Stacey Romanyshyn opened Stacey鈥檚 Specialty Canning and Goods on April 13. She said she thought it was a good way to get back to her roots while also supporting local businesses.

鈥淢y mom and my grandma did [canning] their whole life so I grew up eating all this food and it was great to have your fresh canned fruit in the winter time,鈥� said Romanyshyn. 鈥淓verything I use is local from all the markets and farmers around town. The farthest that I go is Enderby right now and that鈥檚 just for my plums because I have a good supplier out there.鈥�

She said that she came up with the idea because she was canning at night after working a full-time job. She began selling at the Lumby farmers鈥� market and did quite well. From there, she contacted Community Futures, a non-profit organization with offices located across Canada that provide small business services to people living in rural communities. There Romanyshyn created a business concept and proposal. She says her plans were well received and this is what greenlit the business for her.

鈥淚 began doing research and found there is no other small processing place in Canada,鈥� said Romanyshyn. 鈥淚 checked right across Canada and there are big ones that you see in grocery stores but they all have extra preservatives added. These are all natural.鈥�

Related:

She bought the shop, renovated, applied and were eventually approved by Interior Health. She officially opened the doors mid-April.

Growing seasons began in the spring and will continue throughout the fall. This means her commercial kitchen will be busy. She offers speciality requests for people who grow their own food but don鈥檛 have the time or resources to can their produce or for those who have special food requirements or allergies. Due to popular requests, she said she also wants to eventually begin canning meat for local hunters.

Like her mother and grandmother did for her, she plans to pass on her canning techniques to her children. Romanyshyn said she also hopes to run seminars at schools and with young children in the hopes that they will learn how to grow, produce and can their own food.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 my whole goal is to bring back the old-fashioned way of food 鈥� what our grandparents used to eat all the time and to teach the youth,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 why I involved my children and why I would just like nowadays for younger people to learn how to do this because eventually foods going to be really expensive.鈥�

Stacey鈥檚 Specialty Canning and Goods is located in Lumby and is open Monday to Saturday all summer.

To report a typo, email:
newstips@vernonmorningstar.com.

brieanna.charlebois@vernonmorningstar.com
Like us on and follow us on .