TELUS Digital Teams Across the Globe Unite to Give Where They Live
Article content
Sorry, your browser doesn't support embedded videos.
Article content
Article content
Nearly 500 team members from nine countries volunteered at TELUS Days of Giving events on May 16-17, reflecting the company's global commitment to positive social impact
Article content
VANCOUVER, British Columbia — TELUS Digital Experience (TELUS Digital) (NYSE and TSX: TIXT), a leading global technology company specializing in digital customer experiences, hosted its first globally-synchronized TELUS Days of Giving (TDOG) volunteer events on May 16-17.
Article content
TELUS Digital has organized hundreds of TDOG and other volunteer events in the regions where it operates around the world. However, this is the first time the company's team members from across Canada, China, El Salvador, Guatemala, Ireland, Morocco, the Philippines, Romania and Bulgaria organized and participated in events on the same days. This powerful milestone created a 'Wave of purple' across nine countries where TELUS Digital team members live, work and serve.
Article content
'At TELUS Digital, we believe in using technology as a force for good and in creating meaningful outcomes for the communities we serve,' said Jason Macdonnell, Acting CEO, TELUS Digital and President, TELUS Digital Customer Experience. 'Our commitment to 'Give Where We Live' is more than a value, it's a reflection of our fusion-based strategy, which combines the power of technology with the care and dedication of people to drive positive impact. Whether we're building innovative digital solutions or volunteering our time, our goal is always the same: to build a more inclusive, connected, and purpose-driven future. The spirit of giving doesn't end with a single event, it continues throughout the month and year, embedded in how we show up for our communities every day.'
Article content
Volunteer activities were thoughtfully selected to align with TELUS Digital's community investment and volunteer program pillars of: education and employment, health and well-being, and the environment.
Article content
Canada: Volunteers in Halifax, Nova Scotia removed waste and debris along the shoreline to help protect local waterways and marine life.
China: Team members in Chengdu supported experiential learning activities for children with autism, helping to foster inclusion and engagement.
El Salvador: Volunteers led environmental awareness workshops and planted native species in Cuscatlan Park to support local biodiversity.
Guatemala: The team planted 1,000 native pine trees as part of a reforestation initiative to restore local ecosystems.
Ireland: Team members in Cork helped transform the garden of a cancer treatment facility into a tranquil oasis where people affected by cancer and their families can find peace, participate in outdoor activities, and receive counseling.
Morocco: Volunteers in Casablanca ran soccer clinics and helped refurbish an elementary school, marking TELUS Digital's first TDOG activation on the African continent.
Philippines: Manila team members hosted reading tutorials for local students, supporting early literacy and educational development.
Romania & Bulgaria: Teams organized bee conservation and environmental education events to raise awareness about pollinator protection and sustainability.
Article content
Watch the video to see highlights from each global volunteer event, capturing the people, places, and purpose behind TELUS Digital's 'Wave of purple.'
Article content
TELUS Days of Giving events not only address immediate needs, but also benefit future generations through their lasting impacts while building a culture of volunteerism that extends throughout the year. As part of the company's Give Where We Live philosophy, over 130,000 TELUS Digital team members have contributed over half a million volunteer hours since 2016.
Article content
To learn more about how TELUS Digital is creating meaningful outcomes for the communities where team members live and work, visit telusdigital.com/about/social-impact.
Article content
About TELUS Digital
TELUS Digital (NYSE & TSX: TIXT) crafts unique and enduring experiences for customers and employees, and creates future-focused digital transformations that deliver value for our clients. We are the brand behind the brands. Our global team members are both passionate ambassadors of our clients' products and services, and technology experts resolute in our pursuit to elevate their end customer journeys, solve business challenges, mitigate risks, and drive continuous innovation. Our portfolio of end-to-end, integrated capabilities include customer experience management, digital solutions, such as cloud solutions, AI-fueled automation, front-end digital design and consulting services, AI & data solutions, including computer vision, and trust, safety and security services. Fuel iX ™ is TELUS Digital's proprietary platform and suite of products for clients to manage, monitor, and maintain generative AI across the enterprise, offering both standardized AI capabilities and custom application development tools for creating tailored enterprise solutions.
Article content
Powered by purpose, TELUS Digital leverages technology, human ingenuity and compassion to serve customers and create inclusive, thriving communities in the regions where we operate around the world. Guided by our Humanity-in-the-Loop principles, we take a responsible approach to the transformational technologies we develop and deploy by proactively considering and addressing the broader impacts of our work. Learn more at: telusdigital.com.
