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TRANSCRIPTION WITH SPEAKERS
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[00:00] SPEAKER_01: Welcome to Canada's Podcast.
[00:05] SPEAKER_01: Hello, I'm Mario Tonigusi, Managing Editor of Canada's Podcast.
[00:10] SPEAKER_01: Joining me today for Saskatoon's Podcast is Natasha Vandenherk, who is CEO and founder of one of the founders of Three Farmers Food.
[00:20] SPEAKER_01: Thanks for joining us today on Natasha.
[00:23] SPEAKER_00: Yes, thanks for having me.
[00:25] SPEAKER_00: I'm excited to share with you.
[00:25] SPEAKER_01: All right, well, let's just start with just kind of an overview.
[00:30] SPEAKER_01: Tell me just what Three Farmers Food says and what it does.
[00:35] SPEAKER_00: You bet.
[00:35] SPEAKER_00: So Three Farmers Foods, we are a brand manufacturer of full roasted beans, so we are based in Saskatoon, Canada.
[00:43] SPEAKER_00: And we are our own manufacturer.
[00:46] SPEAKER_00: We source all of our legumes and our beans.
[00:48] SPEAKER_00: So we roast chickpeas, fava beans, lentils.
[00:51] SPEAKER_00: We source them right from right here in Canada.
[00:54] SPEAKER_00: And then we dry roast them, essentially air popping them into delicious crunchy, healthy snacks.
[01:00] SPEAKER_00: And when did you start?
[01:03] SPEAKER_00: We started our brand in 2008, 2011.
[01:06] SPEAKER_00: We hit the market with our first product, which was actually a culinary oil called Camelina Oil.
[01:11] SPEAKER_00: So it was a very unique oil seed that we grow here and cooled press.
[01:15] SPEAKER_00: And so we still have that product line, our Camelina Oil.
[01:18] SPEAKER_00: But we got into snacking in basically 2015.
[01:21] SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
[01:22] SPEAKER_01: And where would I find some of these snacks?
[01:27] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you bet.
[01:27] SPEAKER_00: So we're distributed close to coast to coast here in Canada.
[01:30] SPEAKER_00: We do all channels of trades.
[01:32] SPEAKER_00: So you'll find us in natural food stores, specialty stores, but also conventional grocers.
[01:37] SPEAKER_00: So you can find us in the loblaws and the, you know, so be safe way, metros of the world.
[01:43] SPEAKER_00: We're also in drug, drug chains, so shoppers, drug mart.
[01:46] SPEAKER_00: And then of course online in convenience and gas stores.
[01:51] SPEAKER_00: And then we also service ingredient and food service categories as well.
[01:56] SPEAKER_01: Hey, tell me a little bit about the history behind this, this company.
[02:01] SPEAKER_01: How did it start?
[02:03] SPEAKER_01: And why did it start?
[02:05] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you bet.
[02:05] SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
[02:06] SPEAKER_00: So we literally started as three farmers.
[02:08] SPEAKER_00: So it's my dad and two neighboring farmers.
[02:11] SPEAKER_00: And, and then my sister and I run the company.
[02:13] SPEAKER_00: So I have an economics background and my sister is a Red Seal chef.
[02:18] SPEAKER_00: So she's the creative behind all of our products and our innovation.
[02:21] SPEAKER_00: And so we really started with this whole concept of adding value to crops that we grow here in Saskatchewan.
[02:27] SPEAKER_00: So we are obviously a big agricultural community here.
[02:31] SPEAKER_00: We grow these insanely healthy crops, these legume crops, chickpeas, lentils, fava beans.
[02:37] SPEAKER_00: But then we often ship them out as commodities and we don't add value here at home.
[02:41] SPEAKER_00: And so we wanted to change that.
[02:43] SPEAKER_00: And so that's when we jumped into the manufacturing game for starting with chickpeas.
[02:49] SPEAKER_00: And again, we wanted to process them in really healthy ways so that we kept the integrity of the product intact after processing when it was already to eat items.
[02:57] SPEAKER_00: So we don't fry our beans.
[02:59] SPEAKER_00: We don't oil roast our beans. They're air popped.
[03:02] SPEAKER_00: So essentially just high temps, high pressure and just popping them like you would pop.
