Homegrown Kelowna startup puts buying local on the national stage

A Kelowna entrepreneur is being labeled one of the most influential people in the Canadian food industry according to the Globe and Mail.

Founder of Soil Mate, Matt Gomez, was named one of the top eight ‘thinkers’ in Canadian food and wine, one of just 53 recognized across the country.

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The online web portal launched in 2014. It goal: to put the consumer in touch with food and drink products from right in their own back yard.

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All you have to is simply log on to the Soil Mate website, enter your location or the location of a landmark, and up pops a map of where you can buy local. It ranges from farms and markets to restaurants and stores that have locally produced items.

“It’s obviously really nice to be recognized in this way,” said Gomez in a news release. “The truth is there are lots of problems within the food system and it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by that sometimes. But at Soil Mate we look at the problems as opportunities and are working hard on finding reasonable and actionable solutions so that we can make a real change.”

Gomez’s website spans across North America, serving every province and state in Canada and the United States.