This Commerce Life

Phil Chang / Kenny Vannucci
  • 4.9 (63)
  • Marketing
  • Updated Weekly

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. 4d ago

    They Turned Barley Greens Into Tea — Natural Farmworks' Wild Founder Story

    What do you do when your product is so unique that no five-second pitch can explain it? This week, Phil and Kenny sit down with Brad and Sheila, founders of Natural Farmworks — a regenerative farm in BC's Boundary Country that grows barley greens and processes them using traditional Chinese tea methods to create green, oolong, and black teas that deliver a serving of greens in every cup. No bitterness, no flavourings, no "barley shivers." Brad's journey starts with a Crohn's disease diagnosis in the 1980s, runs through buying a decommissioned Saputo spray-drying plant ("How do we even turn it on?"), and lands on two years of WhatsApp messages with a tea master in China to learn an entirely new craft. Sheila shares how they hand-cut greens in their kitchen, trained with a certified herbalist, and turned lab results from BCIT's nutraceutical program into a genuinely new product category.   Whether you're a food and beverage founder, a CPG brand builder, or just love a great Canadian entrepreneur story, this one's packed with honest, practical retail advice. Check out Natural Farmworks here: https://www.naturalfarmworks.com/ If you think you fit in the Export Navigator program - check it out here: https://exportnavigator.ca/

    They Turned Barley Greens Into Tea — Natural Farmworks' Wild Founder Story

  2. Jul 7

    How She Built a Thriving Farmers Market in the Middle of Nowhere | Ashley Sauve, Sauve's Country Market

    Ashley Sauve was 12 years old when she started selling mini straw bales to Canadian Tire stores from her family's cash crop farm. Today, she owns Sauve's Country Market in South Woodslee, Ontario — a destination farm market in Windsor-Essex County that customers happily drive 45 minutes to visit, even though there's no gas station, grocery store, or Tim Hortons anywhere nearby. In this episode, Ashley shares how a $20 fall porch package posted on Facebook — no paid ads — sparked a business that outgrew a 400 sq ft shed built by her dad and uncles, and led to a brand-new 2,400 sq ft store with a walk-in cooler, commercial kitchen, donuts, and ice cream.   Check them out here: https://sauvescountrymarket.my.canva.site/ Thank you to Haddas Lederman and Rebecca Schuetz at Ontario Made for the introduction to Ashley Check out Ontario Made here: https://supportontariomade.ca/ Thank you to Maritime Good Food for sponsoring today's podcast. If you're interested in getting connected with Dwayne: https://maritimegoodfood.ca/

    How She Built a Thriving Farmers Market in the Middle of Nowhere | Ashley Sauve, Sauve's Country Market

  3. Jul 2

    Exporting to Mexico? What Canadian Food Brands Need to Know | Julie Therrien, Leclerc Group

    Special thursday episode: Julie Therrien of Biscuits Leclerc is back — and this time we're picking her brain on one of the biggest opportunities for Canadian food and beverage brands right now: exporting to Mexico. Julie's export career started in Mexico in the mid-90s, and she's spent nearly 30 years navigating the market — from co-packing for Bimbo to building branded distribution across Mexican retail. Fresh off our own trip to Guadalajara and Mexico City for Expo ANTAD, we asked her the questions every Canadian brand should be asking before shipping a single pallet south.   If you haven't heard her first episode - it's here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5NXPW7QMY06QeWTPeHDUnY?si=1OdnoEk1SmaUA-CkNy8gHg check out Leclerc here: https://leclercfoods.com/en/

    Exporting to Mexico? What Canadian Food Brands Need to Know | Julie Therrien, Leclerc Group

  4. Jun 30

    Sisters Turned a $90 Ice Cream Cart Into a CHFA Show-Stopper | Fromage Protein Pops

    What happens when a food scientist and a hairstylist-turned-entrepreneur team up to reinvent cottage cheese? You get Fromage Protein Pops — a frozen treat that started with a $90 thrifted cart, 170+ recipe iterations, and a whole lot of sister chemistry. In this episode, Phil Chang and Kenny Vannucci sit down with co-founders Nuala and Fiona to talk about: 🍦 How a trip to Japan and a "better-for-you" Coke sparked the original idea 🧀 Why cottage cheese (not protein powder) is the secret to their creamy, indulgent texture 👨‍👩‍👧 The surprising discovery that families — not just health enthusiasts — are their real target market 🚚 Self-distributing by reefer van across Metro Vancouver while juggling full-time jobs 🏆 Landing recognition at CHFA and the challenge of finding novelty pop co-manufacturing in Canada   check them out at https://fromageprotein.com/ Thank you to Dwayne and Maritime Good Food for sponsoring this episode. https://maritimegoodfood.ca/

