Canada’s first Indigenous soda company launching in New West – Vancouver is Awesome
May 31, 2024
Hide-tanning course sparks Indigenous businesswoman’s journey to create Heartberry Soda
New Westminster is home to what’s believed to be Canada’s first Indigenous craft soda company.
Nadine Jopson, a Plains Cree Indigenous woman and a member of the Alexander Cree Nation, is the founder of Heartberry Soda. The craft soda, now being brewed in New West, includes flavours like strawberry with rhubarb, ginger with rosehips and hibiscus, and raspberry with fireweed.
“It’s been really exciting,” she said. “Everybody we have told thinks it’s a great idea. It’s really gotten lots of support, lots of interest. I think it’s becoming a lot more accepted to be a female in business, and also Indigenous. A lot of people want us to succeed.”
