The Best Food Souvenirs in Canada’s Okanagan Valley

British Columbia's Okanagan Valley is famous for its wine, but the region's true character reveals itself in the places that don't necessarily have tasting room hours. The winding roads, wide-open fields, and ridges surrounding the valley lend themselves to slow exploration with plenty of stops. And there is no better reason to pull over than to try a unique artisanal honey or artisanal cheese.

From a local butcher shop with a history of farming in the area, to Argentinian immigrants chasing fireweed blossoms, these are the producers who define the Okanagan as much as any vineyard. Whether you're driving along Highway 97, making your home base in Kelowna for a few days, or taking small detours between wineries, it's worth building your Okanagan itinerary around these entrepreneurs.

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Honey Onyx Apiary (Falkland)

Like good wine, true artisanal honey changes from one locale to another, as the bees feed on flowers and are raised in different terroirs. If tasting Okanagan honey is as important as trying local Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, making a stop at Honey Onyx Apiary in Falkland is a must for any connoisseur.

When Daniela D'Ambros moved from Argentina to a farm on the banks of the Salmon River in 2017, she brought the second generation of her family's beekeeping operation with her. Back home, the family company Apicola Danangie has been producing honey since 1991 and employs over 75 people. In Falkland, they focus on running a smaller, more hands-on artisanal operation, where the landscape does most of the work, running over 1,000 hives across the Okanagan and Peace River Valleys.

For a taste of local honey, start with the raw honey lineup. The Canada No. 1 Golden is harvested once a year from bees foraging on alfalfa and wildflowers along the Salmon River and nearby mountain flora. It has a dark amber color and a robust, bold flavor. If you can, try to get your hands on Fireweed Raw Honey, a local specialty collected from bees that feed on the fireweed plant, which is one of the first plants to sprout after a fire. The flavored honeys are also worth a try, like the Argentine Orange honey, sourced from the family's contacts in Entre Rios and packed in Falkland as a reminder of where this operation comes from.

The farm store at 3265 Highway 97 offers free tastings, an exhibition beehive, a pollinator garden, and Meet the Bees tours for those who want the full experience.

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Yankee Flats Meats (Vernon and Salmon Arm)

Visiting an abattoir may not be part of your dream itinerary, but Yankee Flats Meats is so much more than that. This business, founded when two farming families discovered they had a few struggles in common, has since become something more than a simple meat shop. Now, it's a community institution with two shops, 200,000 Facebook followers, and an unabashed commitment to providing quality meats while maintaining sustainable meat-farming practices for the future.

Yankee Flats partners with family farms across the Okanagan, Shuswap, and Thompson regions to provide pasture-raised pork, free-range beef, BC wagyu, chicken, and grass-fed lamb. All of the processing is handled in-house, effectively helping small farms reach a wide market without requiring them to scale up or sell out.

You can stop here and stock up for all your summer grilling needs. You'll find excellent meals, ready to take and bake in your cabin or Airbnb. Even local eggs, cheeses, bread, and BC seafood are available here.

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Simps Modern Beverage (Kelowna)

If you're making an extended visit to Kelowna, Canada's first and only UNESCO City of Gastronomy, then some of the best gifts you can bring home are from the Simps Modern Beverage company and Cabin 5 granola. 

Simps was started more than a decade ago by two bartenders who saw a gap in the Canadian market for locally made bar and cafe syrups. Their cafe products range from the more typical vanilla coffee syrup to the more unique flavors like shortbread and marshmallow, many of them available in zero-sugar versions. Bar mixes in a variety of flavors are also great, but if you want a real taste of Canadiana, try the Caesar mixes . A Canadian version of the Bloody Mary, these syrups are punchy, flavorful, and a lot more complex than your typical vodka-and-tomato juice combo. The retail shop in Kelowna is open seven days a week.

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Cabin 5 Canada (Kelowna)

Cabin 5 is a female-owned and Kelowna-based granola business that does more than just make great oat and nut mixes. Founded by a former nonprofit worker, the company is dedicated to using only local ingredients and supporting community initiatives focused on food security and sustainability. For every bag sold, founder Stephanie Horman donates one meal to a local food bank. Come here for snacks you can feel good about bringing on your hikes.

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D Dutchmen Dairy (Sicamous)

As many people make their way into the Okanagan Valley, they drive along the Trans-Canada corridor that takes them past Sicamous. There, you should make a pit stop at Dutchmen Dairy , where the DeWitt family has been making dairy products on-site since 1978.

All products on sale here come from the farm's own herd. You can stroll the aisles and choose between artisanal cheeses, milks of various fat percentages, a sour cream that has its own following, and a catalog of 62 flavors of handmade ice cream, unfortunately not all available at the same time. The unique thing here is the sale of milk and cheeses produced with A2 milk casein . 

Stock up on some flavored cheddar — the Chilipeno Cheddar was my favorite — and cheese curds to snack on, and make your way on one of the local farm tours, which take you on the entire journey from the calf barn, through the milking parlor, to the cheesemaking plant. A tractor area and a petting zoo are available for the littlest visitors.

The story of a region can be mapped out by its artisanal producers. Every one of these businesses started with a decision to make something well and sell it honestly. They draw from the land where they work and create, and give back to it. That instinct is as Okanagan as anything you'll taste in a winery. Drive slowly, and pull over often.

Read the original article on Food & Wine