FORBES WILD FOODS INC.

What FORBES WILD FOODS INC. does

Forbes Wild Foods Inc. is a privately held Canadian corporation founded in 1998 by Jonathan Forbes in Toronto, Ontario. The company sources, curates, and distributes sustainably harvested wild and foraged foods from across Canada, spanning from the coast of Labrador to the islands of British Columbia. Its catalog comprises over 184 SKUs across 15 product categories including wild mushrooms (50 SKUs), botanicals (41), dry goods (46), syrups and honey (33), fruits and berries (27), brewery supplies (27), and vegetables (25), alongside fresh, frozen, tea, vinegar, bulk, and gift basket lines. The underlying 'technology' is a decentralized foraging network built over 25+ years involving Indigenous pickers, women, youth, retirees, farmers, and professional foragers in remote communities, with founder Jonathan Forbes personally contributing 65+ years of foraging expertise.

The company serves a horizontally segmented customer base through six concurrent revenue streams: direct-to-consumer e-commerce via the Shopify-powered wildfoods.ca storefront (shipping domestically and internationally with multi-language and multi-currency support); a flagship retail store at 1385 Danforth Ave in Toronto; five Toronto-area farmers markets (Green Barns/The Stop, Sorauren, Trinity Bellwoods Organic, Dufferin Grove Organic, Evergreen Brickworks); wholesale distribution to 20+ Ontario specialty retailers; food service supply to restaurants, hotels, and resorts with dedicated pricing; and bulk botanical sales to Canadian distilleries and breweries. Customer segments include professional chefs and restaurants, craft distillers and microbreweries, individual food enthusiasts, and specialty retailers, with no single customer disclosed as material.

Commercially, Forbes Wild Foods operates a pure transactional (one-time sale) model with unit-based pricing that varies materially by category — maple syrup from CAD $8.62 (250ml) to $69.28 (4L), birch syrup from $14.40 (100ml) to $95.26 (1L), and dried wild mushrooms from $5.02 to $100.99. Bulk and food service pricing is custom and negotiated by inquiry. Headcount is 1-10, no external funding has been raised, and the company is founder-owned with a Board of Directors including Karen Knopf, Derek Blais, and Denise Bolduc. Revenue is not publicly disclosed.

Name

FORBES WILD FOODS INC.

Legal name

Forbes Wild Foods Inc.

Website

https://wildfoods.ca

Company type

Private

Founded year

1998

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Forbes Wild Foods Inc. is a Toronto-based, founder-owned Canadian company that supplies sustainably foraged wild foods (mushrooms, botanicals, syrups, berries, sea vegetables) across 184+ SKUs to chefs, restaurants, distillers, specialty retailers, and consumers via e-commerce, a flagship store, farmers markets, and wholesale channels.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Specialty Wild and Foraged Foods

NAICS

Specialty Food Retailers (4452), All Other Specialty Food Retailers (445298), Packaged Frozen Food Merchant Wholesalers (42442)

SIC

Wholesale-Groceries & Related Products (5140), Wholesale-Groceries, General Line (5141)

akta.pro primary industry

Health Food & Supplement Stores (CRAHAEAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Natural, Organic & Health Foods Wholesale Distribution (CRAOAAAK), Natural/Organic Bulk & Supplement Grocers (CRAHAMAF)

Keywords

• Wild foraged foods
• Specialty food distribution
• Maple syrup products
• Wild mushroom supply
• Craft beverage botanicals