Article content
Article content
Article content
Article content
Contacts
Article content
Article content
Article content
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CBC
33 minutes ago
- CBC
U-pick flower farms blossoming in Chatham-Kent
U-pick flowers are a growing trend in southwestern Ontario as farmers open up their operations to tourists looking for novel experiences and stunning photo opportunities. Farms in Chatham-Kent offer visitors the opportunity to stroll among rows of peonies, sunflowers and tulips, taking photographs and cutting flowers to purchase. "We just thought, 'We don't see the joy that the peonies bring when we sell it wholesale,'" said Valérie Chort, one of the owners of Fleur de Roy near Mitchell's Bay, Ont. Fleur de Roy grows 17 varieties of peonies over 10 acres, making for about 150,000 stems. But until now, it had been shipping them off to market in Toronto. Now, after four years of commercial operations, the owners have partnered with local vendors and florists to display art and offer workshops in an effort to create an annual peony bloom festival, Chort said. The Puddleford Tree Farm in Kent Bridge, meanwhile, will be awash in sunflowers in about five weeks' time, according to co-owner Matthew Whitney. The farm grows about 20,000 of the flowers each year on about two acres of land and raises money for the Alzheimer's Society by charging visitors per car and per cut flower. "We decided to do this because people love to go to see sunflowers," Whitney said. "They're a great thing to take photos of. And we wanted to give people an opportunity to do that and not interfere with the commercial growers who don't want people walking through their fields. … People can come out and have a nice day and take some nice photos and just enjoy the sunshine." The sunflowers at Puddleford are only around two inches high right now, said co-owner Gail Whitney. But tulip season is already at Hat Trick Farms in Blenheim, Ont., and they also offered people a chance to pick their own tulips. The three-year-old operation got into tulip-growing because the three siblings who own it only have a small land-base to work with — so they had to focus on niche crops, said co-owner Lynne Warriner. They started growing winterberries late in the season, then followed up with tulips as a spring crop. "The response from the visitors has been quite rewarding," Warriner said. "They come and visit the field, for taking pictures, the majority of them — but they can also pick their own while they're here." The owners have taken to planting some fields in a multitude of colours, and Warriner said she loves watching the colours change as different varieties bloom at different times. "Usually the orange and pink tulips are the first ones to bloom," she said. "But two to three weeks later, depending on how long our season is, it's more purple and white in colour. So for us … it's different to see how the field changes through the season."
CTV News
an hour ago
- CTV News
Toronto housing among least affordable on this global index. Here's what experts say needs to change
A new global index suggests Toronto is among the world's worst cities when it comes to housing affordability — as experts blame decades of policy missteps, development delays, and overwhelming population demand for the problem. The 2025 Global Cities Index from Oxford Economics finds that as a result of Toronto's expensive real estate market, residents 'spend more of their income on housing than residents of nearly every other city in the world.' While the federal government recently promised to eliminate the GST on first-time home purchases under $1 million, critics argue that restrictive housing policies, costly development charges and sluggish approvals have created a market that's out of reach for most buyers. The average price of a home in the Toronto area did decline four per cent year-over-year in May but still stood at more than $1.1 million, according to the latest data from the Toronto Region Real Estate Board. 'Over the past 20 years Toronto's population has grown by 35 per cent but affordable housing hasn't kept up. The result? Life is getting too expensive for families,' Mayor Olivia Chow said during a press conference on Friday. 'Young people are giving up on the dream of home ownership.' The City of Toronto has a program where it will defer development fees for some projects so long as at least 20 per cent of its units are affordable. However, demand for the program has far exceeded the city's ability to fund it and as a result Chow says that there are projects totalling 300,000 new units from about 70 different developers that are 'shovel ready' and just 'sitting there in the pipeline' waiting for funding from other levels of government. In Toronto alone, development fees can add more than $100,000 to the cost of a new home and in some areas in the GTA development fees can easily double that, says Frank Clayton, Senior Research Fellow at Toronto Metropolitan University. Prime Minister Mark Carney has previously promised to help municipalities reduce those fees by 50 per cent through additional payments that could be distributed by the provinces though he has not provided a timeline for those investments. 