These ultra-healthy hot drink mixes are not just a Kamloops secret anymore
A collection of healthy hot drink mixes have moved up from a spot at the Kamloops Farmers' Market and are now available for purchase online.
Ali MacBoudreau has a history in holistic nutrition and was getting tired of recreating her favourite drink blends every morning.
“I was making these elixirs for myself pretty much every day and I had the idea that it would be so much more convenient, rather than adding five to ten different ingredients to my blender every morning, if I could have it all combined together and make it perfect every time. I started working on getting them so they were all pre-measured and ready to go in a jar, and I started giving them out to friends," MacBoudreau say.
Her friends liked the concoctions, and she quickly realized other people might feel the same way. Although she had done some holistic nutrition coaching, she had never started a business like this. After getting through all of the necessary red tape, she was ready to showcase her products at the Kamloops Farmers' Market.
“Going into it I was preparing myself for the worst and I thought, ‘Maybe nobody will like it,’ but I was really happy with how it was received,” MacBoudreau says. “That was a good way to test it out and see if people would be into something like this... It was really nice that people liked my product enough to keep buying it and it kind of became a staple for them.”
MacBoudreau has created three flavours which she says are meant to be mixed in with hot water, coffee, or tea, but notes that people also mix them into smoothies and iced beverages.
Now, her elixirs are sold across the province thanks to an online store. She says this came about because of the strong support and the customers who couldn’t get enough.
“I wanted to start with selling it outside of the market and start selling it online,” MacBoudreau says. “People were constantly asking me, ‘Where can I get more?’ So a good solution to that is to have it available to ship.”
Her trio of products features plenty of healthy goodness, like coconut butter, collagen and MCT oil. She says she has seen other companies that try to focus on a similar idea, although they don’t have the same ingredients and are sold as a dry powder.
“All three of our blends have a bit of the same base, with the coconut butter which makes it really nice and creamy, MCT oil which is derived from organic coconuts... I find it really helps with focus and energy, especially if you have it at the start of the day, and then collagen, so that adds a nice bit of protein to all of our blends. It’s super nice to have that blend of fats and protein in the morning.”
She claims the main ingredients in her elixirs are packed with benefits for the brain, hair, nails and overall health, and the added ingredients, like the turmeric in the Golden Mylk Latte and the raw cacao in the Salted Hot Chocolate, add extra healthful boosts.
MacBoudreau says she is working with local business to have her products on the shelves and hopes to one day see them in stores nationwide. For now, she’s planning on creating more hot drink flavours and including a line for cold drinks.
“Hopefully in the next few months, it will be available on the shelves of local stores,” MacBoudreau says. “I would like to have it in stores all across Canada and expand into other foods as well with the same philosophy of having them be really nutritious and tasting really good.”
If you want to learn more about the products and order some for yourself, check out the Honest Elixir website here.
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