LanguaTalk

This Commerce Life

A Canadian Podcast, focused on Canadian brands, determined to talk about Canadian success stories. We are retail educators and experts, teaching Canadian businesses how to build, grow, and scale in retail. As industry connectors, Kenny & Phil bring decades of experience as buyers, sales strategists, and marketers into delivering practical, actionable education grounded in real-world application.

Mitch Cobb is the founder of Libra Non-Alcoholic Craft Beer. We talk about his experiences "crossing over" from Upstreet Craft Brewing to the non-alcoholic side.

49 mins; June 24, 2024

Michelle Mckay-Prychidny is the CRO at Shelfgram. She talks about super-charging the store visit, and the new thing they've built for students.

60 hours 29 mins; June 17, 2024

"Why can't I have a craft (non-alcoholic) beer with my friends?"

47 mins; June 10, 2024

Special episode today. We named him "Amazon Master" but in truth, Deepak is really really good at Amazon.

69 hours 24 mins; June 06, 2024

Kristin Matthews, CEO of Tom&Sawyer comes back to tell us about her new partnership and product launch with Dr Joe Inglis.

54 mins; June 03, 2024

Always be ready. Toronto based Shop Shndy got discovered in Scarborough, and is being featured in Paris Fashion Week 2024.

41 mins; May 27, 2024

We meet up with the remarkable Winnie Hsu. Founder of Vision2Reality Foundation & CEO of NexGen Accounting

74 hours 37 mins; May 21, 2024

We catch up with the amazing Corwin Hiebert. We talk about his podcast, the work he does and how to stay focused on your consumer.

59 mins; May 13, 2024

John Doherty has to put up with us city mice. Stonepost Farms’ mission is to farm ethically

68 hours 38 mins; May 06, 2024

Mitch needs a hug. The founder of Rviita talks about starting in the CPG world from scratch

54 mins; April 29, 2024

Our first food scientist! Lara Tiro comes on to talk about our favorite topic...FOOD!

70 hours 45 mins; April 22, 2024

Kieran and Brent talk about what it takes to run a farm in southern Ontario

61 hours 15 mins; April 15, 2024

Jared talks about: being a dad, an ex-CPG founder, relationship builder, researchers & strategist. We do not talk about him being a really tall guy

57 mins; April 08, 2024

Melanie MacInnes talks about being flexible, nimble, the irrational fear of losing the farm

66 hours 28 mins; April 01, 2024

Jan Stenc, Co-Founder and Head Distiller at Copperpenny Distilling Co. teaches us about gin, and also sorts of yummy alcoholic things.

65 hours 39 mins; March 25, 2024

Aeryon came on to talk about lady bits and chlamydia

60 hours 51 mins; March 18, 2024

How hard is it to get good data?? Nimesh finds your data, fixes it, and helps you tell the story.

56 mins; March 14, 2024

Happy 10th birthday to Moonshine Mama's! Mel Divers talks about putting summer in a bottle.

62 hours 3 mins; March 11, 2024

He has 18+ years of real estate development, and he knows music spaces. But now, he knows kitchens too. COO of Coho Collective Kitchens, Amrit Maharaj talks about one of our favorite subjects - food!

54 mins; March 04, 2024

Daniel Rabu is an aquaculturist.Don't know what exactly that is? Neither did we.

75 hours 28 mins; February 26, 2024

We get naked and saucy (sortof) with Founder Paul Gill.

57 mins; February 19, 2024

John Danyluk and Michael Rende from Earth's Own come on to talk milks - oat, almond and we get a bit of masterclass in how to look at category analytics.

67 hours 16 mins; February 12, 2024

We spend some time with Hope Aylen. We learn a few things and see how a designer sees the process of designing our hopes and dreams in packaging and labels.

55 mins; February 05, 2024

We brought her back to talk about her! Cheryl Grant, the founder of Vitality comes on to talk about her journey.

73 hours 55 mins; January 29, 2024

Former broadcaster Patrice Mousseau started making eczema lotion, and now she's moving into helping other businesses.

47 mins; January 22, 2024

Tamara Wensley sent us the best pork rinds we'd ever had. The founder of Primal Sisters talks about how a vegetarian nutritionist got into pork rinds.

57 mins; January 15, 2024

They got voted off the island...literally. Salt Spring Island Founder Mickey McLeod comes on to talk about their origin story, regenerative farming, organic, fair trade standards.

60 hours 53 mins; January 08, 2024

He likes to break down silos and move between things. Michael Mikulak, Executive Director of Food and Beverage Manitoba comes on to talk about his winding path to helping food processors and brands today in Manitoba.

