Kindred Cultures started as a family kitchen project. Founder and owner Lyndsay is a busy mom of two kids. When her youngest son started suffering from eczema and asthma at 15 months old, and prescriptions and hospital visits weren’t improving his conditions, she set out on a mission to find something that would bring relief to him. This was the beginning of her journey in understanding the benefits of probiotics and gut health. Through her research and learning, the family discovered Kefir and began making it at home, finding it immensely helpful. Soon after their discovery, friends and neighbours began lining up to try their recipe. The positive feedback and success stories confirmed what she had already been feeling – “That was it, I had found my calling!”
Today, they are honoured to share their vegan kefir water with people Canada-wide! “We take our probiotic-rich kefir water and infuse it with a rainbow of organic fruits + botanicals for a delicious beverage that makes your body feel great. Low in sugar and calories, packed with probiotics, infused with the natural goodness of real foods, our Kefir Water is a toast to your health!”
Question: How are you supporting other local businesses?
Answer: All of our retail partners are local in B.C. and all of our distributors are local subsidiaries of Canadian companies. We have some local ingredient suppliers in Abbotsford and Nelson, including Pacific Coast Fruit Products, OM Foods, and The Juice Truck (for ginger). Some ingredients, like lemon, don’t grow here, so we have to import from elsewhere. We do our best to source our ingredients locally, including B.C. strawberries and cranberries. Almost all of our services are from local businesses, with about 75% from B.C., and about 15% based elsewhere in Canada.
We do some of our banking with Vancity, our insurance provider, Cooperators, is Canadian, and our law firm, accountant, and other consultants are all based in B.C. as well.
Question: What social and environmental practices are you proud of?
Answer: We have a comprehensive waste management program, have switched from plastic labels to stone paper labels, and only use glass or aluminum. Being based in an urban area, we are lucky to have a community composting program. Our goals moving forward are to be more conscious of our water usage and measure this usage during production to be more efficient. We are also in the process of preparing for our BCorp certification.
The company is female-owned and run. We have some great diversity within that group, culturally and educationally. We provide our staff with health care benefits and facilitate grants for student and new graduate hiring.
To give back to our community, we donate to the Battered Women’s Society, to social justice causes for Indigenous and Asian communities, and also sponsor a CNIB guide dog.
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