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grocery customers that want our product.” It’s been a whirlwind of rapid growth since chef James Davison first opened a storefront in the Victoria Public Market in 2017. On opening day, 1,000 customers lined up at The Very Good Butchers for his bean-based burgers, sausages and pulled “pork” sandwiches. He had to close for a week to restock. A year later, Davison and Scott closed the original Denman Island production facility and, with $64,000 raised in a Kickstarter campaign, expanded into a larger restaurant and production kitchen in Victoria Public Market. While the restaurant and retail will remain at the market, in January, the company moved production just down the road to a 4,000-square-foot space complete with new equipment to stuff their vegan sausages and press their burgers. It will increase output five to tenfold, says Scott. Sales in the first year reached $850,000 and topped $1.1 million in 2018. Though the pair pitched the Dragons’ Den in 2018 and sealed a deal with two dragons on air, they eventually walked away from the offer. They’ve since raised nearly $600,000 in a FrontFundr campaign, with the next goal to open a retail butcher shop in Vancouver. COMMUNITY SUPPORT NEEDED There are food technology centres across the Canada which support food processors. B.C. is the only province without such a food tech hub, but it is coming. In its 2018 budget, the provincial government announced it will support development of a new Food Hub Network at the University of British Columbia (UBC), with regional hubs, to provide research, development, processing and equipment resources for food processors. The BC Food Processors Association (BCFPA) and the Island-based Small Scale Food Processors Association (SSFPA) also announced a digital tool this year, BC Food Connection (bcfoodconnection.ca), designed to connect food producers with co-packers, commercial kitchens and other services. “Similar initiatives have been successfully launched in the Ontario and Manitoba food processing sectors, so we are optimistic that we are on the right track,” says SSFPA executive director Candice Appleby. “Having a food innovation centre would really help food producers with that scaling-up piece of the puzzle,” she adds. It all feeds into the growing consumer demand for healthy, artisan food products that support the local economy and encourages more foodpreneurs. So bake up a batch of your family’s famous cinnamon buns, test the market and join the Island’s seasoned foodpreneurs — it just might be a recipe for success. ■