'If a municipality takes $200,000 up front, developers got to increase their prices such that $200,000 is reflected ultimately in the price of the house,' Clayton said. 'Builders won't build, unless they can cover their costs.' Toronto housing A real estate sign is displayed on the front lawn of a house in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on Thursday, May 11, 2017. Clayton identifies three key culprits behind Toronto's crisis: high fees, restrictive planning rules, and relentless demand — the latter driven in part by immigration. Last year alone, nearly 300,000 newcomers arrived in the region, fuelling further housing pressure. 'You need sites. You need sites that are zoned, and you need sites that are serviced,' Clayton said. 'The planning system is very unresponsive to changes in demand.' 'We have to act now' New home sales in the GTA hit a seventh consecutive month of record all-time lows in April, owing in part to a significant reduction in housing starts. Dave Wilkes, president and CEO of the Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD), says time is running out to fix the system. 'We are seeing real market consequences. 80,000 people leave the GTA,' Wilkes said. 'The longer we wait, the longer that it's going to take to balance supply and demand.' Wilkes is calling for urgent action on housing taxes — especially the harmonized sales tax (HST) formula, which hasn't been revised since 1991. 'Making that change on HST today is the most immediate thing we could do,' Wilkes said. 'It would bring costs down by a dramatic 13 per cent for the first million dollars of a purchase.' He also warned that the federal government's plan to remove GST only for homes under $1 million misses the mark in high-cost cities like Toronto, where the average sale price sits well above that. 'Under a million is just not a product type that is available in the GTA,' he emphasized. Row of houses in Toronto Children ride bikes by a row of houses in Toronto on Tuesday July 12, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Cole Burston What is the market is lacking? Jason Mercer, Chief Information Officer for the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board, says affordability has technically improved — but warns that too little new construction could reverse that trend. 'Two years ago, a lot of households simply wouldn't have qualified,' Mercer said. 'Today, I would argue that a lot of those households could qualify, because prices have edged lower and interest rates have come down.' Still, Mercer says demand will eventually rebound, and if the city can't match it with supply, prices will climb again. 'We haven't done a good job keeping up with housing supply to meet that population growth,' he said. 'From a public policy perspective, we want to look at ways that we see sort of a sustained pipeline of new housing coming online.' A turning point with urgency Clayton says the roots of the crisis stretch back to the early-2000s when Ontario shifted its land-use focus towards environmental protection, including the establishment of the Greenbelt. He argues the policy limited where housing could be built, and gave too much power to growth management plans that discouraged the types of homes most people want — townhouses and detached units. 'We have to have a competitive supply of land,' Clayton said. 'Because if there's competition, then prices don't go up very much.' Despite efforts from all levels of government to address the issue — including a recent Ontario bill aimed at speeding up construction — most experts agree that housing affordability won't be meaningfully restored unless there's a broad and urgent shift in policy, from zoning and fees to taxes and timelines. 'The time for discussion has concluded. We really need the time for action,' Wilkes said.
Vancouver Sun
an hour ago
- Vancouver Sun
'Buy Canadian': Here are 6 of the best homegrown condiment brands
The 'Buy Canadian' movement is stronger than ever. Seven in ten seek homegrown products when they shop (68 per cent, up five points from February), and more than half look at labels to avoid items made in the United States, according to a Narrative Research poll. Proving that shopping local is no sacrifice, from innovative ways to slash sugar and sodium to time-honoured traditions, these six Canadian condiment companies make meals more delicious. One of them is a dramatic example of how the 'Buy Canadian' movement can change the trajectory of a small business overnight. Most have experienced a boost in sales and are finding grocery buyers more receptive because of the rise of patriotic consumerism. All are available Canada-wide at retailers or via their websites. Discover the best of B.C.'s recipes, restaurants and wine. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of West Coast Table will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. The condiment market is growing. With customers increasingly seeking out ' bold, international tastes ,' it's only expected to expand. A dab of mustard, a dash of hot sauce or a drizzle of chili oil can make the difference between a ho-hum meal and a phenomenal one. These producers reflect the diversity of Canada's communities, whether expressing their heritage through flavour or creating something wholly new from homegrown ingredients. 