Who could have guessed that Sooke would have one of the largest sea-salt production businesses in Canada?

Saltwest Naturals was launched in 2011 by Jessica and Jeff Abel, after the couple was chatting with friends and realized that there wasnB次元官网网址檛 anywhere around, that they could find, making sea salt.

They started out making small batches and selling them at markets in the area, and now, Saltwest Naturals is distributed to more than 400 stores across the country.

The process of making sea salt is hands on and labour intensive, but all of the manufacturing is done in Sooke.

The companyB次元官网网址檚 salt is harvested from the ocean through evaporation, and Jeff said itB次元官网网址檚 about a four day process from collecting the water out of the sea, to getting it in the package and ready to sell.

First, the water is retrieved in a large tank and brought back to the manufacturing site, then the water goes through a reverse osmosis machine to make the water have a higher salt concentrate. All the resulting fresh water from this process is bottled and sold as well.

Next, the water is boiled for about 12 hours. From there, itB次元官网网址檚 boiled further in steam pots where the salt is infused with natural flavours.

From here, the salt, which will be in a paste-like form, is split up in to batches and roasted in the oven for six to eight hours until itB次元官网网址檚 dry enough to be sifted. Lastly, it is packaged and ready for distribution.

A small amount of the salt is evaporated using sunlight, which leaves no carbon footprint and is unique to the Saltwest company.

The company now has 15 culinary salts, six bath soaks, and three different scented bars of soap. Some of JeffB次元官网网址檚 culinary favourites are the roasted garlic and onion, and the smoked house peppercorn flavours, and one of JessicaB次元官网网址檚 favourites is the salted caramel chocolate.

Over the years, the company has grown substantially, and it recently won awards for its product, including the Ocean Products of the Year award at 2018 Vancouver Island Business Awards.

B次元官网网址淚t was totally unexpected, but it was really lovely to win,B次元官网网址� said Jessica. B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檝e kind of just had our heads down focusing on what we do for the past seven years, so for us to get that recognition was really cool.B次元官网网址�

Recently, Saltwest released a spicy ancho chili salt, and hopes to release a lemongrass infused bath salt later this year.

B次元官网网址淲e like to try and release two new products per year,B次元官网网址� said Jeff. B次元官网网址淲e hope to keep growing our business and eventually we hope to expand into the U.S. market .B次元官网网址�

To take a tour of Saltwest Naturals, contact Jessica and Jeff Abel at saltwest1@gmail.com.