    Sisters Turned a $90 Ice Cream Cart Into a CHFA Show-Stopper | Fromage Protein Pops

  5. Jun 23

    From Pasta Bar to Costco's First HMR: Andy Mollica's 35-Year Italian Food Empire

    Andy Mollica, founder of Anducci's, joins Phil Chang and Kenny Vannucci for an unfiltered look at one of Vancouver's most legendary Italian food stories. Andy shares how he opened his first pasta bar at 19 years old, built Anducci's into a 27-year East Van institution, and accidentally pioneered Costco's Home Meal Replacement (HMR) category by selling lasagnas out of his car trunk to Costco's original Burnaby location. The conversation also breaks down trends from the BC Grocery & Specialty Food Showcase, including why small and independent food brands deserve better floor placement at trade shows, how Buy BC initiatives are changing the playing field for indie vendors, and what it really takes for a founder to scale a food business in the Canadian grocery industry.   https://www.anduccis.com/

    From Pasta Bar to Costco's First HMR: Andy Mollica's 35-Year Italian Food Empire

  6. Jun 16

    From Health Food to National Grocers: How Canadian Brands Should Think About Distribution | Matthew James

    If your brand is trying to scale across Canada, this episode is essential listening. Phil and Kenny sit down with Matthew James, President & CEO of Purity Life Health Products — Canada's largest and only full-service wellness distributor covering dry, frozen, and refrigerated products across all channels, coast to coast. Matthew shares his 33-year journey in the Canadian natural health industry — from sales rep at Quest Vitamins in 1993 to leading a management buyout of Purity Life in 2012, and now completing the landmark acquisition of Horizon Limited in 2025 that added three new warehouses and unlocked national cold chain distribution.   Check out Purity Life here: https://puritylife.com/ Find Matthew James here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthew-james-67803421/

    From Health Food to National Grocers: How Canadian Brands Should Think About Distribution | Matthew James

  7. Jun 9

    He Closed Toronto's Most Iconic Deli and Moved to Tofino. Here's What Happened Next. | Zane Caplansky

    Zane Caplansky opened what's considered Toronto's first pop-up restaurant — a deli inside a dive bar in Little Italy — and turned it into one of the city's most beloved institutions. Along the way he appeared on Dragon's Den three times, got featured on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives and You Gotta Eat Here, ran a food truck, a catering empire, and a College Street restaurant that had lineups for years. Then his landlord locked him out at midnight — rent paid, no warning — and it cost him $100,000 in legal fees and nearly broke him. But that gut punch turned out to be the pivot that changed everything. Zane joins Phil and Kenny to talk about the full arc: the scrappy pop-up beginnings, the Dragon's Den pitches (including Jim Treliving famously not understanding what a food truck was), the public humiliation of the lockout, closing the deli, moving to Tofino, becoming a dad at 53 — and why reviving the Caplansky's mustard brand as a CPG product might be the smartest thing he's ever done.

    He Closed Toronto's Most Iconic Deli and Moved to Tofino. Here's What Happened Next. | Zane Caplansky

  8. Jun 2

    Epicure's Comeback: From $100M MLM Brand to Omnichannel Relaunch | Amelia Warren & Kyle Vucko

    What do you do when the brand you built to over $100 million goes bankrupt — and then you get the chance to buy it back? That's exactly what Amelia Warren and Kyle Vucko did with Epicure. In this episode, Phil and Kenny sit down with the co-managing directors of the relaunched Epicure — a Canadian spice and seasoning brand with a fiercely loyal customer base, a surprising MLM origin story, and a bold new omnichannel strategy.  Amelia served as CEO of the original Epicure for 17 years. Kyle co-founded Indochino before joining Epicure as COO. Together, they acquired the brand's assets out of bankruptcy in April 2025 and relaunched it by September — rebuilding the supply chain, re-engaging customers, and moving the brand into retail for the first time.   Check out Epicure here: https://epicure.com

    Epicure's Comeback: From $100M MLM Brand to Omnichannel Relaunch | Amelia Warren & Kyle Vucko
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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
    2017 - 2026
  • Episodes
    485
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Show Website
    This Commerce Life

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