February's Favourite Local Business:
Alkeme- Rossland, BC
Moving through COVID, the importance of supporting locally owned businesses felt more urgent this last year. I often have clients asking me for ideas on products and companies I love, so I thought I would share one a month over this next year. As a note, these are my personal recommendations not anything I am compensated for, just innovative companies that I love. First up, Alkeme, a family run, dedicated gluten free company who changed our families world this last year.
Our daughter was diagnosed with celiac disease a few years ago. I felt well versed in whole foods and we mostly lived in a world without gluten prior to her diagnosis. Celiac though took gluten free living to a whole other level of specificity -checking labels, cross contamination, grains that are more likely to be exposed to gluten, medication, facial products, ridding the house of commonly used appliances like toasters exposed to gluten... basically a whole new lens of awareness.
My husband found Alkeme's GF granola bars (meals really) at our local ski hill. Eating their granola bar felt like something my mother would have made for me growing up - nutrient dense and delicious. We went home intrigued by this family run business out of Rossland, BC.
What we found changed our world. They had a dedicated gluten free facility and...They made Gluten free sourdough bread, bagels, pizza crust.
Dense, delicious, packed with nutrition and fibre... AND they could ship direct to our house. We could order in advance, they take time to hand prepare, using fresh ingredients to create a loaf of labour and love. Shipping it out the same day they make it, we receive it 2 days later, sliced and ready to go in our freezer for weeks worth of breakfast and lunches.
Game changer.
GF bread is often airy, void of fiber and feels like you are eating the wonder bread of years past. Alkeme's bread felt like I was walking back into my grandmothers farmhouse, greeted by the scent of fresh, dense bread... except this time, I could take making one gluten free item from scratch off my to do list and simply receive. Knowing that I was offering our family nourishment, nutrition and ingredients that were mindfully sourced and made.
Their gluten free granola bars are a meal and our kids go to lunch on the ski hill this winter.
Melinda and Todd truly care about what they are creating and how they are creating it. Melinda was beyond supportive when I reached out to talk about sourcing of ingredients for the celiac piece. I tell all of my GF clients about their offering, and at times, may be a little scared they will be overwhelmed with orders yet thankfully they keep growing! I invite you to check out Alkeme, especially if you are avoiding gluten and want to support a whole food, mindfully sourced and local, family run business.
"Our passion for making meticulously crafted whole-food products is founded on the realization of how the food we eat plays an integral part in our ability to be the best version of ourselves. A healthy mind and body are the keys to realizing our full potential and we believe that all of this starts with what we’re taking into our bodies. And here lies where we found our personal purpose in life to be...making delicious products to help everyone remove nutrient-poor household staples from their diets and replace them with nourishing ingredients to fuel the body and the mind.
We care. About everything. We care about the food we eat. We care about the food you eat. We care about where it comes from. How it impacts your health. How it is grown. How the grower is compensated. We care about how many layers of transportation and distribution occur to get food into your hands. And we care about the impact those layers have on the quality:cost ratio. We care about the environmental impact of our packaging (we hate it - so we aim to reduce it). We care about our staff. We care about efficiency. We care about thoughtfulness in our actions. We care about other growers, suppliers and producers who care like we care. So, yeah - we care about a lot. But perhaps not everything. We don’t care about maintaining the status quo. We don’t care about fitting into the mold. We don’t care about maximizing earnings at the cost of the well-being of our customers or the planet." - Melinda & Todd