Food, Drink, and Consumer Products

Anika Sawni, founder of Grüvi and Chief Brand Officer, started Grüvi in 2019 along with her brother Niki Sawni. Today, Grüvi is the only company in North America to offer a multi-award-winning line of alcohol-free social beverages including beer, wine and sangria. 

A sought after thought leader in the space, Anika was named to Forbes Top 30 Under 30 List at just 25 years old and was recently named as EY Entrepreneur of the Year 2023 Finalist and Special Citation Recipient. 

In just under five years, Anika has co-led Grüvi to be one of the fastest-growing non-alcoholic brands in North America, with 300% year-over-year growth, and products available in 4000+ retail outlets and on-line. Credited as trailblazers in the non-alcoholic beverage space, the team at Grüvi continue to challenge the status quo, filling the void of appealing beverage options available for sober curious consumers. 

It’s Anika’s mission to leverage her experience in branding and experiential marketing to create a unique product that helps embrace the joy of celebratory moments by offering bevs that always deliver on taste, variety and are broadly accessible and highly desirable. 

Anika is proud to be a founding member of the Adult Non-Alcoholic Beverage Association (ANBA), with a focus to bring greater attention and momentum to the wealth of opportunity and goodwill in the space. 

 With a personal commitment to maintaining balance in her personal life, coupled with a more formal background in Neuroscience from her studies at McGill University, she also draws on her own experience with the benefits of changing consumption habits to benefit overall health and well-being.

David King turned his green thumb into a thriving Toronto-based digital-first plant business, co-founding Promise Supply in 2020 after a decade of working across events, real estate, and tech. 

His experience growing a commercial space marketplace, evangelizing content creators, and training AI support bots (in 2016) have enabled David to take novel approaches to grow in a traditional industry. 

Today, Promise Supply helps customers build a deeper connection to nature indoors and outdoors by enriching the spaces where they live, work, and play with plants and botanicals. Their design-centric approach to incorporating greenery into homes, restaurants, retail, and office spaces has set the company apart. 

Ultimately, David's goal is to create the best experience for discovering and ordering indoor and landscaping plants while considering the environmental implications of what and how the company selects and delivers products to clients. 

Promise Supply encourages clients to reach out via text, phone, or social media, emphasizing communication in whatever way is easiest for them. 

This focus has led the company to experiment with innovative ways to provide a seamless online and offline customer experience, which is why the company has been featured in multiple "Best Of" articles in publications, including BlogTO and HGTV.

As the company has grown, David continues to find ways to give back to the community and planet. Over the next few years, he plans to expand on previous initiatives, such as the rainforest protection program and end-of-season donations to support public Botanical Gardens.

David Gaylord is the current Chief Executive Officer at Bushbalm, a skincare and technology brand focused solely on bikini line care. Sold nationwide at Ulta Beauty and available in over 3,500 waxing salons.

Alicia Lahey, Co-Founder and CEO Alicia Lahey, Co-founder and CEO of Humble Snacks Inc., an organic and sustainable snack company, is not a novice to the packaged foods industry. From her first job at a local grocery store at 15 years old, to being the Vice President of Sales and Innovation in the CPG industry, food has always been at the center of what she loves! Alicia welcomed her first child, Wilder, in 2017, and it ignited in her a passion for making the earth a better place for all tiny humans. Throughout her almost 20- year career it was evident that single-use plastic needs to be addressed in a meaningful way due to its dramatic impact on climate change. This began a 5-year journey of thinking outside the box to launch Humble Snacks Inc. Alicia wants to enable people to make impactful purchasing choices; to help people continue to enjoy fun, delicious foods but not to the detriment of our planet or their health. Humble Snacks Inc. is the first savoury snack company in North America to be fully committed to sustainable packaging from day one. By offering consumers the chance to buy savoury snacks first in compostable packaging and then in plastic negative certified packaging, she hopes to kick- start the change in the food industry in which all companies put purpose ahead of profit.

In short – I talk about wine.

Wine is my passion through and through. I began a Court of the Master Sommeliers Certified Sommelier nearly a decade ago and in that time, I have worked across the industry. In restaurants, as a wine importer, as a judge, and with major wine industry boards including Femmes du Vin and The Canadian Association of Professional Sommeliers Ontario Chapter. I have dedicated my life to grapes and the delicious wine they make.

Owner and Founder of Wine by Renée, I use my growing network at home and worldwide to craft unique TV, video, writing, content and events that are made for consumers from the wine-curious to full-on enthusiasts. Breaking down the world of wine into simple sips.

I am a wine communicator and content creator online under the name @wine.by.renee, one of the largest wine-focused Instagram accounts in Canada.

A host of wine parties and experiences curated for clients and the wine-loving public throughout the year.

A TV Wine Personality on Cityline, CHCH, and Breakfast Television in Canada and worldwide, talking about wine on the Liquid Pleasures YouTube Channel.

A writer in many publications. Including a monthly column, The Wine Effect, in the Distillery District Magazine as a Feature Writer in Monarch.Wine, Holr Magazine, Waterfront Magazine and more.

I am passionate about bringing a different side of wine to the table. A side that’s romantic but not pretentious and driven by the intent to enjoy good wine.

I'm Erica, a scrappy, first-time founder who built a 6 figure cookie dough company out of my car & apartment during the pandemic. Since 2020, I have publicly shared my journey and built a following of almost 300k people. I am now exiting my business and embarking on a new adventure in my field of passion: marketing. 

Paige Sandher is the Co-Founder of CouchHaus. A modular furniture start-up designed to offer made-to-order and customizable furniture at an affordable price point, with a focus on sustainable practices. The best part, we plant 100 trees for every couch we build! Paige has grown in eCommerce since 2017 where she has built, scaled and sold multiple brands with her Co-Founder Harrison.  CouchHaus is entirely self-funded and grew to 7 figures in its first year, where Paige landed on the 2023 BC 30 Under 30 list.