Salt Spring Island, B.C. · Since 2012
Necessity Was The Mama Of Invention
What started as one woman's search to heal herself became Canada's original turmeric-ginger elixir, brewed by hand on a tiny island off the coast of B.C., and trusted by thousands of women across the country.
Mel didn't set out to build a brand. She set out to heal.
In 2012, Mel was diagnosed with Stage 3 cancer. Standing in her kitchen on Salt Spring Island, she made a decision that would change everything: she wasn't going to wait to be told what to do. She was going to research, experiment, and find her own way back to health. She discovered that turmeric, one of the most studied natural anti-inflammatories in the world, was almost completely useless without black pepper and fat to activate it. So she added them, tasted it, adjusted and created something that not only tasted good but also worked.
In early 2013, she accidentally doubled a batch. She posted on Facebook asking if any friends wanted to buy some and sold 22 bottles, hand-delivered every single one, driving around the island herself and this is where the journey began.
From a Kitchen Table to Kitchens Across Canada
Between the trade shows and the retail partnerships, the factory expansions and the award wins,
these are the moments that meant the most.
2012 - The Beginning
22 bottles.
Hand-delivered. One island.
Mel accidentally doubled a batch and posted on Facebook. She sold 22 bottles and drove around Salt Spring Island delivering every single one. The whole family helped label at the dining room table while watching movies. No warehouse. No team. Just Mel, her kitchen, and a belief that what she was making could help other people too.
2014 - First Market
First Salt Spring Island Farmers Market. Sold out every week.
April 2014, the first market. Elixirs made in the kitchen, labelled at the family dining table. Listed at Barb's Buns local bakery. Then Salt Spring Country Grocer and Salt Spring Natureworks. They delivered direct and stocked the shelves themselves and still do to this day.
2015 - First Kitchen
A shipping container kitchen. Out the back door.
They moved production into a little shipping container kitchen right behind Mel's home. First off-island stores: Lifestyle Markets in Victoria and Community Farm Store in Duncan. The island was no longer big enough to hold what they were building.
2016 - First Team Member
Andy Thomas. One day a week. Still here today.
The first hire who wasn't family — Andy as a juicer, one day per week. That same year: a real commercial kitchen, 1,100 sq ft in a warehouse on Salt Spring Island, sharing the space with Salt Spring Kitchen Co. First Vancouver stores. First real team.
2017 - First Chain
Nature's Fare called. They said yes before the phone call ended.
The head buyer at Nature's Fare called and offered all 7 stores, including locations in the interior of B.C. Their first bigger chain. The moment Moonshine Mama's stopped being a Salt Spring Island secret and became something the province could find.
2018 - Expansion
First trade show. First delivery van. First Ontario kitchen.
CHFA — their first trade show. Their first real delivery van. And then something bold: a kitchen opened in Ontario, bringing Moonshine Mama's to stores across the country for the first time. A small island brand making a very large move.
2019 - Award Winner
B.C. Food & Bev Product of the Year. And a brand new bottle.
Winner of the B.C. Food & Bev Product of the Year Award. The same year, designer Laura Prpich gave Moonshine Mama's its first major brand refresh, moving from mason jars to the iconic boston round bottles that still carry the elixirs today.
2021 - National Retail
Sobey's. Thrifty Foods. Safeway. All of BC.
A retail partnership with Sobey's, shipping to all Thrifty Foods and Safeway stores in B.C. Then the Sobey's Local Innovation Award. Then Expo West in California, a request from a Texas chain, and a listing with KeHe Distribution in the USA. They pulled out, choosing to focus on Canada first. Some of the best decisions are the ones you don't make.
2022 - Alberta & Beyond
Save on Foods across BC and Alberta. And Mel became a Nana.
Save on Foods stores across B.C. and Alberta. Their first presence in Alberta. The factory on Salt Spring grew to 2,400 sq ft. They launched their first ready-to-drink beverages. And Mel became a grandmother to two adorable baby girls. The kitchen got a little louder.
2024 - New Home
12,500 square feet. A real factory. A forever home.
Renovations began on a 12,500 sq ft factory on Atkins Road, Salt Spring Island. In April 2024 they moved in and Mel became a grandmother to two more babies. Four grandchildren. One extraordinary kitchen. The biggest batch yet.
2025 - Next Generation
Molly graduates. The next generation steps in.
Daughter Molly graduates from Business School and joins the executive team. The brand Mel built for herself is now being carried forward by the women who grew up watching her build it. This was always the plan, she just didn't know it yet.
2026 - Today
Fortino's. A full brand refresh. And still just getting started.
Listed in Fortino's. A complete brand refresh that honours everything Moonshine Mama's has always been, while stepping fully into everything it's becoming. Still brewed on Salt Spring Island. Still family-run. Still made for the woman who chooses herself every morning.
What We Stand For
The Things That Have Never Changed
Fourteen years. A shipping container kitchen to 12,500 square feet.
Mason jars to national retail. Some things grew. These never moved.
She made it for herself. Now she makes it for you.
Fourteen years. One shipping container kitchen to a 12,500 sq ft factory.
Mason jars to national retail. The ingredients, the intention, and the woman behind it haven't changed. Your daily ritual is waiting.