[03:07] SPEAKER_00: And then we season them up with really natural non-GMO-booten-free ingredients.
[03:14] SPEAKER_01: So tell me a little bit about the family farm. Where was that? Where was that at?
[03:19] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, we're down in Southeast Saskatchewan, so near the U.S. border.
[03:24] SPEAKER_00: And we farm like a multitude of crops. So it's not just legumes.
[03:28] SPEAKER_00: You know, we do wheat crops and oil seeds as well, a Carolina case in point.
[03:34] SPEAKER_00: So yeah, very, you know, a varied variety of crops.
[03:38] SPEAKER_00: And I think we're a we third generation now.
[03:41] SPEAKER_00: I have two brothers taking over the family farm and yeah, it's very much part of who we are.
[03:47] SPEAKER_01: So I get my geography right. So so so east of Saskatoon, on the east of Moustill.
[03:56] SPEAKER_00: Correct. Yeah, and then south. Yeah. Yeah, you bet.
[03:58] SPEAKER_01: Oh, okay, excellent. So growing up on the farm for yourself and your sister,
[04:06] SPEAKER_01: maybe describe a little bit about what you did.
[04:09] SPEAKER_00: Well, farming is, it's a way of life. Like I mean, it's a job, but it's a way of life.
[04:16] SPEAKER_00: Right? So you don't clock in and clock out at the end of the day. It's just it's just a part of every minute of every day.
[04:22] SPEAKER_00: So I come from a big family. There's six kids in my family.
[04:25] SPEAKER_00: So my sister and I, the partners in this business are the middle kids.
[04:29] SPEAKER_00: And yeah, you just pitched in that every moment of every day, right?
[04:34] SPEAKER_00: So we did actually both cattle and grain farming.
[04:38] SPEAKER_00: And so so there was never a lack of things to do.
[04:41] SPEAKER_00: We weren't snowbirds. My parents, you know, they're still on the farm today.
[04:44] SPEAKER_00: They don't travel south in the winter time.
[04:46] SPEAKER_00: There's always just plenty of things to do. Lots of work to do.
[04:49] SPEAKER_00: And I think that's where we we got our work ethic from, right?
[04:52] SPEAKER_00: We live and read this business. And that's kind of all we know how to do because that's how we grew up.
[04:57] SPEAKER_01: Yeah. Do you think there's a difference? You know, I talked talk to a lot of people in the in the world of business.
[05:03] SPEAKER_01: And they're just seems to always be a little bit of a difference with people with people who grew up on a farm.
[05:11] SPEAKER_01: Lessons they learned on the farm and now as business people, you know, utilizing those lessons can talk a little bit about that.
[05:22] SPEAKER_00: Well, I think the sort of the parallel there is it's the tenacity and the grit that goes behind farming.
[05:29] SPEAKER_00: And I think the ability to just deal with unknowns all the time and uncontrollables.
[05:34] SPEAKER_00: I mean, in farming, I mean, one of the biggest things that impacts their profitability and their ability to be, you know, a good farmer and grow a good crop is weather.
[05:43] SPEAKER_00: And we don't get to control that, right? So you got to roll with the punches.
[05:46] SPEAKER_00: And I kind of think that's what business looks like, especially these days.
[05:51] SPEAKER_00: And you know, obviously we're in to mulch you as times, you know, where there's pandemics. Now there's inflation, talking recession.
[05:59] SPEAKER_00: So you are sort of at the mercy of the environment around you. And so I think those are sort of the parallels that I see between, you know, what I witnessed growing up at a farm.
[06:09] SPEAKER_00: And now what I'm experiencing leading this business. So I think it just gives you a sort of set of characteristics and traits that, you know, make you well equipped to deal with those types of unknowns and uncontrollables.
[06:21] SPEAKER_01: So how has it been as a business and a business owner these last couple of years considering all the challenges that are out there.
[06:30] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's been tough. Honestly, like the pandemic had such a different impact on different businesses, even like, you know, within consumer package goods.
[06:41] SPEAKER_00: So, you know, as people were sort of locked up and hunkered down at home and trying to figure out, you know, dealing with their own personal problems and all the challenges and unknowns that came with the pandemic.
