‘Creating’ social mission for food businesses. We’ve written a lot about our B Corp certification, and we are happy to see that companies in all sectors of the economy are beginning to care more about having purpose behind their business, rather than simply maximizing profits for owners and shareholders. In fact, one of the…
Neil Stern predicts the future in 2017 Food Retail Outlook Mere weeks after publishing his 2017 Food Retail Outlook post for Forbes, Neil Stern’s predication had already come true. His statement that “Amazon will continue its multi-pronged attack on food retail” came to fruition with the announcement of Amazon Go – the futuristic no-checkout grocer store that…
Spotlight on: Seamount Marine SEAMOUNT MARINE CEO, DAVE MCINTYRE, TAKES THE PLUNGE INTO ENTREPRENEURSHIP AFTER A LIFETIME RELATIONSHIP WITH THE OCEAN. We’ve learned a lot lately about fishing practices from Localize vendor, Seamount Marine. They first opened their doors in 2015, but don’t be fooled by the age of the company, they have over…
Technology and the future of grocery Gone are the days of a weekly trip to your neighbourhood store to stroll the aisles in search of the items on your list… and perhaps a few others. Today’s shoppers check prices online; order meal kits to be delivered on home; purchase online and collect in store;…
What makes a resilient food system? I was lucky enough last month to be part of the Eastern Ontario Local Food Conference (EOLFC) where we dove into the building blocks of the local food community in Eastern Ontario. I had the opportunity to meet some of fantastic food producers and other food actors who are…
Vendor Spotlight: Sweets From The Earth Sweets from the Earth has its roots in humble beginnings. In 1977, an alarmed young girl named Ilana learned that the meat in the rabbit stew she was being served for dinner came from cute fluffy bunnies. That was it: Ilana declared herself a vegetarian and swore off meat for life. Years later, after some years…
Vendor Spotlight: Love Child Organics Love Child Organics started when Leah and John’s first born, Poppy, and later, Cam, entered their lives. As new parents, they were shocked (and frustrated) to discover most of the ‘organic’ baby food and children’s snack products contained unnecessary additives that were certainly not ‘real food’ and too often, also contained empty…
Vendor Spotlight: The Little Potato Company The Little Potato Company began 20 years ago with Jacob van der Schaaf and his daughter Angela Santiago, who shared a dream of growing small tasty potatoes like the kind Jacob enjoyed in his boyhood in Holland. On a tiny plot just outside of Edmonton, Alberta, they planted, harvested…
Making the Grade – reflections on B Corp re-certification Here at Localize, we became a B Corp two years ago. As such, we just completed our first recertification. (Are you not sure what a B Corp is? Check out our other blog post about it here). Completing our renewal has been an especially insightful time…
Vendor Spotlight: Back Forty Artisan Cheese Just an hour’s drive west of Ottawa, Ontario, Back Forty Artisan Cheese is located on a picturesque farm in the hamlet of Mississippi Station. From this tiny hamlet, Jeff and Jenna Fenwick deliver their delicious cheese to Ontario shoppers. Local to: Ottawa Back Forty itself was founded in 2000,…