Headquarters

HQ city

Toronto

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. E-commerce Direct Sales: Online retail sales through wildfoods.ca with individual product purchases, gift baskets, and bulk ordering options. Consumer direct-to-consumer model with shipping across Canada and internationally.
2. Food Service Wholesale: Supply to restaurants, hotels, and resorts with dedicated food service pricing and industry discount for professional kitchens. Direct account relationships with restaurant chefs.
3. Retail Store Sales: Physical flagship store at 1385 Danforth Ave, Toronto open Monday-Wednesday 9am-4pm, Thursday-Friday 9am-6pm, Saturday 11am-5pm. Fresh and frozen products primarily available in-store only.
4. Farmers Market Sales: Presence at multiple Toronto-area farmers markets including Green Barns Farmers Market (The Stop), Sorauren Market, Trinity Bellwoods Organic Market, Dufferin Grove Organic Market, and Evergreen Brickworks Organic Market.
5. Wholesale to Specialty Retailers: Supply to gift stores, health food stores, and specialty food retailers across Ontario including retailers like La Fromagerie, Rowe Farms locations, Karma Co-op, and others.
6. Bulk Botanical Sales to Distillers/Brewers: Large-volume supply of botanicals (Juniper, Sweet Gale, Spruce Tips, etc.) to Canadian distilleries and breweries for gin, liqueurs, and beer production. Custom bulk pricing available upon inquiry.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Forbes Wild Foods Inc. sources, processes, and sells wild and organically foraged Canadian specialty foods — including wild mushrooms, berries, maple and birch syrups, sea vegetables, botanicals, teas, vinegars, frozen goods, and gift baskets — through e-commerce, a Toronto retail store, farmers markets, and wholesale food-service channels. The company serves both end consumers and professional chefs, distillers, and brewers with over 184 SKUs across 15 product categories.

Product overview

Forbes Wild Foods Inc. is a Canadian company operating as a direct-to-consumer e-commerce platform and physical retail store for wild and foraged foods. The company offers a diverse portfolio of over 184 products across 15 distinct categories, including botanicals, syrups and honey, wild mushrooms, fruits and berries, vegetables, sea vegetables, dry goods, fresh foraged items, teas, brewery supplies, vinegars, bulk offerings, gift baskets, and frozen products. The product portfolio centers on sustainably harvested wild foods from across Canada, from the coast of Labrador to British Columbia, sold directly to restaurants, chefs, food service operators, and individual consumers. The company also operates a flagship retail location in Toronto and participates in farmers markets throughout the Greater Toronto Area.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Wild Mushrooms Wild and foraged Canadian mushroom varieties sold fresh, dried, and frozen to retail consumers and professional chefs for specialty cooking applications.
• Syrups and Honey Canadian maple and birch syrups, including very dark maple syrup and pure birch syrup, sold to retail consumers and food-service customers as baking and finishing ingredients.
• Very Dark Maple Syrup Very dark Canadian maple syrup sold as a featured premium product for retail consumers and specialty food buyers.
• Pure Birch Syrup Pure Canadian birch syrup sold as a featured premium product for retail consumers and specialty food buyers.
• Botanicals Wild Canadian botanicals sold to retail consumers, craft distillers, and brewers as specialty ingredients and craft beverage inputs.
• Brewery Supplies Wild and foraged ingredients curated for craft brewers as flavor and adjunct inputs to beer production.
• Fruits and Berries Wild Canadian fruits and berries sold fresh, frozen, and dried to retail consumers and food-service customers for cooking and baking.
• Vegetables Wild and foraged Canadian vegetables sold to retail consumers and food-service customers.
• Sea Vegetables Canadian sea vegetables sold dried and prepared to retail consumers and chefs for specialty cooking applications.
• Dry Goods Shelf-stable dried wild and foraged Canadian foods sold to retail consumers and food-service customers.
• Fresh Products Fresh wild and foraged Canadian ingredients sold to retail consumers and chefs on a seasonal availability basis.
• Teas Wild and foraged Canadian herbal teas sold to retail consumers as specialty beverages.
• Vinegar Wild and foraged Canadian vinegars sold to retail consumers and food-service customers as specialty ingredients.
• Bulk Botanicals Bulk wild and foraged Canadian botanicals sold in larger quantities to craft distillers, brewers, and food-service customers on a quote basis.
• Gift Baskets Curated assortments of wild and foraged Canadian specialty foods packaged as gift baskets for retail consumers and corporate gifting.
• Frozen Foods Frozen wild and foraged Canadian foods including mushrooms, berries, and vegetables sold to retail consumers and food-service customers.

