After nearly two years without a grocery store in the small B.C. Interior community of Okanagan Falls, its 2,500 residents are welcoming a new food service business in town.
Dahlia and Derek Millington moved to the South Okanagan from Edmonton to open Little Falls Foods at 5129 10 Ave.
“I’ve been a big fan of food and nutrition for decades, I’ve been vegetarian for 30 years, really got interested in fermented foods, and gave cooking classes after I sold my last business,” Dahlia told Global News.
“I knew this was a community that needed food,” Derek added.
The pair were eager for a new adventure and travelled around the B.C. Interior until they found the small town south of Penticton. The fit was just right.
“You just know when you’re home,” Dahlia said.
“We went home and made plans, we began a business plan, we left our jobs and we moved here, with the intention of opening a grocery store, and, ta da!”
The store is vegetarian only, and that’s not all that makes it unique.
You can’t peruse the shopping aisles and pick up products off the shelves yourself.
The business operates under a warehouse model, where customers pre-order online, over the phone, or in-person, and staff gather the groceries for them.
“What we’ve done is shrink the model back down again so we can have a smaller space, we can still have as many groceries as would fit into a big grocery store, but, because it’s a warehouse model, with high shelves and densely packed, we can fit a lot of groceries into a small space,” Dahlia.
It is also more cost-effective for small business owners, Derek added.
“It’s far less cost on utilities, and the overhead is a far lower rate than what we’d have to pay if we had a big grocery store,” he said.
The response from the community, they say, has been overwhelming.
“It’s been really heartening. People are happy to have food here in the community,” Dahlia said.
“We are very pleased to see a grocery store back in the community,” said Matt Taylor, president of the Okanagan Falls Community Association.
“It’s a necessary asset and we wish them every success.”
To learn more about the business, visit Little Falls Foods’ website.