Salt Spring Gelato is a small artesian gelato and sorbet company on Salt Spring Island--their claim to fame: being (as far as I know) the only Canadian company wholesaling organic gelato and sorbetto. Pretty cool stuff! They also use the most high quality ingredients they can get their hands on, local and organic whenever possible, including using certified organic milk from the island and from Avalon dairy in their gelato. Some of their flavourings like their chai gelato and black currant gelato come from other small businesses on the island, as it's one of their priorities to help support the other farmers and producers in their community. Their sorbettos are dairy-free, which makes them great for vegans and those with food allergies. They are even a carbon-neutral [Wikipedia] company, and work with Lifecycles' Fruit Tree Project--how cool is that?!

Location

I moved to the West End from Burnaby early this spring after beginning a new job downtown, and I have to admit, one of my favorite weekend activities throughout the summer has been to go to the farmer's market in Nelson Park on Saturday mornings (or sometimes early afternoons if it's been a late night). How wonderful it is having access to fresh from the farm produce and great locally made treats in the middle of one of Canada's largest cities is a luxury not lost on me.

One of my favorite stops at the market has not been a produce stand at all (although they are wonderful, of course!), but Maison Cote. You'll know it when you see the rows of sacs of flavoured salts, and the bottles of vinegars gleaming away. If you come in for a look, I assure you, you will be amazed by the variety and sheer drool factor.

There are a good number of local chocolate companies around here, most specialize in chocolate bars, many have dairy free options. But my favorite find in the last couple years is Bad Girl Chocolates. These chocolates are AMAZING, in particular the truffles, and not only that, a lot of them are vegan (ie. dairy free so I can eat them, yay!). My favourites so far are the pomegranate truffle, and the the chai truffle (which I don't think is actually available anymore), but the five-spice is also really good.

Bad Girl Chocolates are handmade by local gal, Kelly Boyd, a graduate of the Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts, and it shows in some of her more unusual combinations, such as the hot chocolate truffle, which has a hint of cayenne in it, the stout truffle which actually contains Guiness, and the olive oil truffle, which she explained at last weekend's farmers market, has a very mild taste but an incredible texture.

Kelly frequently sells her chocolates at local farmer's markets (see eatlocal.org for schedules), and many holiday markets (dates are listed on her site) and she also does mail order through the site.

If you a chocolate lover, it's well worth tracking her down and investing in some of the best chocolates you'll ever eat!