[06:51] SPEAKER_00: Like eating healthy and making good choices that way was not necessarily top of mind. They were, you know, consuming comfort foods and, you know, they wanted something that made them feel better and comforted them.
[07:03] SPEAKER_00: Like so it was like chips and chocolate and we know how that goes, right?
[07:06] SPEAKER_00: So, we didn't get the bump. We didn't get the bump that a lot of people saw. So it's been hard for a long time. And then there was sort of this beautiful grace period in between, you know, I would say spring 2022.
[07:19] SPEAKER_00: And now, and now we're again, it kind of feels like the same as the outside of the pandemic where there's a lot of unknowns and consumer preferences are changing because of the escalated pricing that we're seeing at retail.
[07:31] SPEAKER_00: And so again, we're into a period where I think it's going to be super challenging for a lot of brands to grow their business because there's just a lot of roadblocks up in our way.
[07:42] SPEAKER_01: Now, did you recently receive some sort of investment in the company?
[07:49] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, well, there's been a lot of investment companies. So we've got a number of investors behind us. So we have a couple of local investors here, some funds that invest in Saskatchewan businesses.
[08:01] SPEAKER_00: And then in 2022, Arlene Dickinson and her fund district ventures came in to fund our next growth expansion, which was our manufacturing expansion that we just completed here in Saskatchewan.
[08:14] SPEAKER_00: And then we have, you know, EDC is a big supporter of our so lots of government support as well through the programs that they offer.
[08:24] SPEAKER_01: So is everything manufactured at this at a facility in Saskatchewan?
[08:30] SPEAKER_00: Yes, now we can say that now. So at the beginning of the year, we took possession of our new lease. It's a it's a 15,000 square foot facility here in Saskatchewan and we brought everything in house.
[08:43] SPEAKER_00: So we had always owned our roasting and our seasoning components, but they were with a joint venture that we had.
[08:49] SPEAKER_00: So somebody else was managing the day to day execution. So we relocated them to Saskatchewan. We purchased our bagging lines. And so now absolutely everything is under our control and under one roof here in Saskatchewan.
[09:02] Speaker UNKNOWN:
[09:02] SPEAKER_01: So when you set up this business, why did you establish self in Saskatchewan and not moose jar or Regina, which would have been closer to the farm?
[09:16] SPEAKER_00: Well, actually, the previous facility is just as that moves just so we did we did set up shop there. But as we expanded and we started looking at different locations, I mean, obviously access to air travel, right and airports for
[09:30] SPEAKER_00: like food audit purposes, supplier purposes, all those types of things Saskatchewan was just a natural place to gravitate to. And then of course my sister and I happened to live here. So that was super convenient for us.
[09:43] SPEAKER_00: And it was really important for us to have our manufacturing and the rest of our team all under one roof as well. I mean, we certainly have room workers, especially when it comes to our marketing and our sales.
[09:52] SPEAKER_00: But if we could get as much as the team under one roof as possible, that's what we wanted to do and the majority of us are here in Saskatchewan.
[10:00] SPEAKER_01: So what's your Natasha, what's your background like? What are you after leaving the family farm?
[10:09] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so I came up to Saskatchewan. I have an economics degree. So sometimes just to simplify that, I say I have a business degree, but business and economics are very different things.
[10:17] SPEAKER_00: So yeah, so I have an economics degree. I love studying market dynamics, but everything I've learned about business has been through trial and error here at three farmers. So yeah, it's been a great growth opportunity for me personally.
[10:31] SPEAKER_01: I'm assuming you are best.
[10:33] SPEAKER_00: You are. Yes, you bet.
[10:36] Speaker UNKNOWN:
[10:36] SPEAKER_01: And so after graduating from university, what did you do?
[10:42] SPEAKER_00: So I had so I gradged so four year degrees. So I would have been 22, I guess I did like 18 months and the state planning company. So sort of investment work, managing like a portfolio of customers.
[10:55] SPEAKER_00: And I jumped into this. So I was very was 24 when we started this. I had no idea what I was doing and and I guess that was the beauty of it. I had some space and some time to figure it out.
