The Best Made-in-Vancouver Souvenirs To Buy (or Gift!)

Let’s be real—nobody wants another fridge magnet or “I Hiked the Grouse Grind” T-shirt. Skip ’em entirely and capture the spirit of the real Vancity with local designs, snacks and sips from cool Vancouver companies.

Beta5 Polygon Bars

Working double-duty as topographical works of art and sweet treats, this chocolatier’s iconic Polygon bars (from $11) are cast in custom moulds to model the North Shore mountains and come in inventive flavours like Dessert Nerd with white chocolate, freeze-dried strawberries, rainbow Nerds and pop rocks. Snag a few of Beta5’s wildly popular cream puffs to snack on while you’re sightseeing. beta5chocolates.com

House of Funk  Roasting Co. Coffee

Funky flavour profiles and far-out packaging are the name of the game at this roastery, which only works with traceable beans from farms that align with their sustainability views. Creatively named coffees (from $22.50) abound here—What Was Going Through My Head or Mellow Caramelo, anyone?—and you best not leave without a couple of cans of effervescent Sparkling House Cold Brew to sip around town. houseoffunkbrewing.com

Forest for Dinner Spruce Tip Delicacies

Using zesty, electric-green Sitka spruce tips in their pickled spruce tips ($16) and spruce tip jelly ($12.50), this family-run business forages everything on Vancouver Island and has made it their mission to make wild food more accessible. Don’t like dabbling in spruce? They also do a mean jar of marinated chanterelle mushrooms. forestfordinner.ca

Artbedo Prints

Mikayla Hong immortalizes eye-catching buildings, neighbourhoods and traditions in the city she calls home with her stylistic collection of Vancouver- inspired art prints (from $15). From the classics, like eating dim sum or the iconic Sylvia Hotel, to the cult-cool, like Duffin’s Donuts and Bon’s Off Broadway, there’s something for everyone in her art arsenal (including tea towels and tote bags, if prints aren’t your thing). artbedo.com

READ MORE: This Collection of Prints Captures How a Neighbourhood Feels

Standing Spruce Apothecary Sgaahlan Soap Bars

Brimming with calming, moisturizing and anti- inflammatory properties, these Sgaahlan West Coast Forest Bars ($16), made from 100-percent Indigenous-owned standing spruce, are deeply rooted in the West Coast. The name translates to “yellow cedar” in Haida, and each is blended with cedar leaves and invigorating essential oils of fir, spruce and cedar. standingspruce.com

Kate Metten Oyster Shell Ceramics

Inspired by British potter Bernard Leach and the works of Bauhaus, Metten’s ceramics are the ultimate keepsakes, melding functional design with a sense of place: she actually uses sand, shells and local clay from Vancouver and its surroundings in her one-of-a-kind creations. This oyster shell Deianeira ($350), for instance, gets its unique glaze texture from crushed oyster shells found on Hornby Island. katemetten.com

A Bronze Age Halo Bag

Three generations of women from one family are behind contemporary lifestyle brand A Bronze Age, which meticulously handcrafts playfully chic purses and clothing in feminine silhouettes. Opt for the scrunchie-inspired Halo bag ($160) in Root to remind yourself of B.C.’s forests; it’s designed by founder Renee Power and made-to-order by her aunts here in town. abronzeage.com

Hype1 Chocolate Sneakers

Hype Chocolate merges sneaker and snack culture to create cooler-than-cool creations and merch. We love the Hype 1 ($15), a mini version of the classic Jordan 1 sneaker handcrafted in solid Belgian chocolate, as well as the Cinnamon Toast Crunch bar and the Dubai Pistachio Knafeh bar, which went viral last year. hypechocolate.com

READ MORE: The Vanmag Guide to Gastown and Chinatown

Wirth Hats In Therapy Hat

Style yourself with one of Wirth’s bestsellers, like the In Therapy hat or a cozy-cool fleece hat in Glacier (both $60), and you’ll be giving to a beautiful cause—win-win. At its heart, this company is a social venture that champions radical self-worth, donating $10 from the sale of each hat to fund therapy for those who can’t afford it. wirthhats.com

Native Northwest Stacking Animal Bead Maze

Kiddos aged one and up will love playing with this stacking animal bead maze ($18), complete with a mama bear wooden detail by Haida artist Shoshannah Greenebeads. In addition to kids, this is a great place to stock up for the whole family—all of the artwork featured on Native Northwest’s products (games, clothing, books and more) is done by Indigenous artists. nativenorthwest.ca

Bocci 14p Portable Light

This illuminating launch is a play on the 14, an iconic cast-glass pendant light designed by Omer Arbel in 2005. The 14p ($425) catapults that form into a new realm of usability, making it portable and rechargeable with three ambient lighting levels for a sultry candle-lit aura. bocci.com

Friday Harbour Kids Hooded Cloud Towel

Inspired by the Southern Coast of Vancouver, and by the four children of founders Heather and Charlie Cavill, Friday Harbour’s luxurious kids cloud towels ($82) have a magnetic front snap and are hand-sewn using organic bamboo fabrics to be antibacterial; plus, they support a good cause: every purchase pays for one pound of plastic to be removed from our oceans. fridayharbourco.com

Photo by Norma Ibarra, Model: Laura Pimienta

Old Fashioned Standards Button Down

Nothing beats the craftsmanship of Cassandra Bailey’s garments, which she personally designs, cuts and sews to last a lifetime in her Vancouver workshop. Snag a slick fit like the baseball-inspired Home Run button down in a multi-stripe bull denim ($285), or browse her other beautiful pieces in high-quality materials like Melton wool, selvedge denim and 100-percent up-cycled Australian Outback cloth. oldfashionedstandards.com

Kid Sister Super Ego Face Oil and Mini Skincare Bundle

This small-biz line of vegan skincare products is all about ease. It’s known for its nutrient-rich (and carry-on friendly) Super Ego face oil ($67), which multitasks by moisturizing and toning, but we also love the Mini Bundle ($40), which packs a gua sha face massage tool alongside the oil to improve blood flow and reduce inflammation. kidsisterskincare.com

 

The Woods Cascadian Gin

Made with herbaceous green pine foraged from the North Shore, this vibrant Cascadian gin ($48) from The Woods distillery is a super-fresh sip blend perfectly suited to your G&T. The company uses vacuum distillation to preserve natural botanical flavours in all its products and sells other spirited blends like barrel-aged amaro and arancello blood orange liqueur.  thewoodsspiritco.com

READ MORE: The Best Made-in-Vancouver Pantry Staples

Northern Bars

The Nanaimo bar, a mix of rich chocolate-buttercream and coconut popularized in the eponymous city on Vancouver Island, is one of B.C.’s most famed confections. Northern bars (from $12) kick the typical cellophane-wrapped café version up a few notches with perfectly bite-sized squares in a giftable box depicting landmarks from around Vancouver. They’re also available in four very-Canadian flavours: classic, smokey maple, saskatoonberry-lemon and apple-cinnamon. northernbars.ca