Good morning! There are just a few things to mention today before we dive into the newsletter and the first thing is to remind you that November is when we have our annual Customer Appreciation Day! The date isn't quite finalized yet but you can be sure that we'll notify you as soon as it is. So keep your eyes peeled for the date in a future newsletter as well as our social media pages! The other thing is that, as many of you already know, we have a Customer Request Board in Aisle 1, right below the monitor where you can write down a product you'd like to see on our shelves. But you can also ask a question regarding an item such as why isn't it in stock or what happened to it? Every week we type up a sheet and post it right above the request board with the answers to your questions. Make sure to check it out if you've been asking about a certain item.
As we are all aware, tomorrow, November 11th, is Remembrance Day and so we thought it would be appropriate to list 11 interesting facts about Canada's involvement in notable global conflicts throughout history. These points are taken from the Canadian Veterans Affairs website.
- The Canadian Army, Royal Canadian Navy and Royal Canadian Air Force comprise the three branches of the Canadian Armed Forces. Their long and proud tradition of protecting and serving Canada on land, at sea and in the air continues today.
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The Royal Canadian Navy began World War II with 13 vessels and 3,500 sailors, and ended it as as one of the largest navies in the world with 373 ships and more than 110,000 sailors (all volunteers), which included the 6,500 women serving in the Women’s Royal Canadian Naval Services. Aircraft from Royal Canadian Air Force Eastern Air Command, Royal Canadian Air Force crews in Royal Air Force Coastal Command and ships from the Royal Canadian Navy helped sink 50 U-boats.
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More than 650,000 men and women from Canada and Newfoundland served during the First World War. More than 66,000 gave their lives and over 172,000 were wounded.
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Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae was the Canadian army doctor who wrote the world famous poem In Flanders Fields. On May 2, 1915, McCrae’s friend, Lieutenant Alexis Helmer, was killed in action and buried in a makeshift grave. Wild poppies were already beginning to bloom between the crosses marking the many graves and he was inspired to write In Flanders Fields the next day.
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More than 26,000 Canadians served in the Korean War and approximately 7,000 continued to serve in the theatre from the Armistice to August 1957. In total, 516 Canadians died in what is the third deadliest conflict in Canadian history.
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More than 50,000 women served in the military with the Canadian Women’s Army Corps (CWACs), the Royal Canadian Air Force – Women’s Division (WDs), the Women’s Royal Canadian Naval Service (Wrens) and as Nursing Sisters.
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More than one million Canadians and Newfoundlanders served in the Second World War. More than 45,000 gave their lives and another 55,000 were wounded.
- The South African War began on October 11, 1899. The conflict was between the British and the Boers, the descendants of Dutch Protestant farmers who had been the first White settlers in the region.
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More than 7,000 Canadians volunteered for service during the South African War. Approximately 280 died, most due to injury or illness brought on by the harsh conditions, and more than 250 were wounded. The South African War ended on May 31, 1902, with the signing of the Treaty of Vereeniging.
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From 1921 to 1930, Armistice Day was held on the Monday of the week in which November 11 fell. In 1931, Alan Neill, Member of Parliament for Comox–Alberni, introduced a bill to observe Armistice Day only on November 11. Passed by the House of Commons, the bill also changed the name to “Remembrance Day”. The first Remembrance Day was observed on November 11, 1931.
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In 1920, Anna Guérin—the French Poppy Lady—attended the national American Legion convention as a representative of France’s YMCA Secretariat. She was inspired by Moina Michael’s idea of the poppy as a memorial flower and felt that the scope of the Memorial Poppy could be expanded to help the needy. She suggested that artificial poppies could be made and sold as a way of raising money for the benefit of orphaned children and others who had suffered greatly as a result of the war.
In 1921, Madame Guérin visited Canada and convinced the Great War Veterans Association of Canada (predecessor to the Royal Canadian Legion) to adopt the poppy as a symbol of remembrance in aid of fundraising; which it did on July 5th of that year.
Now onto the new goodies...
