A Day at the Farmer’s Market
Spark Kombucha got its start at the Squamish & Whistler Farmer’s Market back in 2015 and every year we look forward to being back there, slinging new and favourite flavours and connecting with our customers face to face. The market season has already begun and you’ll find us at both the Squamish and Whistler markets every weekend from now until September.
Read on as we take you behind the scenes look at what goes into our Farmer’s Market days and what else you can find at each of our Sea to Sky markets this season! We’ll go through a couple FAQs about what we’re selling and how we’re filling this summer at the markets.
Market days start early at 7am to pack the Spark mobile with our booth equipment and our specialty kombucha flavour of the month. We love to feature seasonal ingredients in our Farmer’s Market offerings, to create flavours that we don’t offer anywhere else, or test new flavours that could end up in our regular lineup. Past market flavours include: Strawberry Fields (strawberry & vanilla), Pink Lemonade (Lemon & Strawberry), … Oceania (now in bottles at local retailers).
We arrive at the market location about 2 hours before the “doors” open to the public to get the booth and kegerators set up for the day. At the start of the season we love reconnecting with our fellow market vendors that we haven’t seen since the fall and meeting the new businesses that will be joining us for the season. Plus, we get an early preview of all the interesting and tasty items everyone is selling and make our shopping list for later!
Once the market is open for business we’re ready to fill cups and growlers and share samples of our flavours with market patrons. This is another highlight of the day, getting to connect with our customers face to face. Spark Kombucha got its start at the Squamish & Whistler Farmer’s Markets back in 2015 and we haven’t missed a season since! Because of our history at the markets we get to see so many familiar faces each weekend, but we also get to meet all the new people moving to our community or visitors that are just passing through.
Throughout the day we get to chat about all things kombucha with the people that stop by our booth and ask “what the heck is kom-boo-cha anyways?” Ellen’s time slinging kombucha at farmer’s markets over the years has helped her to perfect Spark’s flavour and style. She is always watching for the “kombucha face” when people try Spark. You know the face - your eyes squint, your mouth goes into an O, and your head kinda goes back a bit. It’s the face you get when you taste something for the first time and it’s too robust, too sour, or too strong. From her customers' reactions, Ellen has refined her brew to create a kombucha that is dry, not too sweet, and not overly flavoured. She still feels like she is tricking people into drinking kombucha by adding just a light flavour infusion.
Once the market is wrapped up for the day, we pack up the booth (and our own market shopping!), say goodbye to our market friends, and load up the van to go back to the warehouse. If it’s a Saturday, then we’ll take some time to repack supplies for Sunday’s market in Whistler and organize the van. We’ll also make sure the empty kegs and returned growlers are cleaned and ready to be used again next weekend, when we do it all again!
Squamish Farmer’s Market
Saturdays – 10am – 3pm
37996 Cleveland Avenue at Victoria Street, Downtown Squamish
www.squamishfarmersmarket.com
Back for 2022 - chef demonstrations, live music, kids activities
Whistler Farmer’s Market
Sundays – 11am – 4pm Upper Village Stroll, base of Blackcomb Mountain
Back to original location! www.whistlerfarmersmarket.org
Read on for details for the Squamish & Whistler Markets below and some Market FAQs. We can’t wait to see you at the Markets this season!
Market FAQs
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We are not 'refilling’ any USED growlers at this time due to COVID health & safety regulations - not even our own Spark branded growlers!
Instead, we are offering a growler exchange program. You simply drop off your clean 1L or 2L Spark growler in EXCHANGE for a fresh NEW growler filled with kombucha for the “refill" price.
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No growler? No problem! You can purchase a growler from us at the market, or if you’re not that thirsty you can also purchase just a cup to go. But we’d hate to say I told you so when you circle back for more, so best to treat yourself to at least 1L of your favourite flavour ;)
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We like to mix it up at the markets each week and offer flavours that aren’t in our mainstay line up. To see which flavours we’ll be slinging at the market each week, be sure to follow us on Facebook or Instagram.
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First rule of kombucha, always keep it refrigerated! In the fridge, unopened, your kombucha will last at least a month, and still be fizzy. After you’ve opened it, it will start to lose it’s fizz (just like beer or pop) but it’s still ok to drink.
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No need to worry if your arms are already full and you can’t carry one more thing, Spark offers home delivery to the Sea to Sky every week! Head to our website and place your order by Sunday at 5pm to receive your kombucha on Wednesday. In addition to cases of our 355mL stubbies, we’re now offering our mainstay flavours in a 1L growler! So you never have to miss out on your kombucha fix!
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Lucky for you, there are a few places you can get your growlers filled on the weekends we’re not at either the Squamish or Whistler markets. Check out our list of retail partners on our website to see where you can get your growler filled.
Ps. Nesters Market in Squamish now has 6 of our flavours on tap all the time! Our four mainstay flavours, plus two seasonal flavours. You can purchase a new growler to be filled or you can bring a growler which they will wash and sanitize in their dishwasher before filling, so be sure to drop it off before you shop!