The Tofino Ucluelet Culinary Guild
Tofino draws enthusiastic visitors not just for its wild stretches of sand, but also for its outstanding dining experiences that celebrate hyperlocal ingredients dictated by the season. Yet, you might wonder how these establishments thrive in such a remote location. Of course, there are the holiday patrons, but what about the supply chain for such impeccable produce?
The Tofino Ucluelet Culinary Guild (TUCG) is one of the major players underpinning the entire coastal culinary operation—a nonprofit founded in 2010 by six local chefs eager to ensure their supply chain was reliable, efficient, affordable and full of the most vibrant ingredients they could source within B.C. They approached Bobby Lax, now executive director of TUCG (although more frequently and fittingly known as the community outreach coordinator), to bring TUCG to life.
A middleman of sorts, TUCG speaks with small farms and other food producers every Friday, lists everything on the TUCG website for ordering (chefs on Mondays, homes on weekends), and then readies it for collection on the coast. More than simply part of the distribution chain, the organization provides farms that are too small, too quality-driven or lack the consistency required for the typical commodity market, with a reliable, quality-driven market. “These producers win on flavour, the way they care for their land and the relationships they foster,” shares Lax. “It’s the curved cucumbers, the nicks and funny-looking veg, those are the kinds of things we try to work with farmers on so that they can sell more of their crop—the things that get kicked out of the main market, but are often far superior in flavour and come at a lower price.”
Deep relationships exist with suppliers, like Tatlo Road Farm in Crofton and Fredrich’s Honey in Cedar. “These farmers have an innate sense of being a provider,” says Lax. “We want to be able to give them that role in our community—to provide quality nourishment and also take care of the land.” So reliable is TUCG’s “roll call” of people, so symbiotic the relationship with their partner farms, that they now even find themselves playing a part in crop planning. Every December, as farmers leaf through their seed catalogues, the TUCG team lets them know what they would ideally like more and less of in the coming year. "It’s a critical way to help tell farmers what we’re most likely to sell; it makes us a more reliable market for what we say we’re going to take,” explains Lax. It's a sure way to minimize food waste throughout the supply chain while creating stability for small suppliers.
Today, TUCG has evolved beyond solely the farm-to-table produce and seafood that drove its inception. You’ll find delicious fruit and vegetables like asparagus from the Comox Valley, greenhouse tomatoes from Cowichan, and berries from the Fraser Valley—all dependent on the season—on their online ordering system. But there’s now also delicious goods that are sometimes harder to come by on the coast: from olives and dried fruits to bulk dark chocolate drops, organic flour and wildflower honey. This addition of goods beyond the harvest season allows year-round ordering from TUCG and staff to be retained beyond the spring and summer.
What started as just five or six restaurants in 2010 has evolved into 30 to 40 businesses supporting TUCG in one way or another throughout the year, such as Wolf in the Fog, Black Rock, Wickaninnish Inn and Pluvio. Then, there are the roughly 800 individual families that make up the 250–350 orders that TUCG sees weekly on average. “We work in a weekly rhythm because it reflects the flexibility that a farm needs,” shares Lax. TUCG also fosters community-wide access to nourishing food with regular donations to the likes of the Pacific Rim Hospice Society and the food bank (one of their pick-up locations). Included in their standard ordering system is the chance for chefs and individuals alike to “gift-a-box” alongside their order for donation.
Beyond the provision of ingredients, TUCG seeks to inspire food security across the coast, and the Island, through education. One suggestion Lax is passionate about sharing is to stock up from farms directly as much as possible when things are in season to support suppliers during the harvest window. Buy a box of fruit rather than one or two pieces, for instance, or local peaches over imported bananas, and learn how to preserve them. They also share all kinds of foodie inspiration in their newsletter that is relevant for residents throughout the Island—from what’s in season to preservation techniques, which you can learn more about at https://tucg.ca/.