'I'm loving how Canadians are recognizing all of the things that are available in our home,' says Asha Wheeldon, founder and CEO of Vancouver's KULA Foods . 'We have so many brands. We have so much richness of ingredients grown in Alberta, in B.C., and across Canada that we have access to.' From whisky to bean-to-bar chocolate to cheese , many food and drink businesses have seen an uptick in sales since the 'Buy Canadian' movement started gaining momentum in February. What Shenul Williams's condiment business, Aki's Fine Foods , experienced was more than a mere boost — it was a tsunami. In March, Williams talked to her family about possibly having to close her Pickering, Ont.-based company. 'I was just venting,' Williams recalls. '(I said), 'We can't take another whip like we took through COVID, and these tariffs are going to kill us. We can't survive.' Her daughter, Aliza Welch, took action. Unbeknownst to Williams, Welch posted about Aki's Fine Foods on a 'Buy Canadian' Reddit thread . The post went viral, and online sales are up 6,000 per cent. 'She's my hero. She's been there for me, thick and thin,' Williams says of Welch. 'My mom has been operating via word of mouth for 38 years, and until I made that post, that's the only real social media presence this company has had,' says Welch, laughing. 'That's how you know her sauces are good because she's been in business for this long.' At first, they were concerned that the surge of interest in Aki's Indo-African condiments, including pickles, chutneys and barbecue marinades, would fade, but it hasn't. People across Canada are placing orders — with customers in British Columbia, Newfoundland and Ontario showing the most enthusiasm — and Williams hand-writes a thank-you card to each one. 'The way Canadians have been rallying behind my mom has been unlike anything I've ever seen before — and how they continue to rally behind my mom,' says Welch, now Aki's marketing and outreach director (on top of her job in health care). 'We just cannot thank them enough.' Williams's parents, the late Aki and Daulat Virji, founded the company in 1986. After Aki got cancer in 1989, Williams became CEO. 'A young kid on the block and taking over, it was really hard, especially not knowing anything about the business,' she says. 'It was a very rough time, but I think (the sentimental value) kept me going all these years. We've had ups and downs, but that's what made me survive.' Originally from Tanzania, Williams's products reflect her East African birthplace and Indian heritage. 'With the Indian fusion, they're really, really robust flavour,' she says. Welch sees the longevity of Aki's Fine Foods as a sign that Canadians want condiments that taste like 'someone's auntie' made them, using fresh ingredients in small batches. Aki's medium-hot Coriander Chutney is a top seller, and Welch likes to put it on everything from avocado toast to eggs. (She recommends the Red Hot Jamaican Chutney for heat lovers.) Mango Chutney, Chili Ginger Pickle, and Garlic and Ginger Paste are also popular. In 2024, Aki's Zanzibar Spice BBQ Marinade was named the best sauce at Vancouver's Grocery and Specialty Food West trade show. Since Welch's post, Aki's has secured a national distributor, and stores that stocked some products want to include a broader range. Other major and independent retailers have also expressed interest, which Welch says is the direct result of thousands of customers requesting Aki's condiments. 'I don't think I realized before all of this how much of an impact we had as individual Canadians and buyers of products. People tell you, 'Be aware of how you spend your money. It makes a difference.' And until seeing how this influenced my mom, I didn't realize how much power we had,' says Welch. Williams adds: 'My life changed overnight.' Using only koji, rice, water, hazelnuts, cocoa and sea salt, Montreal's La Brasserie San-Ô makes a chocolate spread that will leave you asking, 'Nutella who?' Its no-sugar-added, dairy-free Koji Cocoa Spread won the silver innovation award at SIAL Canada in April, North America's largest food innovation trade show. It stood out among 170 applications from 13 countries 'as an indulgent but better-for-you spread.' Husband-and-wife team Noriko Suzuki and Yota Suzuki founded the company in 2021 (formerly known as Koji Soupe & Labo) with restaurateur Masum Rahman, owner of Buffet Maharani , where they started production before moving to a dedicated fermentation lab. Yota was a sake brewer in the Suzukis' native Japan. The couple was familiar with amazake ('sweet sake') — the first step of sake-making embraced as a naturally sweet, low-alcohol or non-alcoholic drink in its own right — and aimed for more concentrated sweetness. Noriko began using it as a sugar alternative. Then, her thoughts turned to breakfast. 'What if we can use amazake as a chocolate spread?' It all started with koji. 