A local snack company continues to grow and provide nutritional snacks all over British Columbia.
Chiwis, a Squamish-started chip company that has so far focused on kiwi chips, is gearing up to create all kinds of flavourful and healthy chips made from fruit, according to Sarah Goodman, CEO and founder of the company.
“Next week,” said Goodman. “We’re launching our full line of products.”
Goodman said in addition to kiwi chips, there will also be pineapple, mango and even orange. She noted that these chips will use “as much of the fruit as possible,” including parts like the pineapple core or an orange rind which contain additional nutrients.
Furthermore, Goodman said the fruit that is used is upcycled fruit, which is rejected fruit from grocery stores.
“If it isn’t shaped perfectly like the egg shape of the kiwi, they won’t take it,” she said. “And so that fruit could have been wasted, but instead we use it to make these chips because it’s still totally delicious, it’s just a different shape.”
Goodman said she originally conceived of these chips because she had a sweet tooth but wanted something a little bit healthier and light rather than typical snacks.
“I discovered kiwi chips that tasted just like Sour Patch Kids, but were like super healthy,” she said with a laugh.
Once others who tried them started telling her how much they liked them, she said, then she began considering the idea of making it a business.
Now, Goodman said the chips are available all over B.C. and she’s even expanding to other provinces less than a year since her February 2021 launch. Locally, they can be found at the Sea to Sky Gondola, Nesters Market, Valhalla Pure Outfitters and hopefully in other stores soon, said Goodman.
But even with this early success, Goodman said she doesn’t want to stop there as she would like to expand and provide the chips in the U.S. as well.
Goodman said it wasn’t just about providing a nutritional snack either.
“We started off with the chips because that’s just something that I always made and when I did that research, there was a hole in the market. So, I wanted to fill it with a women-owned Canadian company.”
Goodman added that it was important to her to have a certified women-owned company, which means the company is always at least 51% owned, managed, and controlled by women.
“I want to build a woman-owned Canadian company that makes Canada proud,” she said. “Then, expand the lineup to do other kinds of snacks that aren’t chips that have that same value proposition.”
Additionally, Goodman said she’d like to work out a way to be more environmentally friendly, as the current packaging is not recyclable or compostable yet. In the meantime, she said consumers could make bulk orders on the company’s website to reduce packaging waste.
October is small business month in B.C. and the local company is featured in a new CIBC ad campaign “Community of Ambition” that celebrates local businesses.
Though it will be relaunched shortly, said Goodman, the Chiwis website can currently be found at chiwis.co.
