Venessa Stonehouse is the co-founder and CEO of Mindful FÜD, a plant-based food company focused on turning rescued ingredients into bold new products. Her journey into food started more than seven years ago when she launched one of Vancouver’s early meal delivery companies, Feed Me Fit.
What began as a passion for wholesome food gradually evolved into a fully plant-based business as she embraced a vegan lifestyle and became more aware of the environmental impact of the food system. She did not set out to reinvent honey, but her path led her exactly there.
In 2021, an arson fire destroyed her business overnight. It was one of the hardest moments of her life, but something remarkable happened. Her community rallied around her through a GoFundMe, and raised over $20,000 in just three days to help her rebuild. That support reminded her why she started in the first place.
Not long after, she moved to the Okanagan and found herself surrounded by orchards. During harvest season, she kept noticing apples scattered across the ground that would never make it to grocery stores. That moment sparked a question that changed everything: what if waste could become something valuable?
THE BUSINESS.
Mindful FÜD is a Canadian food innovation company founded on a simple premise: some of the best ingredients never make it to market. Recognizing that large volumes of perfectly edible fruit are left behind during harvest because they are too small, imperfect, or surplus, the company transforms this overlooked resource into new products.
Its first product, BeeMindful Hunnie, is a certified organic honey alternative made from rescued Canadian apples. Designed as a versatile sweetener, it works as a one-to-one replacement for honey, maple syrup, or agave. The product has gained traction among consumers and culinary professionals alike, appearing in everything from baked goods and cocktails to marinades and restaurant dishes.
Mindful FÜD products are now available in more than 400 stores across Canada, featured on restaurant menus, and increasingly used as ingredients in other consumer food products.
Co-founders Venessa Stonehouse and Jake Cubric are focused on building a new category of foods created from ingredients that would otherwise be overlooked.
The company has received significant recognition for its sustainability-focused approach.
In the year following pitching on Dragon’s Den, Stonehouse received the $100,000 grand prize in the Going Green category of Canada Post’s Tales of Triumph contest in September 2024, selected from more than 3,500 applicants and named among the Top 5 finalists.
Industry recognition has continued to follow. In January 2026, Mindful FÜD placed 9th out of more than 500 plant-based products at the Plant Based World Expo North America VEGPRENEUR Awards.
The brand has also been repeatedly recognized by the Canadian Health Food Association (CHFA).
BeeMindful Hunnie was highlighted in the 2022 CHFA NOW Trends Report as a leading “bee-free honey” alternative.
Mindful FÜD was a Launch Pad finalist at CHFA West 2024 and was again featured in the CHFA NOW 2025 Trends Report.
IN HER WORDS.
“Looking back, I think I have always had an entrepreneurial streak.
I have never been very good at following the traditional path, but I have always been good at spotting opportunities.
As a teenager, I was always starting little side hustles, including a food truck company before they were cool. Those early ventures taught me one important lesson: ideas are everywhere, but you have to be willing to test them, tweak them, and sometimes fail a few times before they work.
The first time I really leaned into that was when I started one of Vancouver’s early meal delivery companies, Feed Me Fit. I saw people struggling to eat well while juggling busy lives, and I realized food could solve a real problem if it was done differently.
That business eventually evolved into a fully plant-based company as I embraced a vegan lifestyle.
One of the most memorable moments in my journey actually came during one of the hardest chapters of it.
In 2021, a serial arsonist destroyed the business I had built. Overnight, everything was gone.
It was one of those moments where you question whether you have the energy to start again. Then something incredible happened.
My community stepped in and raised over $20,000 in just three days to help me rebuild. People I barely knew were reaching out, offering support, encouragement, and reminding me that the work I had been doing mattered.
That experience changed the way I think about entrepreneurship, as it has been anything but linear. It has included pivots, setbacks, and a lot of learning along the way.
Yes, building a business involves risk and uncertainty, but it also creates community. That moment reminded me that sometimes the most valuable thing you build is not just the company, it is the people who believe in it.”
“After the arson, I moved to the Okanagan, and I noticed orchards surrounded by apples that would never make it to market. They were perfectly edible, but once they hit the ground, they were essentially written off as waste. Seeing that amount of food being discarded made my mind figure out what they could become.
That curiosity turned into years of experimenting in the kitchen, trying to transform apples into something that could behave like honey. Eventually, that process became BeeMindful Hunnie, a honey alternative made from rescued apples.
What I learned during that time was that entrepreneurship is not just about building something new, it is about paying attention. The best ideas often come from noticing the gaps that others overlook. That mindset has ultimately led me to Mindful FÜD and the creation of BeeMindful Hunnie.
Our products, certified organic and vegan, not only deliver delicious flavour but also symbolize hope for bees and the planet we share.
What started as a small idea has now grown into a brand sold in more than 400 stores across Canada, used on restaurant menus, and incorporated into other consumer products.
The biggest lesson I have learned is that setbacks do not necessarily end a story. Sometimes they simply redirect it toward something even more meaningful.”
“Entrepreneurship has a funny way of blending weekdays, weekends, mornings, and late nights into one long blur.
There are definitely moments where the business becomes your full-time thought process. But the bigger challenge is not the hours. It is the uncertainty.
When you are building something from scratch, there is no roadmap and no guarantees. You are constantly asking yourself if you are slightly brilliant or slightly delusional.
For me, the sacrifices mostly came in the form of comfort, stability, and predictability, all the things entrepreneurs tend to trade for possibility.
The upside is that it builds a kind of resilience you cannot really learn any other way. You get comfortable solving problems, pivoting quickly, and trusting your instincts.
When something finally works, when people connect with what you have created, it makes all the chaotic moments along the way feel completely worth it.
In my journey there was not one giant movie-style moment where everything suddenly clicked. It was more like a series of little signals that started stacking up. The first was watching chefs get excited about the product.
Chefs are tough critics, so when they started drizzling the hot version on wings, pizza, and charcuterie boards, I knew we were onto something interesting. Then retailers started calling back instead of saying maybe later. Then restaurants began adding it to their menus.
At some point I realized we were not just selling jars of honey alternative anymore.
We were creating a whole new lane for how sweetness could be made. That is when it shifted in my mind from this might work to this is actually happening.”
VENESSA STONEHOUSE, CO-FOUNDER & CEO
Author Profile
- This story is created in collaboration between Helen Siwak and the featured subject. As the founder and publisher of Portfolio.YVR Business & Entrepreneurs Magazine, Helen works closely with entrepreneurs to share their paths of innovation, resilience, and growth. Each story in this series is co-developed through interviews and first-person insights, blending authentic voices with Helen’s editorial expertise to highlight the remarkable individuals shaping British Columbia’s business landscape.
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