Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in food and beverage but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Joshua Lines, founder and CEO of Top Shelf Canada, located in Sarnia, ON, Canada.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
Top Shelf Canada is a believer in community over competition. A believer that a fellowship of strong Canadian products shared with each other and with the rest of the world is what will carry our country’s fortunes for future generations. After the pandemic hit, eyes should be opened to the importance of self-reliance as a nation. Our dependence on imported products can be lightened while we can create, produce and dream up ways to make our own superior products and market those within and on a worldwide stage.
The time is right for this. The idea that "We CAN do us" and create quality consumer products that give us viable alternatives to our reliance on imported products is more relevant than it ever has been. Now forced to look at how dependent we want to be on other countries in an unstable and unpredictable world landscape, Canada should look at this as a welcomed challenge and opportunity to grow. It is time to grow our production sector and help support the companies that want to lead the charge. Top Shelf Canada wants to be one of those companies. Top Shelf Canada would also like to help promote and support other Canadian companies that are producing quality products that Canada may not have previously had much of a hand in....like hot sauce.
Tell us about yourself
After working a shift as a bartender at Paddy Flaherty's in Sarnia, Ontario, the pub I had worked at for several years, I ordered myself a salmon and leek pie. Wanting to add a bit of kick to it, I reached for hot sauce and realized the usual suspects were my only options. All vinegar-based with similar taste profiles.
There are many Canadian-made condiments, but despite the country’s wide range of cultures and cuisines, the most popular hot sauces come from south of the border. There are other Canadian-made condiments on the grocery shelf, but we lack that condiment level, multi-purpose, flavour-forward hot sauce, which has consumers grabbing for imported products.
Alongside my childhood best friend Wayne Blythe, who had become a top-tier culinary scientist and product developer, we set out to fix that issue. The result was Front Street Heat.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
Having products get an opportunity to land in big box grocery stores across Canada is an achievement I could never have imagined as a bartender from Sarnia. Being nominated for the 2021 Premier's Award was also an outrageous honour.
What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?
The fact that I am writing this at 10 pm. It doesn't stop. If it does stop, the guilt doesn't stop. The grind is real. That is being a business owner to me.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
- If you make a mistake, learn from it and immediately move on. Spilt milk is overrated.
- Keep your head down and keep working hard.
- Take a bit of time to appreciate the accomplishments you have achieved.
Is there anything else you'd like to share?
Top Shelf Canada's flagship product, Front Street Heat, is a mild, flavour-forward, clean-label condiment showing off multi-purpose versatility as a hot sauce, new Canadian condiment, and a bold and balanced culinary ingredient.
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://www.topshelfcanada.ca/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TopShelfCanada
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/topshelfcanada/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/topshelf_canada
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/topshelfcanada/
If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.
Turn your craft into recurring revenue with Subkit. Start your subscription offering in minutes and supercharge it with growth levers. Get early access here.