Salt Spring Goods, Thinking Inside the Box
Images provided by Salt Spring Goods
Miranda Caterer and Deb Peña
The fine duo behind Salty Hospitality are innovating yet again with the launch of Salt Spring Goods and their ultimate gift boxes, featuring the best of Island-made products. Originally conceptualized years ago, but when the pandemic struck and local vendors were faced with a devastating loss of revenue after the cancellation of the Saturday Market events, Deb and Miranda got to work to create a virtual home for Salt Spring creators, with an online shopping portal dedicated entirely to promoting the best of local island fare.
Salt Spring Goods officially launched in August and quickly got to work developing the idea around masterfully curated gift boxes, custom made with BC wood. Not only are there highly giftable boxes showcasing the best and brightest of Gulf Island makers, but some extra special Holiday Fresh Crates are available (for Salt Spring pick-up only) to properly launch you into the holiday spirit.
We might not be hosting elaborate dinners with family and friends from afar this year, and that is ever more reason to invest in the decadence of thoughtfully and locally made goods from favourites like Francis Bread, Salt Spring Harvest, Salt Spring Island Kombucha, Salt Spring Island Artisan Vinegar, Earth Candy Farm, Bite Me! Treats, Moonshine Mamas, Salt Spring Island Sea Salt, Salt Spring Island Cheese, Gaia Foods, and The Garden Salt Spring, among many more. Every single one of these artisans needs the support of our community, this year more than ever.
Holiday Fresh Crate - Chef’s Crate
While Gulf Island Gift Boxes will be available on an ongoing basis, the Holiday Fresh Crates order deadline is creeping up quick: You must pre-order by December 1! Crates will be available for pickup at Bullock Lake Farm on Sunday December 20th. You’ll score a bonus $10 gift card using code BOXESANDCRATES10 with the purchase of any Holiday Fresh Crate or Gulf Island Gift Box if you order before Monday November 30 at 11:59pm PST.
Q&A with Miranda Caterer of Salt Spring Goods:
How has the response to the SSG gift boxes been so far?
It's so sweet to hear peoples reactions to the boxes. We designed them to be a gift-within-a-gift: they're beautiful, filled with truly awesome things and they support makers. We're so thrilled that these boxes have been well received!
Will these be available year-round or are they a holiday feature?
They won't be going anywhere, and there is much more to come!
Though our Holiday Fresh Crates are only for the holidays and only for us locals. They aim to support food producers on the island by giving us an easy way to invite them all to our tables this holiday season.
What are some of the most surprising or unique or hard to find items available in the boxes?
We love that we've got Jana's special dark fruit cake in one of the boxes this year (this one is limited to the holidays only!) And Harlan's chocolates, Trish makes some seriously good chocolate: the Seashell bar with almond and sea salt is our new go-to with a bottle of red. But this is coming from someone with a serious sweet tooth, clearly.
Crates crafted by Cumberland Crate Company
Gulf Islands Gift Box - Sweet Box
Where are the boxes made?
Every detail is important to us. That's why we're working with Archie Pateman and his shop, Cumberland Crate Company on Vancouver Island, to bring our customers the perfect wooden crates and keepsake boxes to give their presents in this holiday season.
It was important to us that they were built strong, using BC wood. That they weren't so heavily branded with our logo that they'd clutter the look of your shelves. They needed to fit seamlessly into your home, and they had to have many more lives in store after their first life as a beautiful gift box. We are loving how versatile these crates and boxes are - folks will find all kinds of ways to use them.
The crate can act as a serving tray, and also can handle being thrown in the back of the car to help you schlep things on the go. Or used as a tidy storage box on a shelf, an excellent protector of special keepsakes or as the ultimate reusable gift box - we like the idea of signing the inside every time it gets given (library book style).
Can people purchase gift certificates so people can choose their own boxes?
Yes, gift cards can be purchased in the shop!
Where can you ship to?
We ship nationwide right now and will soon be expanding to include the U.S., and eventually worldwide.
Gulf Island Gift Box - Salt Spring Sampler
If someone wants to build their own box but isn't sure where to start, can you help them?
Totally. If you are someone who wants to build a custom gift box and you know exactly what you want to put in it, simply add a box or crate to your cart in the shop along with the items you want in it, and checkout. We'll wrap it up all nice and ship it for you.
If you need some advice on what products to choose, we love personally helping you - reach us by e-mail hello@saltspringgoods.com, or call Miranda to chat about it: (905) 925-8426
What's one thing you would like people to know about Salt Spring Goods, that they might not already know?
One interesting thing about us is we carbon offset every package we ship. We intentionally fund offsetting projects that benefit underserved, racialized communities and specifically BIPOC-lead projects first.
What's coming up for you in the new year?
Some of your readers might already know that we own another business (Salty Hospitality) and spent our summer delivering taco kits across the island, in addition to launching Salt Spring Goods. The New Year will see us continuing to build on what we've started with Salt Spring Goods, and it will also see us opening a quick service Mexican food shop and tortilleria in Merchant Mew's come January 2021! Exciting things to come.
Remember to order your SSG Holiday Fresh Crates on or before December 1, and don’t miss out on that $10 gift card freebie with the code BOXESANDCRATES10 at checkout. In the words of SaltSpring Kitchen Co., another of the Salt Spring Goods Holiday Crate artisans, we wish you peace, love and jam this holiday season.
This post was a paid partnership, but our opinions are entirely our own.
We only choose to work with partners whose product, mission, or mandate is in alignment with our values.
