Today’s Vendor Story highlights Coquitlam’s Avafina Organics. Avafina Organics is dedicated to organic agriculture and biodiversity. Since 1998, the brand has been supplying organic ingredients to North America with the desire to “stay connected with each other and aligned with Mother Nature”. 

Avafina Organics strives to offer only the best organic ingredients and products, all grown with love, conviction, and integrity. With a wide range of organic products available on DirectFood.store, we wanted to learn more about the company and spoke with Michael Harrison, their VP of Sales & Operations.

What do you produce at Avafina Organics and what products do you offer? 

We produce nutritious organic products! We import organic ingredients from around the world (seeds, flours, spices) and we put these in pouches or jars to be made available for customers. We have also just begun to use these ingredients to make super-nutritious organic, vegan, gluten-free spreads and dips.

What do you and your company stand for? 

Our goal is to have more people eating organic and living a healthy lifestyle. We feel that the amazing products we have contribute to that.

What's the story behind it all? 

It all started more than 20 years ago. Laura, the owner, was born and grew up in Argentina. Her family owned a farm, but she moved to North America to go to school, learning international trading.

When she was done school, she wanted to grow the ‘organic’ ingredient business. Laura had lots of farming connections from back home and travelled there to work with the farmers so that they could grow organic crops. Not only were these crops superior to ‘conventional’ crops that use pesticides but by working with the farmers, it helped them to maintain a fruitful livelihood. 

The business grew and she continued to provide bulk organic ingredients to customers in North America. At one point along the way, she determined that individual consumers should have access to these amazing ingredients as well, so she created the ‘Avafina Organics’ brand and packaged these wonderful ingredients in retail sizes. Many new SKUs have been added along the way and there are many more to come.

How do you feel about the Fraser Valley and about supporting local businesses? 

We want the world to embrace organic products in a larger way, but we are thrilled to grow outwards from our base in the Lower Mainland. We love seeing local businesses around us survive and thrive. We are eager to do what we can to help companies with a similar philosophy to our own.

What does the future have in store?  

We are incredibly excited about the new spreads and dips that we are launching in Q1 of 2021. We think that these are going to be a runaway success!

How has your relationship with your customers evolved over the years?  

A solid relationship with all customers is key to success. We want our customers to like Avafina and our products so that they continue to grow and support ‘organic’ and hopefully make a positive influence on others.

You can learn more about Avafina Organics by visiting their website (https://www.avafina.com/) and connecting with them on social media:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/avafinaorganics/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/avafinaorganics/

Shop with Avafina Organics in our online marketplace: https://bit.ly/2KB1IZu