61 hours 8 mins; December 21, 2023

She's done a fast thought with us, but we finally got a chance to hang out for real with her. This started with a journey to switch the family to vegan, and she realized how hard it was to get healthy, tasty and relatively to make.

50 mins; December 18, 2023

Cedar Valley founder Ameen Fadel talks about how he got started at 16 and how he and his family have built a national business

53 mins; December 12, 2023

Looking for a Christmas treat? HINT - listen to this episode. A colouring cookie kit. Who knew? Chris Goodrow and his wife, Kristy, that's who.

56 mins; December 04, 2023

They bought their uncle's business, got orders by fax machine, and didnt' know who their end customers were. It took a pandemic, and a timely instagram post by Ryan Reynolds, and a lot of sweat and selling to get this business into what it is today.

62 hours 31 mins; November 27, 2023

A father/daughter podcast on families in business together. Randy and Kamryn Sihota talk family business

55 mins; November 20, 2023

Aaron Chin always knew that he wanted to be in the business of helping others. Watching his dad build Organika served as role model for what he's trying to do with the business today.

69 hours 46 mins; November 13, 2023

CEO and a partner of Unity Brands Inc., David Lui comes on to talk about the company he cofounded with Joe Mimran and Frank Rocchetti.

66 hours 58 mins; November 06, 2023

Let's talk about her Noods - Mayumi Bae and her siblings are committed to bringing Asian inspired, innovative plant based products to market.

50 mins; November 02, 2023

Sonia Strobel talks about supporting Canadian fishing families and keeping small-scale fishing alive in BC and providing transparency around what they are catching, where and how.

63 hours 3 mins; October 30, 2023

92% Canadians said they love having small businesses in their community, but only 13% do most of their shopping at small businesses

60 hours 37 mins; October 24, 2023

"Who the heck cuts out sugar??" This got her thinking. Alice Grey talks about finding monk fruit, and making the best chocolate she can make with monk fruit.

70 hours 13 mins; October 23, 2023

Chocxo just won an award at BCFB. Wondering what their story is? Scott Sulz comes on to talk about great chocolate.

56 mins; October 20, 2023

The CEO of Vitality, Cheryl Grant sounds the alarm on Health Canada putting more red tape on our world class supplements process.

71 hours 37 mins; October 16, 2023

She inherited her dad's meat smoker and decided that she'd smoke tofu instead.

60 hours 15 mins; October 09, 2023

We're talking to a functional expert you can call or ask questions of. Bryan Horsley is a CA/CPA who has an accounting background, consulting and been a retailer.

60 hours 1 min; October 05, 2023

"People want real tangible holistic frameworks for healing" Angela and Yarrow Willard talk about Harmonic Arts, how they became a national brand, and the shift from being a small business owner to a business leader.

59 mins; October 02, 2023

For every dollar they've given a company, those companies are able to attract another $64. Who is NPC? Sue Coulesan explains

52 mins; September 25, 2023

Mitsoh ("Eat" in Cree Nehiyaw) was founded by Ian Gladue of Wabasca's Bigstone Cree Nation in Alberta.

96 hours 37 mins; September 18, 2023

If you had 250,000 people at your disposal what would you ask for? Jeff Doucette talks about some of the retail wishes he and Fieldagent fulfill every week for brands.

75 hours 4 mins; September 14, 2023

A what? A dacquoise + macaron = Dacaron. Jimmy Kim talks about their journey to bring the Dacaron to Canadian consumers.

64 hours 59 mins; September 11, 2023

Riaz Meghji, Author of Every Conversation counts comes on to talk about conversations, journaling and connections.

64 hours 29 mins; September 04, 2023

Karen Danudjaja the founder of Blume comes by to talk about startups, not knowing retail and celebrating wins

64 hours 20 mins; August 29, 2023

We get the '101' about chocolate and social enterprises. Mara Mennicken is the 'GOOD' in the The GOOD Chocolatier. After studying about social enterprises, she wondered why companies don't give back every step of their journey to growth.

73 hours 16 mins; August 21, 2023

She takes risks. She loves learning and she's made a habit of sharing her wins and mistakes. Bro-Dough founder Erica Rankin comes on to talk about learning CPG and selling a product that she loves.

67 hours 41 mins; August 14, 2023

One of his greatest fears is that he will talk without saying anything. That isn't true - while he was with us, VP Strategic Partnerships / Ethical Food Group Corwin Hiebert has a lot to say about helping brands grow.

