Where does your food
come from?
This simple question sparked our mission to connect customers to food producers.
And why isn't it easily accessible? These are the questions that our founder, Nicole, was asking herself during the pandemic.
Growing up in rural Lamont Alberta, she always knew which neighbours grew the food on her plate. But moving into the city, having a family and being a small business owner made it a lot more difficult to source her food. So, she did what everyone else does; head to the grocery store.
Until one day, in the midst of the pandemic, she walked into the nearest grocery store and found the shelves empty. And when she started to think about it..... she couldn't remember the last time she knew the name of the person who produced the food on her family's plate. She felt scared, uncertain and disconnected, not only from her food, but from her community.
To her surprise, she wasn't the only one who felt this way.
5 Major Grocery Chains Control 78% of Canada's Food Supply
And it's not just consumers feeling the strain. Your local farmers market vendors were left behind during (and after) Covid. They were forced to pivot their business model from an in person shopping experience to an e-commerce platform overnight, bringing on new challenges like maintaining a website, inventory management, order fulfilment and delivery.
Meanwhile, the big 5 were able to invest millions of dollars into creating, managing and maintaining their own online platforms. Leaving small, usually local, food producers even farther behind.
Always an underdog herself, Nicole decided to create a space for those producers to shine and for customers like herself to reconnect with their food. Thus, the idea of Forage Market was born.
Rooted in our Indigenous history,
our mission and values are simple.
our mission and values are simple.
At Forage Market, our mission is to cultivate a vibrant and sustainable food ecosystem by seamlessly connecting consumers with local food producers. Through our online platform, we strive to make shopping local easy, convenient, and rewarding, fostering community engagement and supporting the growth of small-scale farmers and artisans. By prioritizing freshness, quality, and transparency, we empower individuals to make informed choices that benefit their health, their communities, and the planet. Together, we aim to nourish both body and community, forging meaningful connections between those who grow our food and those who enjoy it.