'This is a really magic ingredient to enhance umami in any kind of cuisine,' says Noriko, president of La Brasserie San-Ô. Koji, grain (such as rice or barley) inoculated with the mould Aspergillus oryzae, is 'the heart of Japanese fermentation.' It lays the foundation for many condiments, such as miso, mirin, soy sauce and pickles. Though the Suzukis knew about koji, Noma , the legendary Copenhagen restaurant, inspired them to experiment beyond traditional uses. (David Zilber, the former head of Noma's fermentation lab and co-author of The Noma Guide to Fermentation , and current director Kevin Jeung are both from Toronto .) 'We try many, many new products. When I show the products to Japanese soy sauce companies or miso companies, they say, 'Oh, this is not miso.' 'But this is not soy sauce.' Noma opened our eyes,' says Noriko. In addition to its cocoa spread, La Brasserie San-Ô makes artisanal condiments such as richly flavoured red and mellow white misos and salt and soy sauce koji , which Noriko recommends using in salads or as a marinade for proteins to enhance umami and tenderness. She highlights that only seven per cent of the soybeans used to make Japanese miso are domestic — most are grown in countries like Canada, shipped to Japan and then sent back in miso form. At La Brasserie San-Ô, they use Quebec soybeans, making their misos a wholly local product. When they started the business, koji was lesser-known. Today, word is spreading. Most of their customers are chefs in cities such as Montreal, Quebec City and Ottawa, which Noriko credits to Noma's influence. 'Even chefs who said at that time, 'We don't use koji because we're a French restaurant,' are getting back (in touch, saying), 'Maybe we can use your products,'' she says, laughing. The Suzukis enjoy experimenting with koji to create new condiments, such as an upcycled coffee teriyaki sauce fermented using spent espresso grounds and koji, vegan oyster sauce, ketchup and Indian seasonings. 'We're really having fun incorporating new types of dishes with Japanese condiments. When I was in Japan, we only used these condiments to cook Japanese food, but since we came here, we've found many global ingredients to incorporate with koji condiments. So, I want to explain and expand this interesting field to the Canadian market,' says Noriko. 'It's such a good journey for us as well. The story started when we immigrated to this country. That really opened our horizons.' In 2020, as people across Canada found themselves managing three meals a day within four walls, Jannine Rane and Anush Sachdeva were also in the throes of the 'what's for dinner' dilemma. 'We really were just trying to figure out a way where we could have that variety, which is the reality of how most people eat today. (It's) based on wanting a mix of cultures, wanting that convenience, but then also the reality of what's in the fridge at 6:23 on a Tuesday,' says Rane, co-founder and CEO of Zing Pantry Shortcuts in Toronto. The average Canadian knows seven recipes , she adds, which is in stark contrast to our growing appetite for global flavours. According to Canadian Grocer , Korean, Japanese, Filipino and Thai cuisines are driving 24 per cent growth in the multicultural food category. 'How we want to eat and how we eat — there was no real overlap there. So that was the pain point. How do we eat what we want without having to spend hours in the kitchen? And the inspiration was really restaurants,' says Rane. 'How does a restaurant get a plate of dinner from the kitchen to your table in 20 minutes? The secret sauce is the secret sauce, quite literally.' Rane and Sachdeva co-founded Zing with their friend Kiran Singh, a chef, to bottle sauces that brought flavour 'without compromising on quality or health. And doing it in a way that is also an homage to Canada and reflects the communities we live in.' Over the past five years, they've partnered with Canadian chefs and food creators to develop a range of condiments, including Vincent Ng's Mala Savoury Chili Salt , Pay Chen's Sacha-ish Chili Miso Condiment and Christine Flynn's Buzz Hot Honey . They make their products in a Mississauga facility and manage all aspects of the business in-house. Rane says that Zing built its business with independent grocers, small boutiques and coffee shops willing to take a chance on something new. It's now available at more than 700 retailers nationwide, including Metro, Whole Foods Market and Fortinos. Zing's top seller is one of its original products, Hakka-ish Chili Crisp . It's been so popular that there's now a Garlic Chili Crunch version. In 2020, Zing was one of a handful of companies in Canada making chili crisp. People often asked Rane what it was — but no longer, which she sees as evidence of how much more frequently people seek out these flavours. According to Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada , chili sauces, such as chili crisp, are seeing the greatest growth in the 'cooking and table sauce' segment, the largest sauce category. Many people have advised Zing to move its operations to the United States, but Rane has resisted each time. She says running a Canadian small business in a consolidated industry and an uncertain economy isn't easy, but her absolute belief in their work keeps her going. 