67 hours 52 mins; August 07, 2023

This guy finally makes it onto the podcast. Kirk Homenick talks about getting kicked out of London Drugs in his first week, and the long hard road back to being a Canadian made, hand-crafted snack.

62 hours 0 mins; July 31, 2023

Near 90 years of farming in Pitt Meadows BC, Hopcott Farms continues to thrive as a Family Farming Business

68 hours 58 mins; July 27, 2023

It's not about fear, it's about being aware. Mike Nunn from TLC Solutions walks us through the threats we face today in the world of Cybersecurity

64 hours 21 mins; July 24, 2023

We catch up with our CPG Industry Recruiting Guru, Trevor Baker. A chat about the workplace today, post Covid, the job market now and what people are looking for in employees and employers

67 hours 0 mins; July 20, 2023

We meet a fan, become fans. Sarah Kinlin will be a world reknowned speaker, coach and educator. We're proud to be her first podcast.

62 hours 30 mins; July 17, 2023

Mushrooms! We talk mushrooms and building a mushroom farm from scratch with Bryan Thomas.

58 mins; July 10, 2023

"It's like running up a down escalator" CEO of BC Food and Beverage James Donaldson talks about member challenges, being a not-for-profit industry association representing food and beverage manufacturers in British Columbia.

57 mins; July 06, 2023

A ballet dancer, model, actress, and scuba instructor turned to beverage maker. GnuSante Chief Strategy & Ideation Officer Autumn Kendrick talks about making kid friendly, nutritional drinks.

56 mins; July 03, 2023

Dean Yachison jumps in to talk about Health First network

63 hours 21 mins; June 29, 2023

We take a road trip to Fancy Food show in New York City. Favorite brands, how we think about imported products and costing are a few of the things we talk about.

48 mins; June 26, 2023

Emily and Kyle have made it their mission to knock down barriers to eating a plant-based diet by making accessible vegan versions of traditional products

54 mins; June 19, 2023

He's a CPA by training, but he was employee #2 with Choices. It turns out that retail stuck, and now Arif Ahmed runs two stores, and has ambitions for more locally focused, community driven stores.

51 mins; June 15, 2023

Jeff Ball talks about his family, and their journey thru farming. Trudi-Ann and Jeff talk about the process of getting Thrive Provisions to market, and packaging wagyu beef as a snack.

60 hours 26 mins; June 12, 2023

Retailer Spotlight: Peter Boyd, YIG Kelowna. Peter Boyd is a local legend, and a brand favorite grocer - he's helped so many brands, retail folks, store folks to find their feet, we were honored to have him on the podcast.

63 hours 31 mins; June 08, 2023

She'd never made guacamole before. While mashing the avocados, Dyana saw a bottle of Aji condiment, a speciality in Colombia and South America. The rest, they say is history.

56 mins; June 05, 2023

She's an OG. Took us awhile to bring her back. Kelly Ison updates us from episode 27 and what's happening today at Einstein Pets.

71 hours 38 mins; May 29, 2023

She got fired from being an admin assistant job, but rocked a sales job. She wondered if she was going to sell olive oil forever. Instead, she built Hive, the merchandising company that helps brands be visible and standout on shelf.

59 mins; May 22, 2023

A recipe for yeast based salad dressing turns into a gluten free product that solves Paul Kleinschmidt's health concerns and puts flavour back in his food. Yeshi starts in Paul and Barbara's kitchen and now is found nationwide.

57 mins; May 15, 2023

Ken Anderson, friend to the podcast and long time CPG guy (now retired) comes on to give a history lesson on how and why retailers do what they do that makes us so mad.

76 hours 30 mins; May 12, 2023

A tech guy and a forensic accountant decide to make fresh cooked dog food. We talk to Co-founders Peter Zakarow and Kristin Matthews about Tom & Sawyer

72 hours 32 mins; May 08, 2023

Founder, Agency guy, he's gonna tell you the way it is Jared Kilgerman is a smart guy that will talk to you about your business without pitching you.

70 hours 13 mins; May 01, 2023

She's not a baker. She's an entrepreneur. Jenna Ross and her Co-Founder saw a need and decided to jump in. As tourist season arrives in the Maritimes, you'll find her lighthouse shaped shortbread cookies all over Nova Scotia.

56 mins; April 24, 2023

This team of students built a brand that supplies food banks and schools with fruit snaps. In the process, they won the Canadian Nationals, placed in the world finals. And..while they're not winning, they sell apple juice to grocery stores and markets.

