by Catherine Dunwoody
You may be familiar with Left Coast Naturals, a Burnaby-based brand that started back in 1996. Owned by Jason Dorland and Ian Walker, they kicked off with a line of natural nut butters called Skeet & Ike’s that they sold on Granville Island Market on weekends.
Things went well, the company ticked along for a long while, and then in 2005 they launched a variety of tortilla chips, named Hippie Chips, after the 60s hippie movement where people looked to raw, natural foods for better health.
Hippie Foods has grown since then, and now is a whole line of healthy (and tasty!) snacks, cereals and cookies. See? Going way beyond granola. Though their granola is darn good. Here are some goodies to watch for in markets on Canada’s west coast. Bonus? All of these are organic, gluten free and non-GMO too:
Hippie Snacks Coconut Clusters. Organic roasted coconut is tossed with crunchy, nutrient-packed pumpkin, sesame and sunflower seeds for an easy snack on the run. I like the Zesty Chili tossed on a salad for extra crunch, and the Nearly Naked flavour straight out of the bag.
Garden Chips. Raw, real vegetable slices with nuts and seeds in flavours like Snacking Stir Fry, Crunchy Coleslaw, and Roots Medley.
Gluten-Free Granola. Try the grown-up flavours like Brown Rice and Quinoa or Vanilla Almond.
Coconut Chips. Slices of young coconut are roasted to a satisfying crunch that’s a bit savoury, not cloyingly sweet, and great as a snack or on dessert or salads. The Tamari and Cracked Pepper or Coconut Bacon flavours are highly addictive.
Hippie Foods are at retailers like IGA, Whole Foods, Urban Fare and more. Visit hippiefoods.com for a complete listing.
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