'We took a leap of faith,' says Rane. 'There was no one doing what we were doing at the time. We're that example for folks that are starting now. So, I hope it's the beginning of a wave of more Canadians being excited and proud of what we have to offer and just doing it — because I think we can and should.' As a self-described 'flavour hunter,' the condiment category is a natural place for Asha Wheeldon to be. Since founding KULA Foods in Vancouver in 2018, she's continually innovated. Raised in Toronto, Wheeldon launched the company to provide a taste of the regional African and Caribbean cuisines she missed from her hometown in plant-based proteins and condiments: red pepper and Scotch bonnet barbecue sauces and the warmly spiced, Kenyan-inspired pili pili hot sauce. In 2021, KULA reformulated its sauces to remove all added sugar. 'We wanted to create sauces that didn't have so much sugar content in there, thinking about health needs for someone who has diabetes or is just looking to reduce sugar intake, but also to be able to achieve the flavour in their foods,' says Wheeldon. After testing various options, KULA landed on monk fruit (a natural no-calorie sweetener). It partnered with Summerland, B.C.-based food tech company Crush Dynamics , which developed a patented process using grape pomace (a byproduct of wine production), tapping into the fruit's polyphenols and fibres. 'They turn that into a full fermentation process technology that essentially uses grapes as an enhancer, and it takes away any (monk fruit) aftertaste,' says Wheeldon. 'Working with them has really enhanced our sauces. Further to that, we've also been able to reduce our sodium and get the best texture possible.' Local sourcing has been a priority since the beginning, and as a certified B Corporation , KULA measures the distance of the suppliers they work with. 'Most of them are women. They're diverse communities. They're within an 80-kilometre radius. I'm really behind that message of, 'Let's support each other.'' KULA is adding to its condiment line this summer with seasonings, such as Ethiopian berbere, Kenyan-inspired pili pili spice (which they've sampled as a hot chocolate beverage) and a curry blend highlighting Caribbean flavours — all without sodium. Working with Vancouver-based Maia Farms , KULA is infusing its seasonings with mycelium (the root structure of mushrooms). 'It's going to have oyster mushroom roots that add benefits to activate fibre, potassium and so much more,' says Wheeldon. Reformulating KULA's sauces sprung from Wheeldon challenging the conventional use of sugar. A two-tablespoon serving of standard barbecue sauce can easily contain more than 30 per cent of the daily value of added sugars. 'Why? That's dessert,' she says, laughing. Similarly, Wheeldon envisioned seasonings without sodium. Working with friend Karen McAthy, Maia Farms' director of food innovation, she arrived at adding functionality. Functional beverages (drinks with health benefits, such as those enhanced with protein or vitamins) have become increasingly popular, but Wheeldon hadn't seen many functional seasonings. Beyond the health aspect, she says they can bring more creativity into cooking. Mycelium is also a natural thickening agent and adds body to gravies, pastes, soups and stews. 'We use condiments in cooking, so why not add functionalities that will enhance our experience, whether it's the properties of cooking or the health benefits? If you can add fibre to more of your stews, why not? What excites me most is it allows us to expand our market reach around the types of customers we get. It's not just about veganism. It's about flavour. It's about health. It's about experience in the kitchen. So, it does create more expansiveness.' Ottawa-based Torshi started with an experiment. Tech entrepreneur and co-founder Aydin Mirzaee knew his mom, Nasrin Eslamdoost, was onto something with her torshi (Persian-style pickled vegetables). Every Christmas, Eslamdoost would visit him from New York, where she worked as a geneticist, and make a batch of torshi meant to last the year. It never made it past February. 'It was so frustrating because I was like, 'How do I get this?' I would go to stores, and of course, there are Persian stores and things like that, but there's nothing that tasted the same.' Aydin put the idea of a business aside until Eslamdoost retired and returned to Ottawa. When he suggested that she and his dad, Saeid Mirzaee (who teaches international law part-time at the University of Ottawa), join him in starting a torshi company, Eslamdoost was skeptical. So, Aydin proposed they evaluate the pickles' appeal on their non-Persian friends. The test wasn't about whether they said they liked them but about whether they voluntarily ate more. 'Sure enough, we did this, and the reception was really good. People would go for seconds. They'd finish the whole thing,' Aydin recalls. In September 2023, they took their experiment to the Beechwood farmers' market in Ottawa. On the first day, they sold 22 jars. 