Find These Female Founders On Spud’s Shelves

While Canadian female-founded and led businesses have seen growth over the past five years, female entrepreneurs still encounter barriers, particularly in accessing financing, which is a significant challenge in getting their products onto shelves.

This is why Spud is committed to furthering economic growth and empowerment for women in business within their category. Through the creation of #HerFairShare, Spud aims to inspire grocery stores of all sizes to carry more women-led and founded brands on their shelves. With #HerFairShare, Spud plans to increase its selection of women-led brands from 20% to 25% by 2025. This initiative begins with Spud creating 5 new openings on its storefront exclusively for women-led brands, with applications open now leading up to International Women’s Day on March 8.

Katie Ruddell, founder of Kokomo Foods and a Spud vendor, credits Spud for helping her break into the CPG space. “Spud was the first retailer to support us, and they’re truly the ones who encouraged us to venture into creating a grocery line. They offered resources and guidance that helped us learn the nuances required to stock our products, from ingredient listing to retail codes. Their assistance acted as a starter pack for us and significantly reduced the obstacles and roadblocks I had anticipated when entering the consumer-packaged goods space.”

In contrast to many big box grocery retailers, Spud has never charged listing fees for its vendors. This policy removes barriers for independent and startup brands to jumpstart their businesses and gives customers access to brands with powerful local stories.

#HerFairShare aims to create more visibility for women in the CPG and grocery category in hopes of stimulating economic growth for their female founders and leaders. “Visibility is crucial, especially for female founders. Every opportunity to share their story brings more attention and visibility, which is exactly what we need,” said Karlene Karst, founder of Verily Kitchen. “Women often face additional biases and hurdles to be taken seriously, secure shelf space, find the right brokers, and establish distribution channels necessary for success. Therefore, every bit of exposure matters and can significantly impact a business.” —Vita Daily