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Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/1406705
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2021 BCBUSINESS 89 I N V E N T OR Y You've Got Mail Food and beauty subscription boxes are everywhere, but these local companies have found a niche beyond meal kits and mascara by Alyssa Hirose ( quality time ) BCBUSINESS.CA WELL READ @ Nicole McLaren started Raven Reads as a workplace book club that focused exclusively on First Nation, Métis and Inuit authors (she's a member of the Métis Nation herself). After seeing the impact the books had on her coworkers, McLaren launched the world's first Indigenous-owned and -themed subscription box in 2017 out of Kamloops. Raven ships dynamic, authentic Indigenous stories three times a year to more than 3,000 subscribers across the globe. Online DESIGN DELIVERED @ Interior designer Trisha Isabey opened a furniture and home decor store in Kelowna in July 2020, and as the COVID-19 pandemic continued, she started seeking out ways to give back to her community. After she teamed up with local artisan Sheri Pineau to curate gift boxes for friends and family, the pair rolled out the Furnish Subscription Box, a collection of their favourite household items from Isabey's Furnish shop and other Okanagan businesses–think candles, blankets and other finishing touches. Online • SCOBY DOO @ To keep locals stocked up on 'booch, Peter Chen made sure he had a subscription box plan when he launched Tality Kombucha in 2017. The North Vancouver-based company offers a box of 12 drinks that are totally customizable, with new limited releases every month. Tality is currently piloting a vermicomposting system for the brewery's waste to limit its ecological footprint. Online FELINE FINE Q You really can get a subscription box for everyone in your family, including pets. Meowbox was founded in 2013 by Vancouverite Olivia Canlas, who wanted her cat to get in on the mail-order fun. The boxes are full of toys, many of them designed in-house, as well as treats–plus, of course, there's the box itself, which is the highlight for many cats. Meowbox also donates a percentage of each box to animal shelters to help care for less fortunate kitties. Online NEW GROWTH @ During the pandemic, curating indoor jungles became a joy for many, including Bethany Garant, who had some trouble finding specific houseplants in Victoria. She founded VI Plant Shop in August 2020 and introduced a subscription service this January. The VI Plant Shop box delivers a new plant monthly (with non-toxic options for those with pets), along with care instructions, plant parent basics and trendy home accessories. In-store and online $ STEEP DIVE Many of us associate tea-drinking with well- ness and self-care, but the mass-produced blends offered at grocery stores didn't soothe Tegan Woo. So she started boxing up small- batch specialty teas out of Vancouver in 2012. The Amoda Tea subscription box offers locally crafted, unique sips (like Lemongrass Milk Pudding or Pacific Inland Trail, which includes cedar tips) once a month. There are collectible tea postcards in every box, too. Online