'All of us were like, 'Holy. This is crazy. People actually bought it.' We just kept not wanting to believe it,' says Aydin. They couched their success in the idea that farmers' market customers are inclined to support local and waited to see if there would be repeat purchases. There were. When Aydin saw that the domain was on auction, they took it as another sign that their Persian pickle company was meant to be. 'Slowly, my parents started to believe: 'We can do this. We can be entrepreneurs,'' says Aydin, laughing. 'I've been doing this entrepreneurial stuff my whole life, and so this is very natural to me, but for them, what I'm proud of is that, later on, they're doing this thing.' In 2024, Matin Moghaddam, who shares the co-founders' love of torshi, joined full-time as the general manager. Torshi — mixed vegetable , carrot and cauliflower — is now stocked in 93 stores across Canada, but Aydin has his sights set on 1,000. Crunchy and garlicky with the tang of an organic apple cider vinegar brine, their customers are putting torshi on charcuterie boards and in sandwiches and salads. Moghaddam says he used to think of torshi as an accompaniment, but seeing how people from other backgrounds are enjoying it, he appreciates its versatility. 'Now there are more doors and opportunities that we can explore.' Aydin and Moghaddam share the dream that, just like kimchi and hummus, one day, torshi will enter the Canadian lexicon. 'This is not an embedded word within Canada,' says Aydin. 'If you fast forward 10 years and everybody knows what torshi is, that would be crazy.' Moghaddam adds: 'That someone calls his wife and says, 'Can you buy some torshi?' and they understand each other's language. And they won't be like, 'What's that?' That's our vision.' To many, Kozlik's is more than a mustard — it's their mustard. 'I used to open the store at 5 a.m. with my father on the weekends, and people would come by with their group of friends, and they'd stop and say, 'This is my mustard.' And they'd really take ownership over that,' recalls Noah Kessler, director of business development and son of owner Jeremy Kessler. Kozlik's has been in the condiment game since 1948. Noah grew up participating in the business after his father bought it from late founder Anton Kozlik in 2000. Initially, they made mustard on-site at Toronto's St. Lawrence Market . One of Noah's first jobs at 11 years old was cutting labels and adhering them to jars with a glue stick. His father is a former photographer, so the lines had to be perfectly straight. Before they were in the mustard business, the Kesslers were Kozlik's customers. Jeremy went down to the market one day — between jobs on the cusp of the digital era — and came home with a book of recipes. 'Anton gave me a very good basic mustard education (he'd been making mustard for 50 years, so he knew a few things), and I seem to have a bit of a talent for it,' Jeremy told National Post in 2010. Mustard is a classic condiment, and Kozlik's is a time-honoured Canadian brand. One of Jeremy's lessons that stuck with Noah is that incremental changes add up. 'You may not notice the slight changes immediately, but when you look at it over time, they're substantial.' With a background in economics, Noah believes running a profitable business and making products you feel good about is possible. Carefully sourcing glass, caps and labels helps safeguard profitability without sacrificing quality. According to the Alberta Seed Guide , Canada is the world's top exporter of mustard seeds, and half of all mustard eaten globally is the product of Saskatchewan-grown seeds. When drought hit Western Canada in 2021, mustard farmers suffered, and a shortage followed. Noah says that prices soared by 300 per cent, spurring them to diversify their product line. If one of their input costs increases dramatically, they have other products to fill the gap. They also bought a German stone mill to grind whole mustard seeds, which they source from a farmer's co-op in the Prairies. In addition to more than 36 types of mustard , Kozlik's now makes barbecue sauces , horseradish , hot sauces and spice rubs . Yet, mustard is still its 'bread and butter.' Classic Dijon and Horseradish are the top sellers, and Triple Crunch , with its pop of acidity ('the poor man's caviar'), is a favourite with chefs. After 25 years in various roles in the mustard business, Noah appreciates its ability to enhance anything from dressings and marinades to hot dogs and pretzels. 'We like to say that good mustard can make bad food good and good food better.' And with the recent focus on all things Canadian, it's a shining example that often goes unnoticed. 'We used to joke when my father and I worked the weekends at the store. People would say, 'Oh, Canada grows all this mustard seed?' And we'd say, 'Yeah, it's very Canadian to do something well and not tell anyone about it.' And that was true. Nobody knew that Canada had this history and heritage in mustard. So, we like to be a part of that. It feels close to home.' Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark and sign up for our cookbook and recipe newsletter, Cook This, here .