Named customers2 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Green Barns Farmers Market (The Stop)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorSaturday market presence (9am-12pm year-round) at Christie St. south of St. Clair Ave West. One of five Toronto-area farmers markets where Forbes Wild Foods sells directly to consumers and educates customers about wild foods.
• Evergreen Brick WorkscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorSaturday market presence (9am-1pm year-round) at 550 Bayview Ave. Also carries Forbes products at their Evergreen Garden Market retail location. Dual presence as both market vendor and retail stockist.
• Rowe FarmscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorStockist at six Toronto-area locations: Leslieville, Roncey, Annex, Bloor West, Beaches, and Bayview. Premium local food retailer carrying select Forbes Wild Foods products.
• La FromagerieminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorToronto specialty cheese and food retailer at 868 College Street carrying select Forbes Wild Foods products.
• Karma Co-opminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorCommunity-owned natural foods co-operative at 739 Palmerston Ave, Toronto, carrying Forbes Wild Foods products.
• Upper Canada Cheese Co.minorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorSpecialty cheese retailer at 4159 Jordan Road, Jordan Station, Ontario, carrying select Forbes Wild Foods products.
• Sorauren MarketminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorMonday market presence (3pm-7pm May-October, 4pm-7pm November-April) in Sorauren Park at corner of Sorauren & Wabash.
• Trinity Bellwoods Organic MarketminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorTuesday market presence (3pm-7pm May-October) at corner of Dundas Ave & Shaw Street.
• Dufferin Grove Organic MarketminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorThursday market presence (3pm-7pm year-round) on east side of Dufferin Road, 2 blocks south of Bloor St West.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• KeHE Distributors: Major U.S. wholesale distributor specializing in natural, organic, specialty, and fresh products to grocery, retail, and food service customers. Overlaps with Forbes' wholesale distribution motion into specialty retailers but with a much broader portfolio.
• United Natural Foods (UNFI): Largest U.S. distributor of natural, organic, and specialty foods to retailers nationwide. Comparable as a wholesale distribution channel for natural/healthy foods, but operates at vastly broader scale across many categories rather than specializing in wild foraged goods.

Direct peers

• Marx Foods: U.S. specialty wild and exotic food supplier focused on wild mushrooms, foraged greens, and rare ingredients to chefs and home cooks. Comparable forager-sourced product breadth and restaurant/foodservice customer overlap.
• Truffle Hunter: UK-based wild truffle and wild mushroom supplier with strong DTC, food service, and gift channel presence. Highly comparable wild-foraged positioning, premium gifting model, and direct chef/distributor relationships.
• Pacific Botanicals: U.S. medicinal herb and wild botanical grower/shipper selling directly to tea makers, distillers, and brewers. Highly comparable in the bulk botanical supply line, particularly Juniper, Sweet Gale, and tea botanicals, serving craft beverage customers.
• Earthy Delights: U.S.-based online retailer of wild, foraged, and specialty foods (mushrooms, truffles, botanicals) with a similar DTC plus foodservice model. Directly comparable in product mix (wild mushrooms, berries, syrups) and customer base (chefs, home cooks, gift buyers).

Regional players

• Rowe Farms: Ontario-based natural and local foods retailer (also a Forbes distribution partner with 6 locations). Comparable in Canadian natural foods retail positioning, premium local sourcing, and overlapping customer base, though broader in meat and prepared foods.
• Fresh City Farms: Toronto-based sustainable urban farm and online retailer offering organic produce, meats, and prepared foods with strong DTC and farmers market presence (also a Forbes stockist). Comparable Canadian local/sustainable food brand targeting similar Toronto consumers.
• Karma Co-op: Toronto community-owned natural foods co-operative carrying Forbes Wild Foods products. Comparable as a small-format Canadian natural/specialty food retailer serving a similar local, sustainability-minded consumer base.
• Evergreen Brickworks / Evergreen Garden Market: Toronto-based sustainability-focused retail and market venue hosting farmers markets and a garden market that stocks Forbes products. Comparable as a regional venue and channel partner for natural and Canadian specialty foods.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Instagraminstagram.com/wildfoodsca
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/forbes-wild-foods

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about FORBES WILD FOODS INC.