Over the past few months, I had the opportunity to participate in the FEAD Canada Recipe to Scale Accelerator — a Canada-wide program designed to help food and beverage entrepreneurs strengthen and scale their businesses.

The experience pushed me far outside of my comfort zone in the best possible way.

From expert-led sessions on branding, manufacturing, growth strategy, sales, AI tools, and scaling operations, the program offered an incredible amount of insight into what it truly takes to grow a modern food and beverage brand sustainably.

But one of the most impactful parts of the experience came at the very end of the program:
the pitch competition.

My First Pitch Ever

Before this accelerator, I had never pitched my business publicly before.

Standing in front of experienced founders, retail professionals, and industry leaders to present my vision for Just the Tea was both exciting and terrifying at the same time.

As founders, we spend so much time building behind the scenes — creating products, refining branding, managing operations, attending markets, and figuring things out day by day — that we rarely stop to fully step back and communicate the bigger vision behind what we’re building.

The pitch competition forced me to do exactly that.

It challenged me to clearly explain not only what Just the Tea is today, but what I believe it can become in the future.

More Than a Tea Brand

One of the biggest takeaways from the program was realizing how important positioning truly is.

At Just the Tea, we’re not simply building another tea company.

We’re building a modern functional beverage brand centered around organic loose-leaf teas, herbal infusions, intentional daily rituals, and approachable wellness for modern lifestyles.

Consumers today are actively searching for healthier beverage alternatives — whether that means reducing sugar intake, finding alternatives to alcohol, or replacing excessive caffeine consumption with more balanced wellness routines.

Tea naturally fits into that shift.

But modern consumers also want products that feel approachable, exciting, flavour-forward, and visually appealing — not intimidating or outdated.

That realization has continued to reinforce the direction we’re building toward as a brand.

Receiving the Judge’s Choice Award

I was incredibly honoured to receive the Judge’s Choice Award during the final pitch competition.

What made the moment especially meaningful was knowing it came from such an experienced panel of judges with backgrounds in food innovation, retail, scaling businesses, and entrepreneurship.

More than anything, the experience gave me confidence.

Confidence in the brand.
Confidence in the vision.
And confidence that Just the Tea has the potential to grow far beyond local markets into something much larger within the functional beverage space.

The Value of Programs Like Recipe to Scale

Programs like Recipe to Scale are about much more than pitching competitions.

They create opportunities for founders to:

• Build confidence
• Strengthen business strategy
• Learn from industry experts
• Connect with other entrepreneurs
• Refine long-term growth plans

Being surrounded by so many passionate Canadian food and beverage founders was incredibly motivating and inspiring.

As entrepreneurs, it’s easy to spend most of our time working inside the business. Experiences like this remind us how important it is to also work on the business — and on ourselves as founders.

Looking Ahead

This experience reinforced something I’ve believed from the beginning:

Tea has the opportunity to evolve far beyond traditional expectations.

Consumers are increasingly looking for wellness-focused beverages that support modern lifestyles, intentional routines, and healthier daily habits.

And at Just the Tea, we’re excited to continue building a brand that helps redefine what loose-leaf tea can look and feel like for today’s consumers.

This truly feels like only the beginning.

A huge thank you again to FEAD Canada, the Saskatchewan Food Industry Development Centre Inc., the judges, mentors, speakers, and founders who made this experience so impactful.

I’m incredibly excited for what’s ahead for Just the Tea