Last week we intorduced you to Caplansky's Deli Mustards but the photo that we published consisted of plastic bottles and not the actual glass jars that we actually retail. We apologize for any confusion and would also like to tell you that we have added Caplansky's Spicy Mustard as well as Caplansky's Mild Mustard, rounding out the total varieties to four!
Great tasting mustard makes for a great tasting hotdog or sandwich. But every great hotdog or sandwich needs an equally excellent accompanying beverage. Which leads us to Great American Rootbeer! This case offers five deliciously different types of rootbeer: Red Arrow, Bulldog, Old Red Eye, Americana and Brownie! Every root beer lover will, well, love this sweet collection and with Christmas fast approaching, it makes the perfect gift, too!
Speaking of Christmas, our annual shipment of Earth's Own Almond Nog has arrived! Use it to make super-dupity foamy nog lattés, add spiced rum or drink it straight with a bit of nutmeg sprinkled on top! It's vegan friendly, soy free, dairy free, egg free, contains no carrageenan and tastes like the holidays!
Even though it might feel like winter already, it's still autumn until December 21st. And autumn and apples go together like mac and cheese. So if you like apples, speciificaly in a sauce form, then you might want to try an excellent Canadian applesauce called Applesnax! Pepper's has Applesnax Au Naturel, a conventional unsweetened applesauce as well as Applesnax Organic Applesauce in Unsweetened and Homestyle varieties. These are simple and healthy snacks that taste great and are great ingredients for baking, too!
Since kids love applesauce, we should take this opportunity to tell you about something else young children will love: Heinz By Nature Organic Baby Purees! We have baby foods made with natural ingredients including acerola cherry, a plant extremely high in vitamin C, starting at Stage 2 (6+ months) in flavours such as Apple Strawberry & Raspberry, Pear and Mango Apricot & Kale. These take-along squeeze pouches are super easy for introducing your young'un to new flavours!
Oyster sauce is a staple in stir-fries as well as other Asian-inspired dishes. New Golden Dragon Oyster Sauce is a popular and authentic Chinese sauce with the rich flavours of oyster extractives and soy sauce. It also makes an excellent marinade!
Much more exciting than that are Sutra Foods Simmer Sauces available in our Deli Department! These simmering sauces are made on Vancouver Island in the Cowichan Valley so you can feel good with your purchase knowing your hard-earned dollars are staying closeby and supporting local business! Currently there's Sutra's Best Thai Sauce, a delicous and dairy-free simmering red sauce (it's gluten-free, too) that's spicy and complex and coconut-y! Then there's Sutra's Best Butter Chicken Sauce, which, according to the company website, is: a rich, creamy blend of aromatic mild spices in a fusion of tomato & cream. Mild in flavour, which makes this a great choice for all the family-even the kids! Check out the website here: www.sutrasauces.com
If you're looking for "real-deal" corn tortillas, the ones made more traditionally and less processed, with a texture, taste and structure more reminiscent of the corn from which they were made, then look no further than our Deli Department who comes through again with Maiiz Nixtamal Corn Tortillas. Some of you may be wondering what nixtamal is, exactly. Nixtamalization is a process which chemically transforms corn in a variety of ways. Dry corn is soaked in boiling water with slaked lime (it's kinda complicated but it's all natural). Hours later the corn is drained and ground into a slightly elastic dough called masa which is then shaped into the round tortillas. These Maiiz Nixtamal Corn Tortillas are naturally gluten-free and made with organic BC corn. But they need to be kept refrigerated until ready to use which is why you'll find them up front in the Deli's cold case.
"I can't eat enough pickled beets!" is what you might never hear someone actually utter out loud but it's probably a very common internal dialogue amongst our shoppers. That's because pickled beets are good. Darn good (right, Pop?). They're so good that we had to get the trusted brand that many get their darn good sauerkraut from: Lisc. It's Polish and the Polish know a thing or two about beets. So the next time you're pining or panicking for some pickled beets, pick Polish Lisc Pickled Sliced Baby Beets and pig out!
Alright friends, we hope that you had a good week. If you're off work tomorrow, please take a moment to remember the sacrifices that so many have made to provide us with the freedoms and priviledges that we so often take for granted. Lest we forget.
Pepper's Foods