Saturday Market Vendor Feature: The True NOSH Company

The True NOSH Company is in their second year selling at our market with a diverse line of drinks, treats, sauces and more that are flavourful and diabetic-friendly. We talked to Iris about their origin story, what motivates them, and why their business is so connected to UBC’s Faculty of Land and Food Systems. We also had the chance to interview a loyal True Nosh customer to find out just why their granola is so addictive! Read on to find out more.

What inspired True Nosh?

The founder is Renee Chan. I’m one of her employees, Iris. What inspired True NOSH was her dad struggling with diabetes and trying to find ways to eat while maintaining his health. So as a registered dietitian, she decided to create a food line that would be as guilt-free as possible and healthy while still having flavour and a traditional touch from their heritage.

Is everything made in Vancouver?

Yes, we make everything in Vancouver. Our commercial kitchen is in Burnaby at YVR Prep.

What brought you guys to UBC Farm?

I did! I’m an LFS student and I really like the farm, and I’ve seen the farmers market and I really like the environment of this particular farmers market. It’s just very friendly and it’s great to be outside. Plus it’s very affordable for us to come here. So for a start up like ours, it’s really nice to be able to have lower stakes every time we come to the market, so we are able to sell our products and share them with the community.

What’s your most popular product?

That’s a hard one, but I think it’s the granola. It’s also one of my favourites!

If you could describe True Nosh in three words, what would they be?

Punny- the labels of our products are all based on puns. Our hot sauce line is called “hot dates” because our hot sauces are sweetened with dates, and all our other sauces also have really punny labels! The other words would be Healthy and Delicious.

What would you like customers to know about your business?

I think what Renee would like them to know is the passion that is involved in the production of our products. We really try to make sure that we listen to our clientele, and keep things fun and delicious, and as innovative as possible.

So none of the products you sell have any added sugars?

Yes, we do everything with just fruits and vegetables. Any sort of sweeteners would come from fruit, savoury would come from vegetables or spices. Just whole ingredients! For example, our granola is completely date-sweetened, and our sweet and sour sauce is sweetened with pineapple and cherries!

What’s your favourite sauce that you have here?

Black bean! That one actually has a nice story to it because myself and another previous employee here (we’re both LFS students), and along with a couple other LFS students, we co-created the sauce and entered it to the Pulse competition and won second in BC! That was really cool, and Renee had a lot of input for us and really helped and guided us.

After our interview with True NOSH, a regular customer of theirs, Greg, came by and wanted to share a few words about the business and his favourite product!

What’s your favourite thing about True NOSH?

The granola is amazing for sure, but I think overall how the company is organized and how they operate with the sense of all the right ingredients, all the right spirit… so I’m hooked. You have to love the product in order to be hooked to it, but for me it just happened instantaneously.

Do you know Renee?

I’ve gotten to know her. So over the last year, every month I’d pick up granola at their office and I’m on the “granola hookup”, so I pay for a year’s worth of granola, and I just go pick it up every month.

Is the “Granola hookup” exclusive?

No I was just the first one who started it because on one of their last farmers market of the season, I came up to them and said ‘I really love your granola. How can we figure out something so I can have regular access to it?’, and we just figured out the logistics from there. They have a couple other customers on the hookup as well now! It’s brilliant; if you want to find out more, look on their website!

Any other words you want to share?

I think we all need to be smart in our food shopping and all trying to find great products that align with what we value, so this is why I come here. Pay a little extra more, but what I find with the granola and the other products at True NOSH is that the price point is great, and when you shop around, what they put into it is fantastic, and I have sweet teeth (not just one), and this granola is just sweetened in a way that just works for me.

You really LOVE the granola! How do you like to enjoy it?

I’m trying not to be addicted to the point where I burn out on it, but during the day, I would just pop a handful as a snack, but normally I’d like to eat it in a bowl with some peaches and blueberries, some milk. My sons love it too! You just gotta try it! … hahahah do I sound like a part of the team?

If you want to learn more about the True Nosh Company, check them out on instagram, twitter, facebook, or their website. You can see all of their upcoming dates at the UBC Farm Market here. Learn more about other market vendors and topics on our Saturday Farmers’ Market blog! These weekly market blog posts are linked from our newsletter when they are posted; to get regular updates, make sure to join our newsletter here.