How is Your Bread Buttered?
GOODNESS IN A NUTSHELL
“I’m mumgry.” That’s what Lilian Umurungi-Jung said to her partner one day, trying to encompass a feeling of both hunger and frustration. “To this day we don’t know what the actual meaning is,” she laughs, but it was how she felt while pregnant when looking for healthy snacks. Her gynecologist recommended that she eat more nuts as a source of essential nutrients.
Finding she was “picky about peanut butter,” she set out to make her own. She launched Mumgry in October 2019, with smooth peanut butter, containing nothing but peanuts. “We roast, crush and pour in small batches. That’s it. When you roast nuts, it changes everything,” she says, explaining how the flavour mellows. A chocolate-peanut butter version came shortly afterward with a luscious combo of chocolate, pistachio and almond arriving on the market in January 2020.
But Umurungi-Jung is looking to create community as well as peanut butter. The Mumgry Podcast, started with conversations on motherhood, now delves into important topics such as gender and racial inequality. “We can be a brand that has an opinion. People are looking for transparency,” she explains. Recently, the company created a series of online videos to support local retailers of their products. “This was our response to the pandemic. We realized that we have a responsibility to support them.” Mumgry’s expansion strategy will follow a similar path. As it moves into new markets in North America, and the world, it will do so through small businesses. “Small businesses are the backbone of the economy,” Umurungi-Jung says. “We like being in communities. We realized very early on that we are more than just nut butter. We are focused on making the world better.”
Mumgry
mumgry.com | @mumgry
Find it at: The Federal Store, The Garden Strathcona (Vancouver), SproutBread (Kelowna), Fork Plant-Based Market (West Kelowna)
FLAVOURS TO MUNCH ON
If you thought nut butters only came in peanut and almond, Munch is here to tell you otherwise. Step right up, macadamia butter, pistachio butter and a third made from a blend of tropical nuts that includes cashews, Brazil nuts and more macadamias. Munch is the creation of husband-and-wife team Scott Kreiser and Courtney Kieboom, who after starting their business in Alberta, moved to Abbotsford in May 2018 because they saw opportunities in the region’s growing food industry. Like many, with the birth of their first child they became more conscious about the food they were eating. At the same time, they were looking for a lifestyle change that would allow Kreiser, a former welder who spent a lot of time away from home, to spend more time with the family.
“The pistachio is high in melatonin and makes a great bedtime snack,” Kreiser says. Macadamia nuts are extremely high in healthy monounsaturates, low in carbohydrates and high in fat. Proponents of the Keto diet have been quick to catch on to Munch’s offerings. Recently, Munch purchased a manufacturing facility that, in addition to its own butters, will allow the company to provide co-packing services for other producers. The couple wants to remain true to its roots. “We wouldn’t produce anything that we wouldn’t give to our own family,” Kreiser says. “We’re making it for ourselves.”
Munch Life Inc.
munchlife.ca | @the_munchlife
Find it at: Nature’s Pickin’s Market (Abbotsford), Local Harvest Market (Chilliwack), The Gourmet Warehouse (Vancouver)
OUT OF TINY SEEDS
On March 12, 2020, Grace Ocampo, a nurse, and Nick Appleton, a teacher, were on a layover in Hong Kong, about to start the trip of lifetime trek to Everest Base Camp. With Nepal shutting to visitors and borders around the world quickly closing due to the pandemic, they found themselves unexpectedly returning to Canada. Using their mandated quarantine time wisely, they spent 14 days thinking about how they could bring to market the delicious seed butter they had been making to combat Ocampo’s nut allergy. And so, amid a global pandemic, Seed Almighty was born. “Growing up, I could never have a PB & J sandwich,” says Ocampo, who suffers from a severe nut allergy. Like her, many of Seed Almighty’s customers have been delighted to discover a safe alternative to nut butters. Ocampo and Appleton learned that seeds, like nuts, were highly nutritious and full of fibre, protein, good fats and antioxidants. Their stoneground seed butter is all organic, containing sunflower, pumpkin and chia seeds, along with coconut, dates, cinnamon and Himalayan sea salt.
After launching their concept on Instagram, they were contacted by Larry’s Market, which wanted to carry the product. Finding a nut-free facility was important to the founders, and proved a bit of a challenge, but they found a solution in the school where Appleton works, which must be nut-free by school rules. Seed Almighty is now in seven stores and Ocampo and Appleton have been pleased by the demand, saying many of their customers purchase as a way to keep family members, who suffer allergies, safe. Food lovers curious to try alternatives are also buying it up. Ocampo and Appleton are hoping to make SB & J a thing.
Seed Almighty
seedalmighty.ca | @seedalmighty
Find it at: Larry’s Market, Legends Haul, Vegan Supply (Vancouver), Sprout Bread (Kelowna), Spent Grounds Coffee Roasters (South Surrey)
