Brand of the Month: Made With Local

After the longest day of the year in June, we felt this brand’s energising Real Food Bars would have come in handy! Our brand of the month is Made With Local – simple snack food bars with social impact baked in.

Locally Acquired, Internationally Admired

How did a Nova Scotian brand secure our ‘Brand of The Month’ title from across the Atlantic? Well, Founder & CEO Sheena Russell‘s commitment to her community was too inspiring of a story to ignore!

Scaling Without Sacrificing Values

After becoming pregnant in 2014, Sheena realised that her growing belly was getting in the way of Made With Local production. So, she was over the moon when a social enterprise contacted her with the idea of a partnership.

The Flower Cart Group‘s ‘What’s Cooking? Commercial Kitchen’ is a program that creates work for locals with barriers to the mainstream workforce. With this helping hand, Sheena opened social enterprises for Real Food Bar production. This way, Made With Local could expand without sacrificing the benefits of locally sourced ingredients and handmade products – which was the heart of the brand.

The Bars & The Stars Who Make Them

Growing up on a family farm in rural Prince Edward Island heavily influenced Sheena in how she sources ingredients for her brand. From oats to peanut butter to blueberries, a whole host of delicious and nourishing ingredients are packed into every single Made With Local bar. As the name suggests- they’re all locally sourced! That’s right—honey from Tom and Mary, Cranberries from David and Evelyn, and Molasses from the Crosby’s. These bars really have that ‘made just round the corner’ feel, making them that bit more special.

B-Corp Certified Goodness

With their Social Impact Business Model, Made With Local intentionally contributes positive outcomes for its workers, community, environment and customers. It’s no surprise that they’ve held an impressive B Impact score of 92.3 since 2019!

We LOVE Made With Local’s commitment to using local ingredients and the social enterprise bakeries where they are hand-made into delicious treats. Providing those struggling with work an opportunity at a local and B-Corp-certified project is something we can all agree is an admirable endeavour.

Nutritious and delicious!

Made With Local offers advice and tips to navigate the sweet balance of delicious and nutritious. Their in-house registered dietician, Sarah Remmer, is a registered dietician with a speciality in family nutrition, children and pregnancy. She uses ‘Sarah’s Corner‘ to provide information, advice and recipes to actively engage the whole family in healthier eating habits.

Going The Extra Mile

Outside Made With Local brand’s production walls, their ethos continues to reach the community. One example is Sheena’s ‘Community Love Doorstep Drop’, where during the COVID-19 pandemic, she dropped sourdough loaves at her friends’ houses. This kind gesture seemed to resonate with many viewers during a difficult and lonely time. She urged her audience to do the same – to buy local products and drop them at neighbours’ doorsteps. Her passion for supporting local businesses has never waned!

Bringing this attitude to 2022, Made With Local kickstarted their #100DaysofCommunity campaign. By making wellness packages of snacks, drinks and masks, they pass on the community kindness to mail workers, health care workers and office couriers. Lovely to see!

Made With Local represents everything an emerging food brand can aspire to be: unique, socially driven, environmentally conscious – and, of course, delicious. A perfect selection for June’s Brand of the Month!

Do you know a brand that should be the Elephants Can’t Jump Brand of the Month? Message us on LinkedIn or Twitter to let us know which brands you think we should be watching.