enterprise for various fulfillment needs.

Efficient operations

Starworks is fast! They were able to go through 21 pallets of product and fulfill our 750 gift order in just 2 days! They turned our order around very quickly to meet our schedule. Starworks employs a couple production coordinators who manage the assembly teams, ensuring that everyone understands their tasks and is well suited to it. They understand lean manufacturing strategies and develop simple, clear and balanced production between the team members to ensure the production line flows. They definitely know what they're doing and I'm confident in their ability to perform.

Everyone was so friendly!

Both Alex and I had a great time talking with the staff and employees on our Starworks tour. Some of the employees were quite chatty and engaged us in interesting conversations. We got to practice our German and Hebrew which took us both by surprise and left us with the understanding that its a mistake to underestimate the capabilities of developmentally disabled individuals.

Top 3 things we like about Starworks

1. Creates social good with every gift assembled. Starworks creates meaningful employment for adults living with developmental disabilities in Vancouver, BC. The workers were really happy completing their tasks and enjoy their work, even the sometimes tedious and repetitious work of the assembly line.
2. Friendly atmosphere. We felt really comfortable on our tour of their facility and found everyone very personable.
3. Delivery on time. No over promising, Starworks pulled it off, without a hitch!

Looking forward to our next opportunity to work with the team at Starworks!

Naked Soapworks is one of those companies you just want to love. Based on Bowen Island, BC Laurel Bailey runs a business based on the basics of a better mouse trap. If we care about our health and the health of our families then we should think twice about the products we use to clean ourselves. Naked Soapworks was founded on this principle and uses only natural and organic ingredients to make soaps, salves and lotions for our personal care.

Besides running a shop in Snug Harbour on Bowen Island, Laurel runs an amazing B and B, The Treehouse Bed and Breakfast, on the Island with her husband Rob. They've got a sweet pad with an amazing view, the kind of place you'd love to live and enjoy your breakfast day in and day out. It's not hard to live in paradise and I feel lucky to have spent a couple days with them in the early spring this season. Values are the kind of thing that are hard to hide from and Laurel and Rob gave it away with the Sloping Hill Farm natural meats and duck eggs gathered from their garden. 

Top 3 things I'm down with gettin' Naked

1) Local! There are many reasons why local purchasing is all good. Learn more here. There is a trend towards supporting locally owned businesses and organizations rising to support the transition.

2) The hand and body wash works great, we're going to add it into our natural spa gift baskets

3) High quality ingredients that are friendly to the fishes and our preference for environmentally friendly products.

Locavores watch out! Les Amis du Fromage, a Vancouver based artisan cheese retailer/wholesaler has found some innovative ways to source locally while building community. Below is an article I wrote that was recently published on GranvilleOnline.ca

Local cheese retailer stands out not only for its vast selection of highly coveted cheeses but also its community outreach

I love talking with entrepreneurs and hearing their stories of how their business started, developed and grew. Sitting down with Allison Spurrell and Joe Chaput from Les Amis du Fromage, a Vancouver-based cheese and gourmet food retailer, I was immediately engaged by their passion not only for food, but also people and community.

Social interaction is a huge part of business, and building community in what we do and how we do it is key to success. Not only are all Les Amis products high quality but they also teach us a valuable lesson in how to live a good life.

Originally running a catering company with her mother, Alice Spurrell, Allison told me that she liked to include a considerable selection of cheese, with wine pairings, as part of their catering events. Their selections proved popular, and it wasn't long before word spread and other caterers started asking if they could buy cheese from them.

Will trade for cheese!

Founded in 1886, Strathcona is one of the oldest residential neighbourhoods in Vancouver and, because of its age, is home to many heritage homes with mature fruit trees.

"I just put the word out," says Joe, and it was easy to find a neighbour with bushels of extra plums that they were willing to trade for cheese from the shop.

Joe went on to make his exclusive Strathcona Italian Plum Chutney a seasonal artisan product sold in their shops and also served in their restaurant, Au Petit Chavignol (843 East Hastings St), which serves tasty wine, cheese, charcuterie and other delicacies. On occasion I go into their shop on East Hastings to buy local cheese for my company Saul Good Gift Co.’s gourmet gift baskets and was instantly a big fan.

Their 2009 experiment was so successful they've decided to expand their product line this coming season. With figs, quince, pears and apples all being grown in Strathcona, I'm excited to see what else they come up with besides the plum chutney.