64 hours 47 mins; April 17, 2023

"What the hell does Scott do?" First time caller, long time listener, Scott Miller finally gets to explain what he does for a living.

71 hours 12 mins; April 10, 2023

Co-Founder + Chief Executive Officer at TMRW Foods, Dean Blignaut comes to talk about tomorrow, and how to effect change in the way we eat, and the way we think about 'protein'

65 hours 32 mins; April 03, 2023

Most grocery stores now carry Greenhouse Juice Co. We talk to Hana James about where and how this all started.

55 mins; March 27, 2023

How to use new tools to understand trends that are coming, or to find out what you're missing. Jeff and Bram come on to talk new innovation

69 hours 48 mins; March 23, 2023

Helping brands find their footing, Pareen Hassanally is doing what she loves.

58 mins; March 20, 2023

A pink slip on the fridge started a journey that wound up with Kurt running The Organic Grocer

63 hours 59 mins; March 16, 2023

Sam Rayner is a purpose driven marketer that wants to leave the world better than she found it. As the Co-founder of Better Basics, she's taking plastic out of the world, by offering simple eco swaps help you say no to plastic

66 hours 29 mins; March 13, 2023

The road not travelled. Steve Lee surprises Kenny - VPresident, eCommerce Grocery comes on to talk SkipExpressLane at SkipTheDishes

58 mins; March 09, 2023

Eat For Life Grocery Store Founder, Cookbook Author, Solopreneur Coach, Speaker Marsha Hebert talks about doing too much and how that's just enough. Marsha has an incredible journey.

68 hours 0 mins; March 09, 2023

Jocknerd Marc Wandler took his love of sport nutrition and accidentally on purpose started rescuing spent grain from breweries and transforming it into delicious baking mixes that the whole family can enjoy.

61 hours 31 mins; March 06, 2023

A retailer's point of view. We talk to Beth Potter, Marketing Manager, Community Natural Foods about how she got to CNF, and the role that Natural Health Stores play in local markets and the Canadian retail landscape.

72 hours 12 mins; March 02, 2023

She's designed snowboards, shoes and wanted to open a restaurant. Sonya Laurenssen talks about taking over Jusu and the brand's origin story.

67 hours 14 mins; February 27, 2023

Founder of P3 Natural Muscle & Joint Pain Relieving Cream, Registered Massage Therapist, Sports Therapist, owner of multiple clinics, lavender farmer makes John Forde an interesting guest.

59 mins; February 20, 2023

They could have bought a McDonald's in 1976, but his dad and his brother chose to get into granola instead. Fast forward, Randy Sihota is still in the family business

73 hours 7 mins; February 13, 2023

It started because she wanted to get her mom her favorite chocolate bar and discovered it had been discontinued. Crystal Regehr Westergard talks about becoming a Heritage chocolate bar brand specialist.

72 hours 28 mins; February 06, 2023

If you're celebrating a Dry January, this episode with Cristina and the knuckleheads talk about Lyre's and the growing non-alcoholic spirits segment. Cristina talks about her time growing up at J&J, and her journey to this new emerging category.

72 hours 23 mins; January 30, 2023

He started as a bag boy at Save-On Foods. Kyle Leslie, President of Star Marketing talks about helping amazing brands

53 mins; January 23, 2023

He'd never farmed before. When he had the opportunity to buy Alvin Filsinger's farm, he jumped at it. Filsinger's is named for it's founder Alvin Filsinger - one of the first six organic farms in Canada

50 mins; January 16, 2023

Gage Mitchell on, he runs Modern Species - he helps impact-driven CPG brands grow through strategic branding, sustainable design, and community.

56 mins; January 09, 2023

Just the Knuckleheads today. We talk about what we want out of the podcast this year, what to expect from the podcast this year. We also do something we don't do well - we ask for what we want.

37 mins; January 02, 2023

Making farming cool again. First timers on the podcast, Avi and Binny talk about Good Karma Farming from the Okanagan. One is a pharmacist and the other an engineer, but wind up taking over Avi's parents' farm

57 mins; December 26, 2022

She started her retail journey starts at 7 in Shakespeare Ontario.

63 hours 2 mins; December 19, 2022

Creating an Answer Where None Exists: A Hopeful Story - CEO of Kidstar, Caitlyn Vanderhaeghe

59 mins; December 12, 2022

He always wanted to be an entrepreneur. Scott Currie talks about what the journey looks like after drinking the corporate cool aid.

56 mins; December 05, 2022

Click here to see more

This Commerce Life

Useful pages

Find a tutor

Languages