COVID-19: Small-batch producers from across B.C. launch the Emergency Pantry Food Box

Local artisans band together to stay afloat

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      COVID-19 is hurting small food producers all across B.C.

      Traditional sales channels are drying up, and consumers are increasingly turning to online shopping.

      The Emergency Pantry Food Box comes in response to what local artisans are calling a crisis.

      “In a nutshell, the pandemic is disrupting our food system and putting small BC food producers at risk,” says Philippe Taillefer, president of Canadian Artisan Foods, a food distributor that specializes in local, small-batch, and emerging producers.

      Taillefer says artisans are being hammered by the closure of restaurants and farmers markets and by the suspension of food events. Plus, public concern around supply means more people are stocking up on mass-produced foods and making fewer trips to smaller, independent grocery stores.

      The first Emergency Pantry Food Box is loaded with items like beans, pasta sauce, condiments, coffee, tea, honey, peanut butter, crackers, snacks and chocolates.

      Participating Vancouver-based producers include Kids Can Cook, Ace Curries to Go, BC Buzz Honey, Eve’s Crackers, Pedro’s Organic Coffee, Rain City Tea, Truffle Pig Chocolate, and Vancouver Freeze Dried.

      From the Okanagan are Fieldstone Organics, Skippy’s Kettlecorn, and Whitewater Cooks. Then there’s Fraser Valley Gourmet, Campbell River’s Tilly’s Galley, Victoria’s Island Nut Roastery, and more.

      The box costs $100 plus shipping and ships in two days.

      “B.C.'s small food producers are struggling to stay afloat, and we need to keep this important supply of Canadian and B.C.-based food products alive,” Taillefer says. “We can ship an Emergency Pantry Food Box right to your door."

      To order and learn more, visit www.canadianartisanonline.com.

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