Part of the SOLEfood Urban Farm community

Besides having a long list of interested families looking to trade their extra fruit this season for tasty cheese, Joe has made a commitment to be a distribution channel for SOLEfood Urban Farm, an exciting inner-city green jobs program training and employing inner city residents in horticulture. According to Seann Dory, the project manager employed by United We Can, the farm will operate as an enterprising non profit that will sell produce to create revenue to help finance the social enterprise.

Be on the lookout for locally grown, heritage salad greens being served on the plates in Au Petit Chavignol in the near future!

In putting together some corporate gifts last week we were asked by a client to include a vegetable scrub brush in their gift baskets for new homeowners. Not only did we find a great product that fit the bill but also a few others that are great for a clean, healthy and environmentally friendly home. Goodbye Detergent!, an LA based company manufacturing in Japan, uses recycled and reclaimed materials in their home cleaning products. Using them helps to reduce the amount of soap and cleansing products used for cleaning, reducing one's impact on the environment.

Top 5 things we like about Goodbye Detergent!

1. Uses reclaimed materials! Business is amazing at being innovative and the utilization of 'waste' materials is a huge step towards a sustainable society. Using things like peach pits, corn cobs and walnut shells its cool to think how these materials have transformed.
2. Diversity of products. With an assortment of products for the scrubbing in the kitchen and outdoors and for all kinds of specialty surfaces, they're making a product you'll find useful in your home. We even found one that worked to clean delicate non-stick cookware (try the gentle spaghetti scrub!)
3. Peel your vegetables! The Coarse Original Spaghetti scrub brush is great for taking the skin off the outside of your carrots while you're washing them under water. I've found it really useful while preparing dinner lately.
4. Stylie design and packaging. If it doesn't look cool people don't pick things up, no matter how good the product might be. I like the simple nature of their branding and their use of 100% recycled paper boxes. It's no surprise that Hiroki Hayashi won various design awards for this work on this project.
5. They make cleaning fun. Ask my roommates, I'm not the biggest fan of cleaning. It's not that I'm a slob but cleaning is not my favourite thing to do. I have had a good time trying out these products and they work well too.

It's not all good

There were a couple things that we found could be improved about our experience with Goodbye Detergent! First off the coarse and the gentle spaghetti scrub look almost identical, besides one being pink (made from peaches) and the other being yellow (made from corn cobs). The gentle one is great for cleaning a non stick pan without scratching it but I wouldn't dare try the coarse one, it would rip it up! It would be nice if there was another way to tell them apart so my roomies don't scratch up my pan! Also of issue is their use of corn and concerns of genetic modification, which according to the US Department of Agriculture accounts for approximately 60% of the corn in the United States. Without getting into it too deeply my main concern with genetically modified corn is how seeds terminate (you can't grow from the seeds the crops produce) and how they cross pollinate adjacent farmers fields who aren't interested in buy GM seeds from Monsanto. Goodbye Detergent! is using waste corn cobs, definitely an innovative way to use agricultural waste byproducts. Sustainability is a long journey and when your using peach pits you don't need to be too hardcore.

Creativity is at the root of innovation and inspiration is the key to creation. I'm getting super excited about a new mobile I ordered from Schmitt Design, a funky eco chic bamboo mobile we're going to hang up in our office. Our office space is already pretty comfortable to work in, with great daylighting, open space and green roof deck for taking breaks. I am stoked though to add a bit of subtle movement and lightness above our desks with the new mobile. It's being custom made for us by Brian Schmitt in Sacramento, CA and as you can see from the photo we got from him the other day, our creation is well on its way in production. Besdies bamboo Schmitt Design also uses other sustainable materials such as FSC certified cherry in their other mobiles and lighting fixtures.

Tradition is one of those things that most people accept and few people question. The Christmas tree is one of those things that's made me wonder. Apparently the origin of the Christmas tree comes from pre Christian German heritage where its meaning was in bringing the beauty of nature into the home during the time of Yule. That's something that really rings true in me, in a world that moves so fast in manufactured urban landscapes, finding time to slow down and take in nature's beauty has value in my life and my home. They Holidays are a great time to relax, spend time with family, friends and loved ones and nature can only make that a more meaningful experience. If that's at the root of this centuries old tradition, why do we cut down and kill trees to have them in our houses for a few weeks when they could live out beautiful lives for decades or even hundreds of years in the wild? It seems real odd to me, maybe because I'm Jewish but I think there's more to it.

