About Us

Maritime Natural Food Co is proud of our Atlantic Canadian roots. We know that the people and brands that start, grow and flourish here are representative of the resilience, grit and determination of being part of the awesome culture that lives on the East Coast.

Don't get us wrong, we still love all you folks from the rest of Canada and all around the globe but we have a special place in our hearts for our homegrown entrepreneurs.

Where it all started...

The company started under a different name in 2018 by a former competitive cyclist, Ryan DesRoches who couldn't find an energy bar with the right mix of simple, nutritious ingredients with as little environmental impact as possible. So he started making them himself and delivering them on his bike around the Halifax area. Soon he bought a van and expanded distribution across the Maritimes. He recognized a need in the market in local distribution of local food brands and started to fill this need.

In 2021, Ryan was ready for something new and his company had naturally turned into the makings of a small natueral food company. At the same time, Ryan met Alex Billingsley who had recently returned to the Maritimes after spending over 10 years building a local & organic food system in Ontario with his wife Heather. The founders of Mama Earth Organics, the couple's mission was to build a local food movement around organic farms. With a background in logistics, exceptional customer service & a passion for natural foods, Alex jumped at the opportunity to help build the natural food movement here in the Maritimes.

And if you know one thing about the Maritimes, you know that it is a small world and you are usually only one connection away from knowing someone who knows someone who knows someone, it is just kind of the lanscape here.

Around the same time Alex met Patty Howard, a local food entrepreneur who had just built brand new custom food facility in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. Patty had spent 14 years building Kitchen Door Food Co. (aka Kitchen Door Catering) and had recently added a offering in the CPG space as a custom manufacturer/co-packer for start up and innovative food brands in Atlantic Canada. She also co-founded Ritual Edibles with two other powerhouse female entrepreneurs and the company received their Health Canada License in micro-processing cannabis.

Worlds collided and merged. Alex and Patty envisioned a rapidly growing an awesome distribution company that could assist in supporting, mentoring and helping grow innovative local and national brands throughout Atlantic Canada with the goal of getting these awesome products onto store shelves and into customers homes.

Where we are now...

Maritime Natural Food Co is expanding into new areas including further areas within New Brunswick and launching into Newfoundland in Fall of 2022. We are always looking for innovative brands to bring into our catalogue and help grow their market share in Atlantic Canada.

We love working with like-minded partners.

We value relationships, transparency and operate with integrity in a collaborative environment.

We respect our beautiful communities, our dedicated team members, our amazing brand partners and our fantastic network of retail partners.

We are here to fuel growth in an ever crowded marketplace.

We are here to expand local & natural food products in Atlantic Canada.