This Commerce Life

Phil Chang / Kenny Vannucci
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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.

  1. Vancouver Chef Robert Belcham on Restaurant Survival, Pricing Truth & Why Cheap Food Costs Someone Dearly

    7 HR AGO

    Vancouver Chef Robert Belcham on Restaurant Survival, Pricing Truth & Why Cheap Food Costs Someone Dearly

    The survival math behind Vancouver's independent restaurant scene — and why cheap food is never actually cheap. Phil and Kenny sit down with Robert Belcham — a 35-year Vancouver chef, restaurateur behind Campanolo, Monarch Burger, and Poppina Canteen, and board member of the Chef's Table Society of BC — for one of the most candid conversations about the business of food we've ever had on This Commerce Life. Robert pulls back the curtain on what it actually takes to keep a restaurant alive in one of Canada's most expensive cities: the unforgiving margins, the perception-of-value trap that operators fall into, why independent restaurants are chronically underpricing themselves, and what it would take for the whole industry to collectively raise prices and survive.   Check out: https://chefstablesociety.com/

    1hr 4min
  2. The Queen of Cookies on 28 Years at Leclerc, Breaking Into Mexico & Why Independents Still Matter

    5 MAY

    The Queen of Cookies on 28 Years at Leclerc, Breaking Into Mexico & Why Independents Still Matter

    Julie Therrien has spent 28 years selling Canadian cookies to the world — and she's got the stories to prove it. As Western Canada Sales Rep for Biscuits Leclerc (the family behind Celebration Cookies, Go Pure bars, and that iconic air travel snack you definitely know),  Julie joins Kenny and Phil to talk about her unlikely path from Quebec City to Guadalajara to Vancouver, what it really takes to break into export markets, and why the Canadian food industry's tight-knit community is one of its greatest competitive advantages.

    55 min
  3. Why Retailers Want a Distributor (Not You) — Inside UNFI Canada with President Stacey Kravitz

    28 APR

    Why Retailers Want a Distributor (Not You) — Inside UNFI Canada with President Stacey Kravitz

    If you're a Canadian food or beverage brand wondering why retailers keep asking for a distributor, this episode is your answer. Phil and Kenny sit down with Stacey Kravitz, President of UNFI Canada, for one of the most important conversations we've had on the show. Stacey brings 20+ years at Kraft and Kraft Heinz — and nearly 10 years leading UNFI Canada through COVID, supply chain chaos, and a rapidly consolidating grocery landscape — to give brands a rare, unfiltered look at how distribution actually works in this country. Whether you're still selling out of your car, just hit your first retail listing, or you're scaling nationally — this episode will reshape how you think about distribution as a growth strategy, not just a middleman. 🎯 Key Takeaway: Retailers don't want more vendors. They want trusted distributor partners who can bring them curated, ready-to-sell innovation. If you don't have a distribution strategy, you're leaving listings on the table. Connect with UNFI Canada: unfi.com Follow This Commerce Life: thiscommercelife.com Mentioned in this episode: UNFI Canada's Up Next Incubator Program Canadian Grocery Sector Code of Conduct ItSo Coffee (brand shoutout from Stacey) Rob Mortenson — go-to-market strategy services If you're looking for online retail classes, we're building our first class already! contact us at podcast@thiscommercelife.com

    1 hr
  4. Why Your Brand Looks Like Frankenstein (And How to Fix It) ft. Kevin Sotto

    21 APR

    Why Your Brand Looks Like Frankenstein (And How to Fix It) ft. Kevin Sotto

    Most small business owners think they have a brand. What they actually have is a collection of decisions made in a hurry — four shades of blue, six different fonts, and a website built room by room without a blueprint. Sound familiar? In this episode, Phil and Kenny sit down with Kevin Sotto of Sotto Digital — the digital strategist behind the This Commerce Life rebrand — to talk about what branding actually is, why so many Canadian food and CPG brands get it wrong, and what it takes to build a digital presence that earns trust. Kevin shares his journey from engineering at McMaster, to RBC, to health-tech startup life, to running his own digital marketing and branding consultancy. He also pulls back the curtain on his experience working with TCL — from cleaning up a messy website to uncovering the three core pillars of the brand and why that "editorial navy" is doing more work than anyone realized.

