Regina produce vendors see growing demand for local foods

Saturday marked 10 years in business for Regina-based local food vendor, Local and Fresh.

Owner and CEO Tim Shutlz is a fourth-generation farmer who started the business exclusively online as a way to get produce from his farm to his customers.

Success in the business led him to open Local Market in 2019, a brick-and-mortar store in Regina that features the food from Local and Fresh and other products from other local vendors.

“We want to be that connection point between the producer to the consumer,” Shutlz said, “make them feel connected to that process. I think that’s why our community supports places like us.”

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The direct-to-customer relationship is what helped his business survive the pandemic, Shutlz continued. And although his customers are feeling a financial pinch post-pandemic, he has high hopes of their continued support.

“The importance of having people support us is beyond dollars and cents. It’s validating, it’s that nod of approval and thank you.”

Ian Pasloski is the owner of I.G. Fresh, a Regina based micro-green producer. Microgreens are small, edible plant variations of common vegetables. For Pasloski, what started as a hobby in 2021 turned into a part-time job as he started to sell greens he was growing in his backyard.

Pasloski said he predicts microgreens to be the way of the future. They are easy to produce and growing them at home allows him to be accessible to customers looking to buy local foods.

“There’s always that gap in Saskatchewan where it gets cold in like January or February… and you don’t have access to that fresh produce,” Pasloski said. “People were asking like, who are some suppliers that supply fresh produce in the winter? Microgreen are one of those things that supply fresh produce all year around.”

He said his customer base has more than doubled in his almost two years of operating his business.