This Commerce Life

Trading Cards to Facebook Fame: How One Collector Built a Digital Empire Join Phil and Kenny as they dive deep into the fascinating world of modern card collecting with special guest Anthony from Red Light Sports. What started as a COVID hobby digging through childhood collections has evolved into a thriving Facebook Live business that's redefining how collectors buy and sell. Anthony takes us beh...

Burgoo Restaurant's Justin Joyce on 24 Years of Comfort Food & Vancouver's Evolving Food Scene We had an amazing conversation with Justin, owner of the four Burgoo restaurant locations in Vancouver, who joined us despite dealing with a power outage and a sick dog. What started as a discussion about his restaurants quickly evolved into a deep dive about the challenges facing independent operators i...

Food Fraud and Authenticity Testing with Deleo De Leonardis, CEO of Purity IQ In this eye-opening conversation, Kenny and Phil sit down with Deleo De Leonardis, CEO and co-founder of Purity IQ, to discuss a critical issue that affects every consumer: food fraud and adulteration. Deleo shares her unexpected journey from 20 years in retail (including VP of Private Label at Sobeys) to becoming an ent...

Automating Food Safety with Normex In this episode, we sit down with Tanguy Etoga, founder and CEO of Normex, to dive into the often overlooked but critically important world of food safety management. Tanguy shares his fascinating journey from a childhood in Cameroon—where a conversation with his father about preserving mangoes year-round sparked his passion—to becoming a food safety consultant a...

Hot Sauce Without the Heat - Viggy from Toca Foods What happens when an aerospace engineer meets a sommelier and decides to revolutionize the condiment aisle? In this episode, we sit down with Viggy, co-founder of Tocha Foods, who's created something that sounds impossible: "hot sauce without the heat." From his journey as a would-be rocket scientist to discovering a gap in the sauce market that l...

Ashlyn Newlove, Founder of SmartSip Ashlyn Newlove, Founder of SmartSip. We had an absolute blast talking with Ashlyn Newlove, the competitive and charismatic founder behind SmartSip - a calorie-friendly, fiber-rich powdered coconut oil creamer that's taking the health and wellness world by storm.   Ashlyn proves that with the right product, solid margins, authentic social media presence, and enou...

Getting Graded: Inside the Wild World of Card Authentication with TGA's Tyler Ever wondered how a piece of cardboard can be worth millions of dollars? This week, we dive deep into the fascinating (and slightly insane) world of sports card grading with Tyler, founder of TGA(True Grade Authentication), a new Canadian authentication company that's shaking up an industry dominated by American giants....

Kyle Schumacher, founder and owner of Caliente Hot Sauce Company, joins the podcast to discuss his entrepreneurial journey from trades worker to successful hot sauce manufacturer. Based in British Columbia, Kyle has built a unique fresh hot sauce business that operates exclusively in refrigerated retail sections.   find Kyle here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyle-schumacher-1a345190/ Check out Cal...

In this special episode of "This Commerce Life," host Phil travels to St. John's, Newfoundland, where he tours the Newfoundland Chocolate Company with founder Christina Dove. Christina shares her remarkable journey from neuroscientist to chocolatier and gelato expert, detailing how she built her thriving business from her basement to a factory producing 40,000 chocolates daily. The conversation ex...

Sarah Harper and the Fiery World of Stoke The Fire Hot Sauce Join hosts Phil and Kenny for an engaging conversation with Sarah Harper, the self-proclaimed "Sauceress" and CEO of Stoke The Fire Hot Sauce. This episode takes you on a journey from Sarah's fascinating background as a performance artist and Arctic chef to her current life as a passionate pepper farmer and hot sauce creator in British C...

From Restaurant Owner to Tea Entrepreneur with Nicole Keats Join hosts Phil and Kenny as they sit down with Nicole Keating, founder of The Newfoundland Tea Company. In this candid and energetic conversation, Nicole shares her remarkable journey from running a fine-dining bistro in Gander to building a premium organic tea brand that's rapidly expanding beyond Newfoundland's shores. Nicole opens up...

Owner of Wild Moon Organics Sean Smith looks at brands, owning a bone broth company a little differently.    Check out Wild Moon Organics here: https://wildmoon.ca/ Find Sean here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sean-smith-1551b953/overlay/photo/ Thank you to Fieldagent for sponsoring the podcast: https://www.fieldagentcanada.com/

Nathanael Hollands and Kinvest Impact Foundation are building market innovations in Rural Africa. They invest in agribusiness farms near marketplace communities. By combining development in marketplaces with commercial farms, they help foster a complete economic system where value is created, jobs and wages grow, and money is recirculated into the local economy.   Connect with Nathanael here: http...

