Top 10 Local Food Vendors of 2021: Western Canada Edition

Welcome to the last day of the year 2021. I'm sure you're all thrilled.

Having been brought up in a family that considers force-feeding their way of affection, I wanted to go out on a high note and bring you a list of some fantastic food vendors that helped me get through another year of COVID-19.

To give you some background here, in late summer 2020 I had an incident in my local grocery store that resulted in me not wanting to shop in-store for groceries. It was right before Alberta reinstated the mask bylaw for indoor, public spaces and so the timing to limit my in-person shopping interactions also felt right. At the time I also worked right across the street from SPUD.ca Calgary warehouses and would see their trucks come and go all the time. The white panels of their vehicles, decorated with colourful produce naturally caught my eye and so one afternoon I decided to check out their website. 

How Does SPUD Calgary work? SPUD.ca is a grocery delivery service that provides local food and sustainable products to your doorstep. They are 100% online, offering pick-up from select organic grocers affiliated with SPUD Calgary. (See: Blush Lane Organic Market)

Immediately I signed up for an account with SPUD.ca because as a vegetarian, they offered some unique plant-based options and for my carnivorous husband, high quality local Alberta meats. It's free to join SPUD.ca and you also get a code to money to friends and family for them to spend. Depending on your community, SPUD Calgary gives you until 11:59Pm the evening before your delivery day to make changes or cancel your order. Check the map for SPUD Calgary delivery areas. No commitments/contracts/subscriptions whatsoever. Each delivery box from SPUD.ca contains cold packs to keep items cool and dry ice to keep frozen items, well, frozen. The deliveries arrive in cardboard boxes which you can easily recycle or reuse (thanks to sturdy handles) or Rubbermaid bins that will get collected by your SPUD.ca delivery driver the following week at your next delivery. The freezer jackets and dry ice packs will also be collected to be reused again and again. See sustainability at work here.

It was only within about the last six months that they extended the time you have to get your order in for delivery, which I thought to be a great help. Through COVID-19 I don't know about you, but my mind is just not the same - call it fatigue, hypersensitivity or straight up exhaustion. COVID-19 hit Albertans hard. SPUD.ca made it really easy for me to learn about great local food vendors and Alberta farms. SPUD.ca is also a certified B corp. 

Do you really need any more reasons to join? Signup SPUD.ca

Before we get to the moment you've all been waiting for I just want to say that I have in no way/shape/form been contracted to write this post for SPUD.ca Calgary. I am not being compensated by them, nor the local food vendors listed below. I'm just a (now pregnant) lady who loves sharing food and my experiences with it. Drumroll please.

Top 10 Local Food Vendors of 2021: Western Canada Edition

[In no order]

ANTOINETTE'S dips & sauces
Saltspring Dip & Sauce is the very first product. A classic, tried and true dip and sauce. 
From? Nelson, BC
Price? Approx. 6.29$ for 375ml

NoochPOP! Popcorn flavours include: KindaSweet, KindaCheesy, KindaNacho, KindaGarlic
From? Vancouver, BC
Price? Approx. 5.00$ for 120g

BLES-WOLD Sour Cream & Yogurt. 2% Plain or French Vanilla yogurt.
From? Coalhurst, AB
Price? Approx. 5.00$ for 500ml or 650g

BE FRESH LOCAL MARKET & CAFE is cultivated by SPUD.ca.
From? Vancouver, BC
Various Prices on Nutritionally-balanced good-for-you canned goods, dried fruits, baking ingredients, nuts & seeds, ready-made foods & snacks, juices and kombucha.

LAKEVIEW BAKERY
From? Calgary, AB
Various prices on fresh braking with a large selection of special dietary baked goods such as wheat-free, yeast-free, sugar-free and low carb. Recommendations include: Kamut sliced bread, Nunweiler bagels, Mountain Man cookies, Mega Flax squares

ROCK RIDGE DAIRY Cow's and Goat's Milk & Cheeses
From? Ponoka, AB
Price? Approx. 3.99$ for 1L or 6.99$ for 2L

The Village Flatbread Co. gourmet pizzas, salads, and sides. Pizzas are cleverly named after Calgary neighbourhoods. 100% Gluten-Free, Halal. Plus: Dairy-Free, Vegetarian, and Vegan options. 
From? Calgary, AB
Price? Approx. 24.00$ for 12" (Vegetarian)
Most tasty neighbourhoods: Kensington, Redstone, Britannia, and Maple Ridge

THE VERY GOOD BUTCHERS plant-based food tech company focused on building an expansive portfolio of plant-based meats and other delicious food products. 
From? Vancouver, BC
Price? Approx. 10.00$-13.00$ for 300g

MotherMayi Hummus is vegan, Gluten-Free hummus with No Preservatives in four "AH-mazing" flavours: Original, Roasted Beet, Spicy Sriracha, Sweet Potato
From? Calgary, AB
Price? Approx. 7.00$ for 283g

GULL VALLEY is a GMO-Free farm. Produce is grown without pesticides and herbicides. Coconut Fibre growing medium.
From? Blackfalds, AB
Various prices for Tomatoes including: Beefsteak, Tomato & Cocktail on the vine, Roma, Cherry, Grape, Yellow, Orange, Heirloom, and Mini Roma. Variety of Peppers, plus Italian Roma Beans and Living Lettuce

Late entry honourable mentions include:

VEGHAMMER, Calgary AB

Daniel's Dill Dip, Medicine Hat, AB