Pepper North Artisan Foods
Oshawa, Ontario
My company, Pepper North Artisan Foods, is in its sixth year of business, and is growing rapidly. Although this is all very exciting, there are significant obstacles that you encounter when scaling your business for national distribution and building brand awareness. The need for capital to fund large purchase orders and pay for ingredients and services ahead of time is challenging. One of the pillars of The Scotiabank Womens Initiative is to provide capital to women-led businesses to get them to the next level of growth. With the help of my Scotiabank business consultant, I got the funding I needed to fill large purchase orders.
As we continue to grow and increase our market share within the grocery space, staying true to our core values is of the utmost importance: for example, ensuring that every hot sauce that is hand bottled comes from locally-sourced ingredients. Our peppers are 100% grown in Ontario by our farmer/partner, and supporting communities to grow with us has been an instrumental part of our company vision. While having goals like these are great, making sure we have the funds in place to execute our growth is key. Not only that, but I am a strong believer that continuous learning is so important, as there are always new ways to increase efficiencies. The second and third pillars of the program is to offer ongoing education and mentorship, which is a huge asset across all industries. Having the opportunity to meet other women entrepreneurs and empowering one another brings a tremendous value in itself. I am looking forward to participating in workshops that will be taking place all over, and that more and more women are experiencing a high level of success while having Scotiabank as a supporter.
Bayview Sheppard RMT
Toronto, Ontario
What an inspiring initiative! Things have come a long way! My business partner and I went to our bank over thirteen years ago with a business plan and a dream of opening our own clinic.
Sadly, our bank representative did not even look at our plan, she threw it back at us and said, “We don’t know you or what you’re capable of, we would never lend you money”....
Like most women, the rejection and lack of support became our driving force to prove this woman and many other doubters wrong.
It has been over thirteen years, we have grown every year as a business and entrepreneurs, we had to do it the hard way
Thank you Scotiabank for offering this opportunity to women. We wish our fellow entrepreneurs much success!
Helen Milic, RMT
Co-Owner Bayview Sheppard RMT
You’ve committed to making your business succeed — and you’re not alone. Get inspired by like-minded business women here!
On December 5, 2018, the initiative took off!
Toronto, Ontario
Pepper North Artisan Foods
Oshawa, Ontario
Bayview Sheppard RMT
Toronto, Ontario