Dinner with Christos. The founder of Aelo, talks about their new launch, Limoncello and how this one is special. He also talks about how he thinks about flavours, and keeping Aelo special.    Check out Aelo here: https://www.drinkaelo.com/ Connect with Christos here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christos-kalaitzis-b7942378/ Thank you to Field Agent Canada for sponsoring the podcast: https://www.fie...

Throwback episode. We walked the Kelowna Farmer's Market with Peter Boyd last summer and this is some of the footage. We get a buyer's perspective on brands and what he wants to accomplish, and we hear just a sample of amazing stories at that market.   Thank you to Field Agent Canada for sponsoring the podcast. Head to https://www.fieldagentcanada.com  to find out more Get more details on Grocery...

Off Script with Phil & Kenny: April Events Preview Join Phil Chang and Kenny Vannucci as they discuss upcoming food industry events and initiatives in Canada this April. The duo shares their plans for CHFA (April 26-27), where they'll run a unique connection hub using Polaroid photos to match brands with distributors, brokers, and partners. They'll also be attending Grocery Showcase West (April 14...

From ice cream bicycles to national distribution: Meet Melissa Leung of TransCold, the powerhouse behind Canada's frozen food logistics. Learn why small frozen brands need distribution partners, how TransCold expanded from ice cream to nationwide frozen food delivery, and why factoring in distribution costs from day one is crucial for frozen food startups. A must-listen for anyone in the frozen ca...

In this episode, hosts Phil and Kenny welcome Brittany from HIVE Naturals and Jeff Doucette from Field Agent Canada to announce their groundbreaking partnership: the world's first hybrid merchandising agency. The collaboration combines Field Agent's powerful audit capabilities with HIVE's expert merchandising team to create a "find and fix" solution for brands. This innovative partnership allows b...

Lisa Simonsen packs eggs for a living...just kidding. If you're looking for a designer's view of front of pack labels that are upcoming, this is the episode for you.    Connect with Lisa here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisa-simonsen/ Find out more at Lisa's website: https://www.simonsendesigns.com/

Tamales are an ancient dish from Mesoamerica, with about 500 variations in Mexico alone, differing by region and ingredients. Generally, almost anyone who has tried one, smiles when they reminisce about having a coffee, hot chocolate with a tamale. We're smiling ear to ear - Nadia Toledo plus talking about tamales is a win/win!   Check out Nadia's tamales here: https://www.antojosysabores.com/ Fin...

She found me with one of her buttermilk biscuits in my mouth. Dawn Chapman owner and CEO of Toronto's Lazy Daisy's Café and inaugural winner of WXN Canada's Most Powerful Women: Top 100 Food Industry Award, presented by Skip   Check out Lazy Daisy's Cafe: https://lazydaisyscafe.ca/ Thank you to our sponsor Fieldagent Canada: https://www.fieldagentcanada.com/

Rochelle Minagawa, Founder of MotherLove Ferments jumps in to talk about the ending of the year, and what comes next for the business.    Check out Motherlove Ferments here: https://www.motherloveferments.com/ Find Rochelle here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rochelle-minagawa-7617491a5/ Thank you to Field Agent Canada for sponsoring the podcast. https://www.fieldagentcanada.com/    

Brody talks production and quality issues. How to know what you don't know? Brody Hanson, CEO of Work Water talks about jumping into beverage making, starting from scratch with no industry experience.    check out work water here: https://buyworkwater.com Find Brody here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brody-hanson-2774205b/   Thank you to Field Agent Canada for being our sponsor: https://www.fieldag...

Taking control. We don't have a lot of it, but a chance to  take a breath, make changes and continue to push for changes. Even though we have 30 days, let's not take our foot off the gas.    In case you're interested - Kenny's Linkedin post is here: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/kennyvannucci_buycanadian-shopcanadian-supportcanadian-activity-7291664605431402496-goGh?utm_source=share&utm_medium=me...

Just us today. Things you can do in your day to day to change the conversation around tariffs. Places and resources that you can go to find local brands, Canadian brands.  Thank you to Field Agent Canada for sponsoring the podcast.  Head to https://www.fieldagentcanada.com/ratings-and-reviews   Some resources: https://buybc.gov.bc.ca/ https://madeinalberta.co/ https://supportontariomade.ca/ https:...