Island Good Shines the Spotlight on Vancouver Island’s Gluten-Free Brands!

Vancouver Island Economic Alliance launches Island Good!

A campaign to help shoppers identify locally sourced food products. Look for the Island Good logo at Thrifty Foods, Country Grocer, Quality Foods and 49th Parallel Grocery across Vancouver Island.

The Backstory
If you were to prepare a meal using only food products grown, produced or manufactured on Vancouver Island, what would you include? How about meals all day or food for an entire week?

That challenge was undertaken a few years ago by the Vancouver Island Economic Alliance (VIEA). VIEA decided to serve only foods that are made or grown on Vancouver Island at a luncheon it was hosting. A board member was given a budget and given the task of purchasing foods for the event. What seemed like a simple enough task, turned into a scavenger hunt as the VIEA shopper combed the shelves and display cases of local grocery stores for Island food products. The products could be found on grocery shelves, but a great deal of diligence and label reading was required to source those goods.

That exercise will now be easier with the creation of the ‘Island Good’ point of sale campaign being championed by our four retail partners Country Grocer, Quality Foods, Thrifty Foods, and 49th Parallel.


  • Shoppers will be able to identify Island Good options by looking for the colorful Island Good shelf messaging.

As Islanders make more Island Good choices in their shopping, we think increased demand will lead to increased production, more jobs and more production capacity as shopping dollars stay on Vancouver Island to support Island growers, producers and grocers.

Look for the Island Good tags in our partner grocery stores. Enjoy local food and support our local economy. We’ll all be good. Island Good!


Participating Gluten-Free Brands
Benjamins-Bites-300x250Benjamin’s Bites

Benjamin Bites are the go-to cookie for everyone who loves a delicious treat – and anyone who needs to eat gluten-free or allergy-free (no eggs, soy, dairy, peanuts, tree nuts, sesame seeds or sulphites.) Better yet – one Benjamin’s Bites cookie (25 gr) contains only 110 calories. Their Brownies (23 gr) clock in at just 100! Learn more …


Country-Grocer-300-x-250Country Grocer

Country Grocer is a family-owned and operated grocery chain with 7 stores in Victoria, Cobble Hill, Salt Spring Island, Lake Cowichan and Nanaimo. Look for gluten-free shelf labels throughout their stores to guide you to exceptional products, amazing pricing and in-store manager specials! Ask for your copy of the Gluten-Free Shopping Guide at Customer Service. Learn more …


Hertel Meats

Hertel Meats Ltd. was created in 1967, a small family enterprise, providing slaughter, cutting & wrapping, and further processing, of beef, pork and game for local farmers and hunters. In the mid 80’s, Tom Hertel recognized and responded to a need he saw in his customers, developing Hertel’s now renowned line of fresh sausages processed without wheat gluten, lactose (milk) products, or artificial preservatives. Learn more …


Portofino Bakery

Portofino European Bakery  creates tasty, delicious and most of all – safe – gluten-free bread, buns, loaves, cookies and seasonal treats! Best of all – they test them to make sure that they are gluten free! Learn more …


Thrifty Foods

Are you, a friend or family member wanting or needing to live gluten free? Then Thrifty Foods has got you covered! From cooking staples to bakery indulgences, Thrifty Foods offers tasty, gluten-free options in every aisle.  Recipes and support:  everything you need to make your gluten-free lifestyle easy, healthy and totally satisfying! Learn more …