30 PEPPERS to pouches nfrom page 29


local markets and local stores to something bigger.” This is where another passion – hiking – came into play.


De Waal and Farboud


enjoy multi-day hikes but they noticed that locally produced meal pouches were missing from stores such as Mountain Equipment Co-op, even as consumers’ appetite for all things local increased. “All the competitive


products are US imports,” de Waal says. “There doesn’t seem to be any local production of good-quality freeze-dried foods, or any freeze-dried foods, serving the wilderness tourism market – which is staggering because it’s a big thing on the Island and the Mainland.” Farboud developed the


dehydrated meal pouches and piloted them at farmers’ markets this summer. Geared for anyone who wants good, nutritious food in a compact packaging, the pouches are good for emergency preparedness kits, too. De Waal jokes that some people picked them up as instant


meals. Farboud prepares each batch, which currently goes into a processor that can handle seven kilograms at a time. Through a process known as lyophilisation, the moisture in the product crystalizes and switches from solid to vapour without going through a liquid phase, which means the meals retain more nutrients than if they were dried conventionally. Drying takes about 40 hours per batch, then the product is packaged in heavy-duty Mylar bags that hold 150 grams each. An oxygen absorber is placed in each pack to ensure dryness and freshness, and each pouch is shelf-stable if kept cool and dry for 20 to 30 years. (That’s long enough to not require a best-before date.)


Six items are available under the West Coast Kitchen name right now, and de Waal and Farboud plan to launch in spring 2019. They’ve secured a loan from Farm Credit Canada for a new, larger dehydrator to increase


Producer Check-off Supports Beef Industry Projects.


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production, and in December launched a crowdfunding campaign that aims to raise $25,000 in support of expansion.


Modest expectations “We’ll be scaling up


production in March, ready for the new season.” de Waal says. “We’ve got fairly modest targets to grow over the next two, three years, but then we


should be hopefully well- positioned in the market to grow further.” Production of the hot sauces will continue, as it’s a well-established brand at the Duncan and Cedar markets. Pepper production will also continue to spice up local markets. With the province seeking


to grow production of fresh, local food as well as value-


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COUNTRY LIFE IN BC • JANUARY 2019


Penny de Waal and Shani Farboud now use most of their pepper crop in a popular line of chili sauces, and are expanding to freeze-dried meals.


PETER MITHAM PHOTO


added products, Fat Chili fits right in. “It fills a gap that’s bigger


than Cowichan. The hot sauces came out of the fact [that] there really wasn’t any choice around here; we were the first here, and there were some others that have moved in,” de Waal says. “So tastes are changing. … I think it’s just diversification, more people coming in from other places.”


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