[11:07] SPEAKER_00: And so like I said, we started with Camelina oil and then I brought my sister into the business because she's the chef. She's the product expert and she could sell it best and from there, we just grew it organically from the ground up.
[11:19] SPEAKER_01: I think the biggest challenge was when initially when starting the business and what was kind of some of the biggest hurdles to overcome.
[11:32] SPEAKER_00: For us, I think we had a bit of a different path than some like some people would immediately say capital financing.
[11:38] SPEAKER_00: We had our three farmers as partners and so they helped with that challenge and that hurdle right out of the gate. So for us, it was just learning the ropes of this space like consumer package goods, how to get how to get product on shelf.
[11:53] SPEAKER_00: And then also learning the hard lesson that it's, you know, once you get it on shelf, that's just step number one. Now you better get it off the shelf for that retail partner, right. And so for us, it was just really learning all of the different components to build a successful brand.
[12:07] SPEAKER_00: And retail. So distributor partnerships, broker partnerships, pricing strategies, all that foundational work. We had to learn as quickly as possible because of course we didn't have a background in this, right. We just, yeah, sort of happened into it.
[12:21] SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
[12:22] SPEAKER_00: Or baptism might fire. So it's pretty much. Yeah, you got to learn fast. Ask a lot of questions. That's been my my motto. Just talk to people that have been there. Don't ask as many questions as possible.
[12:33] SPEAKER_01: Yeah. As you as you were into the company and growing it, did you have any like, I guess any examples of people out there in the business world that that you kind of learned from or learn lessons from.
[12:50] SPEAKER_00: Well, so many. I mean, early, early on. Well, I'm even still now. So again, speaking of people that have been there and done that, Mike Fata from Manitoba Harvest.
[13:01] SPEAKER_00: I was a great example of somebody that, you know, took a prairie, a prairie boy that took a concept international right and was able to build a brand and he manufactured as well. So we've leaned on him heavily in the past and still do.
[13:15] SPEAKER_00: Because I think that's just the best way to learn is from other people's experiences. If you can. So, so he's certainly been a source of strength. Also are, you know, our distributor partners here in Canada as well.
[13:26] SPEAKER_00: We early on partnered up with a company called Neil Brothers. They have a brand of their own, but they're also a distributor out east. And we learned a lot from them. So it was really about leading on our partners and and listening to what they had to say and really reflecting on on their advice and then making and forging the best.
[13:45] SPEAKER_00: So, that's the best path forward. Yeah.
[13:47] SPEAKER_01: What do you like about having a business in Saskatoon?
[13:52] SPEAKER_00: Well, I love Saskatoon. I'm a prairie girl. I like space. I live outside the city. You know, so we're not on a farm, but we're, you know, it's as close to a farm as I can get.
[14:03] SPEAKER_00: So without being a farmer. So yeah, I love, I love the space. I love. I love the people here. There's a certain.
[14:12] SPEAKER_00: There's a certain level of grit and work ethic. I think that comes out of the prairies. Maybe it's because we have to survive these harsh winters every year. I'm not sure.
[14:22] SPEAKER_00: But I just, I love the people here. And I think it's just a real, it's a great community. And that's been proven time and time again this past eight months once we opened our doors to this facility. I can't even explain the amount of interest and support that has flowed our way from other business leaders and community members here in South.
[14:41] SPEAKER_00: I think that's good to you. And so I just think it's just a really great community.
[14:45] SPEAKER_01: Oh, excellent. Now, obviously being an entrepreneur and you're quite busy in many ways that the 24 seven job.
[14:55] SPEAKER_01: How do you find balance or is there such a thing as a work like balance for people like you that run a company?
[15:05] SPEAKER_00: I think that looks different for everybody and certainly stage of life plays a factor in that. I mean, my sister and I are a perfect example of that. I have three children that are, you know, range from age of seven to 10.
[15:17] SPEAKER_00: And she is just about to have her third and all of hers are under the age of three. And you can tell we're at very different stages of life. And balance looks very different for both of us.
[15:26] SPEAKER_00: So for me, it's been like taking stock of where I'm at in my life at each stage of the business and personally and then figuring out what that needs to look like in that frame of time so that I can be my best self of that work and at home. So a lot of that is just, you know, right sizing expectations.