The answer is Carbonsync, a Vancouver based live tree delivery service that brings nature into your home and plants it into ecological restoration projects after you've enjoyed it over the Holidays. I recently met Brad Major, Carbonsyncs owner/operator, at the recent Climate Smart training, measuring our companie's carbon footprint, reducing emissions and offsetting the rest.  They're a good team, super friendly and are creating value for families and our environment. Well done!

Top 3 things cool about Carbonsync

1. No need to sacrifice a tree, enjoy nature in your home while respecting it's future

2. Live trees are less flamable than dried ones so it's safer for your family and your home.

3. Carbonsync donates a portion of profits to Burns Bog Conservation Society, a great non-profit that's been working for decades to protect North America's largest urban green space

Besides knowing what tastes good to me, it's always a great sign when I'm at a show sampling my wares that people see the Gone Crackers box in our gift baskets and say how much they LOVE these tasty artisan wheat crisps. Heather Nichol has developed a handful of tasty interesting flavours such as Blue Cheese and Cracked Pepper and Parmesan and Rosemary. Personally I like the plain savoury styles the best, the Undressed and the Olive Oil and Cracked Pepper, as they seem to be best for tasting local wine and cheese and treats like local artisan antipasto in our gourmet gift boxes.

Top 3 Goods Gone Crackers

1. They taste amazing. Time in time out everyone loves these little bad boys. If you're loving living life then you've got to try these.

2. Locally produced in Surrey, BC local purchasing is a great easy way to support the local economy and reduce environmental impact. Although the wheat isn't grown within 100 miles it's great to support our friends, family, neighbours and community through buying local. For more info on the benefits of local check out Lo.Co. BC, a new network of Localvores - all local, all good.

3. Class. Crack one of these boxes out at your next dinner party and turn some heads. Taste buds will follow. Be careful, Gone Crackers are addictive.

I have to admit, I'm a bit of a perfectionist and like things that are really good. Have you ever had one of those experience when you've tasted or experienced something that wasn't quite as good as you thought it could be? Have you ever thought you could make something better? Building a better mousetrap is one way to start a business and lots of successful entrepreneurs get their ideas and inspiration from having a bad taste in their mouth. From my experience this is how I started a corporate gift basket business, I didn't like gift baskets and saw that they were super wasteful. Gary Erickson got the idea for starting Cliff Bar while trying to stomach Power Bars on a 200 mile bicycle ride, seeing an opportunity for tasty energy bars. Tiz and Tara from Zazubean Organic Chocolate have a similar story, while on a cycling trip with friends seeing an opportunity to improve the chocolate bar industry.

Top 3 Reasons Zazubean is All Good

1.  Carbon Footprint - cocoa beans come from Central and South America. The vast majority of them get shipped to the major chocolate houses of the old world (cross Atlantic trip number one) where they get turned into chocolate couverture which get shipped around the world (cross Atlantic trip number two) and used by chocolatiers to make chocolate truffles and other tasty treats. Zazubean works with North America's only certified organic fair trade bean to bar chocolate factory, hence the chocolate used in Zazubean bars travelled direct to the Pacific Northwest and played hooky from 2 cross Atlantic trips.

2.  It's my medicine! - Zazubean chocolates are paired with various herbs that have medicinal and therepudic value. The Lunatic Bar (aka the Women's monthly maddness bar) for example is paired with Dong Quai root and Chaste tree berry, two Chinese medicinal herbs used to alieve menstral cramps.

3.  Fair Trade helps poor farmers in the South get paid fair prices for the crops that they grow. Although there is debate around the value of Fair Trade certification, some even questioning the value of it in theory, fairly traded products can put cash directly into the hands and communities of the farmers working to produce the goods we demand every day. Fair trade can shrink the gap between rich and poor by eliminating uneccessary middle men, helping to build hospitals and schools in rural communities in the developing world.

Where's my main squeeze?

I'm a big fan of Zazubean's newest chocolate bar, Squeeze, which combines orange and ginger. I likey, it's juicy and got some quenching punch! Besides making tasty chocolate bars Zazubean's got a fun vibe, coming up with line's like "Save Earth! It's the only one with chocolate!" and have great photos for their different bars. The Nutbar was another new product in 2009, a tasty combination of almonds, coconut and lavender, features legendary Vancouver surfing yogi Eoin Finn. I ever popped my modelling cherry as the Zing bar guy having my hair straightened for the first time was an experience I'm not exactly looking for again but was pretty fun looking back at.