Thanks to online shopping, it’s just as easy to purchase a product from the other side of the world as it is to buy one made down the street.
But despite the world’s ever-increasing interconnectedness, the past few years have seen a noticeable shift in consumer mindsets away from mass-produced goods and towards local, handmade products.
Keeping it local was exactly what led Spark Kombucha founder Ellen We to begin brewing her own variety of the fermented tea-based beverage at home as an alternative to mass-produced brands she was buying at the grocery store.
The Squamish resident eventually decided to start selling her product at local farmers’ markets, officially launching in April 2015 after several years spent sharing her homebrewed concoctions with friends and family.
She’s since seen a massive increase in the amount of Sea to Sky residents flocking to locally-made products like hers.
Spark Kombucha is brewed in small batches, with a focus on quality and creating a unique flavour profile that We described as less sweet than the big brands. Available at several local businesses and markets throughout the Sea to Sky region, We’s product is sold on tap, using a growler-fill system often used by craft breweries.
By selling her product on tap and in reusable growlers, We said she’s able to reduce shipping and packaging costs, which passes value savings to the customer.
But despite these cost savings, she said it’s still impossible to keep up with the big brands’ prices. In fact, she doesn’t even try.
“We didn’t consider ourselves competition with the larger brands initially,” she said. “There’s just no way to compete against giants like that. Our product is artisanal and small-batch… We’re in a completely different category.
“We think there’s something to be said about that as well. There’s an opportunity for people to access kombucha in any community. It’s such a growing food product. We’re not looking to distribute to Ontario or across the border. We feel fresh is best and local’s best.”
We’s strategy just might be the right one: According to a 2013 Business Development Bank of Canada study, approximately three-quarters of surveyed consumers would be willing to pay more for locally-produced food.
“Local means really supporting people within your own community, as well as the environmental implications,” We said. “There’s a sustainability aspect to it, as well. When you’re buying local, you’re not getting a shipment from very far away, and it tends to be a fresher, better product in my opinion. It’s a movement – buying local.”
This movement is also something Sarah White noticed after opening her boutique Wild and Heart, an online fashion and accessories retailer that expanded to a physical store in Squamish about four years ago.
While White’s shop carries a wide variety of brands, including big names like Herschel Supply Co. that are easy to find and purchase with a simple Google search, she said consumers are thinking consciously about where their money is going.
“I have a lot of customers email me and say, ‘Hey, do you have this type of local product? If you do, I want to buy it from you because I want to support you,’” she explained.
White – who estimates that about 30 of the 100-plus brands she works with are B.C.- or local-based – also said that the uniqueness attributed to local, handmade products makes them even more of a draw for consumers.
“If you can choose to spend your money on something that’s a unique piece that’s handmade locally, as opposed to something that’s manufactured overseas that might not be great quality, in the long run you have a better-made product and something that supported a local business,” she said.
As the “shop local” and “buy handmade” movements have grown, so have the opportunities and venues in which to do so.
White and We are just two of the local vendors that will be participating in the upcoming winter Refresh Market, set to take place at the West Coast Railway Heritage Park on Nov. 18 and 19. The event is returning to Squamish for its fifth year and 10th event, bringing together 100 B.C.-based designers, makers and vendors under one roof.
“It’s a very community-driven event, and it really supports the concept of shopping handmade and shopping local,” said Refresh Market co-founder Rachel Boguski. “I think there’s been a shift in everyone’s thinking from big-box to boutique and I think that’s something that’s not going out of style anytime soon.”
“Squamish definitely has a demographic that is passionate about their community. They are very passionate about being sustainable and healthy, and I think that definitely fits in with buying local,” added Boguski’s co-founder Shannon Lorenz. “There’s a feel-good piece, too. When I have anything from any of the vendors, it just has a little bit of love that seems to slide off of it.”
On that note, the personal connections the Refresh Market fosters are a valuable experience that Lorenz and Boguski said online shopping just can’t rival.
“The great thing about Refresh is you’re often buying directly from the maker,” said Boguski.
“Everything you’re touching essentially tells a story and you have the ability to meet the people who are making these things.”
These face-to-face connections are just as valuable to the vendors, as well.
While We said she appreciates the opportunity to receive direct feedback from customers, the event’s tendency to feature both makers and shop owners, like White, creates a prime opportunity for both groups to meet and establish mutually beneficial relationships.
In fact, White said she’s met numerous designers while participating in the Refresh Markets that she’s gone on to collaborate with.
“We work together and we’ve grown each other’s businesses together,” she said.
Refresh Market has gained so much popularity in its half-decade of existence (it started with only 23 vendors five years ago) that an extra evening of shopping has been added to the formerly single-day event.
This month’s market will also be the first to make cocktails available for purchase, with Squamish distillery Gillespie’s on hand to provide the liquor.
For more information about the Refresh Market go to refreshmarket.ca.