    1 hr
  5. The Real Cost of Getting Into Stores — Umami Crave the Fifth's Retail Journey

    14 APR

    The Real Cost of Getting Into Stores — Umami Crave the Fifth's Retail Journey

    What does it take to turn a house-made restaurant dressing into a multi-SKU CPG brand with distributors, Power Bowl mixes, and a brand-new line of high-protein soup mixes? This week, Phil and Kenny sit down  with Joanna and Stephanie, the co-founders of Umami Crave the Fifth, a Kelowna-based food brand making waves across BC and beyond. Joanna and Stephanie pull back the curtain on the full journey: starting with a beet quinoa salad dressing at BNA Brewing, surviving a pandemic launch, building their own production facility, and navigating the brutal reality that getting into a store is easy — getting off the shelf is hard.  They share hard-won lessons on SKU naming disasters (50,000 pouches ordered before rebranding), sourcing Canadian pea protein, competing in a crowded condiment category, and why their vegan Worcestershire sauce accidentally became their fastest-growing product.   Check out Umami Crave the Fifth here: https://www.umamicravethefifth.com/ Find out more about the Big Cheese Festival in Armstrong here: https://www.aschamber.com/thebigcheese.html Find out more about Basin Food Summit here: https://basinfood.ca/   If you want to sign up for one of our classes, email us at podcast@thiscommercelife.com

    1hr 3min
  6. From Deloitte Partner to Canada's Only Horseradish Producer | Marc Whitmore

    7 APR

    From Deloitte Partner to Canada's Only Horseradish Producer | Marc Whitmore

    What does it take to leave a 30-year career at one of the world's biggest consulting firms — and bet it all on a 65-year-old condiment brand that had been sitting dormant for a year? Marc Whitmore is the CEO and owner of Dennis Horseradish, Canada's only horseradish producer. A former Senior Partner and global leader at Deloitte, Marc walked away from corporate life in his 50s to become a food entrepreneur — and ended up finding his business for sale on MLS.ca like a cottage listing. In this episode, Marc shares the full journey: the failed hops venture that came first, why he bought a brand with no active customers, how Dennis went from zero to 1,000+ stores across four countries, and what growing 25% looks like when you're still reinvesting every dollar back into the business. We also dig into the realities of Canadian food entrepreneurship — why you need to "get in the flow" to find deals, how to think about exporting before you've even figured out your own backyard, and why Marc says the best reason to build a business is for Canada itself.   Check out Dennis Horseradish here: https://dennishorseradish.com/ If you're a brand and you need help to scale, or you know a brand that needs help - send them to us! www.thiscommercelife.com

    59 min
  7. Retiring Grocer Reveals the Secret to Local Brand Success: Peter Boyd on Food, Community & What Retailers Really Want

    31 MAR

    Retiring Grocer Reveals the Secret to Local Brand Success: Peter Boyd on Food, Community & What Retailers Really Want

    After 37 years running the same grocery store, Peter Boyd is stepping away from the floor — but he's nowhere near done. In this episode of This Commerce Life, Phil and Kenny sit down with one of the most beloved independent grocery operators in the Okanagan to talk about what it actually takes to build a loyal customer base, why kindness isn't the enemy of profit, and what comes next for Peter as he turns his energy toward food banks, local vendors, and community infrastructure. This one hits different. If you've ever wondered what separates the retailers that champion small brands from the ones that don't — this is the conversation.

    1hr 11min
  8. From Tinder to Acquisition to North America's First Clear Vegan Protein — Melissa L'Heureux-Hache of Vegain

    24 MAR

    From Tinder to Acquisition to North America's First Clear Vegan Protein — Melissa L'Heureux-Hache of Vegain

    What does it look like to bootstrap a CPG brand from your kitchen, survive an acquisition, and then pivot into a category that barely existed? Melissa L'Heureux-Hache, co-founder of Vegain — a Vancouver-based plant-based sports nutrition company — shares the full story with Phil and Kenny on This Commerce Life. From launching a vegan hemp skincare brand in Toronto (with zero ability to advertise on any major digital platform), to doing 40+ trade shows in a single year, to getting acquired by a public company in 2019, to co-creating Surge — North America's first clear vegan protein in a can — Melissa's entrepreneurial journey is one of the most honest and energizing stories we've told on this podcast. And if that wasn't enough? She also opened a café and retail storefront on Vancouver's Seawall. Because why not. In this episode, we get into: How Melissa and her partner Eden bootstrapped and sold their first CPG company with no science background The challenge of advertising a hemp-based product when the internet thought you were selling drugs What it actually feels like to go through an acquisition and work for the acquiring company for a year The origin story of Vegain and why they launched with one of the most niche SKUs possible — a vegan mass gainer The accidental innovation behind Surge — and why they pitched it at CHFA Launchpad before the product even existed Why they opened a café (and what it taught them about food service, staff culture, and community) The retail expansion push and what's next for Vegain Connect with Vegain: 🌐 vegain.ca 📍 Find them on the Vancouver Seawall Connect with This Commerce Life: 🌐 thiscommercelife.com 📱 Follow us on Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube

    52 min
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About

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.

Information

  • Creator
    Phil Chang / Kenny Vannucci
  • Years Active
    2022 - 2026
  • Episodes
    477
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Show Website
    This Commerce Life