[15:47] SPEAKER_00: I think making sure that, you know, how to say no when you need to say no, not taking on too much and just making sure you have your priority straight and that's a hard thing to do. It's easier said and done for sure, especially when there's a lot of stressful things like last three years that are going on in the business.
[16:02] SPEAKER_00: But my motto always kind of is, you know, as long as things are good at home, things are good at work. So just make sure you're taking care of your.
[16:10] SPEAKER_00: The personal side because yeah, yeah, it just puts everything into perspectives.
[16:16] SPEAKER_01: Now outside the family, I do have any like personal interests or passions that you like to spend time at.
[16:24] SPEAKER_00: Well, I'm just sort of reenitating those flames, I would say again, phase of life, but ask my love to run. I'm I love running.
[16:31] SPEAKER_00: I like an outdoors person, which is interesting because I live in Saskatchewan. So it's like a deep freeze 60% of the year, but I love being outside.
[16:40] SPEAKER_00: Doesn't matter how cool it is. So I love walking, I love running. I love running my kids around their activities. I love reading and I love podcasting. So that's those are pretty much the areas that I spend my time when I'm not in the office.
[16:55] SPEAKER_01: Now as you look forward, you know, into the future here, where's the company going?
[17:05] SPEAKER_00: Well, hopefully global at some point, but we're very focused in North America right now. So we've got a great following here in Canada.
[17:12] SPEAKER_00: We've got great status as one of the leaders in the better for you snack space here in Canada. And we want to do the same in the US.
[17:18] SPEAKER_00: So we're very focused on south of the border at the minute or at the moment. So building out awareness and building out our distribution down there.
[17:26] SPEAKER_00: But we really do want to be a global leader for better for you snacking. We think that whole being protein is the way of the future. It's it's the cleanest form of protein that you can get in snack form, low fat, low sugar, minimal ingredients.
[17:39] SPEAKER_00: And it can solve a lot of problems for consumers on the go. So we believe that's where we're going. Yeah, for the top.
[17:47] SPEAKER_01: I have to check this out because I'm on a on a personal training mission right now. And and one of my consultants, nutrition cut,
[17:57] SPEAKER_00: the salt and skin, tell me protein protein, you need protein, right? And yeah, it's huge right now protein is like it's huge and and we are a great source of protein. And again, without all the band that typically can come with that. So yeah, you have a preference of favorite from the products that you guys have.
[18:15] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I honestly rotate through my products. I'm a chickpea fan. I love our sea salt lime chickpeas, but leaning the father be in sweet chili is kind of my angle right now on the father be in line.
[18:27] SPEAKER_00: But honestly, they're also good like you can they're they're functional. They fit into every day part salad toppers. Like you can really incorporate them anywhere in your day. So I really jump around in terms of favorites.
[18:40] SPEAKER_01: So all of this all of them are from Saskatchewan right.
[18:45] SPEAKER_00: So our lentils and our chickpeas are largely from Saskatchewan are father beans come on a man in toba.
[18:50] SPEAKER_00: So yeah, yeah, but all in Canada.
[18:53] SPEAKER_01: And what is it about I guess, especially in Saskatchewan, what is it about the land that that is conducive to raising this?
[19:04] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so dry. So chickpeas and lentils specifically like dry climates, they can be very susceptible to disease because they grow very close to the ground.
[19:14] SPEAKER_00: So what happens when you get moisture too much moisture is it traps that moisture under the leaves, right, and it creates disease.
[19:20] SPEAKER_00: So so dry climate is very, very important. And of course, we have that here in Saskatchewan, whereas father beans actually need wet they need wet wet climate.
[19:30] SPEAKER_00: So that's where Manitoba sort of comes in. So that's why we source most of those beans from Manitoba.
[19:37] SPEAKER_01: All right, wonderful. Well, thanks so much Natasha for joining us today.
[19:42] SPEAKER_00: Yes, thank you for having me. I appreciate it.
[19:44] SPEAKER_01: All right, that was Natasha vended in herk who was CEO and founder of about three farms foods.
[19:51] SPEAKER_01: I'm Mario Tonoguzi with Saskatoon's podcast. I'm managing editor of Canada's podcast. Thanks for joining us today.
