A farmers' market table, a PEI farm kid, and a bar that didn't taste like cardboard
Sheena Russell did not set out to build a factory. She grew up in a farming family in Prince Edward Island, moved to Nova Scotia to take a degree in environmental science at Dalhousie, and started Made With Local in 2012 the way a lot of good food companies start: at a farmers' market table, with a product she wished existed. The bars she was selling in Halifax were oats and fruit and not much else, made to answer a simple complaint about the snack aisle, that most of it was sugar and packaging and very little real food.
The name was the thesis. Made With Local meant ingredients from Canadian growers, made in Nova Scotia, sold to neighbours first. That is an easy story to tell at a market stall and a very hard one to hold onto as a brand scales, because the cheapest way to grow a snack company is almost always to send production somewhere far away. Russell spent the next decade refusing to do that.
“For me, there has to be purpose alongside people and profit.”
The part most brands would have outsourced
Here is the decision that makes Made With Local worth writing about. From early on, the company chose to have its bars produced and packed by social enterprises that employ people facing barriers to the mainstream workforce, including people living with physical or intellectual disabilities. In 2014 it partnered with The Flower Cart Group in New Minas, Nova Scotia, a supported-workplace organization, and later added a Toronto-based social-enterprise producer as volume grew. The work of making the product is, deliberately, the work of employing people the labour market tends to skip.
That is not a marketing line bolted onto a finished company. It is the operating model, and it is the reason the growth story is interesting rather than routine. Plenty of brands donate a percentage. Made With Local built the giving into the assembly line itself, which is exactly the kind of thing that gets harder, not easier, as order volume climbs.
“In working with these groups, we are providing valuable, good work for those not able to find employment due to physical or intellectual limitations.”
The recognition followed the model. Made With Local was named Taste of Nova Scotia Producer of the Year in 2019, Halifax Chamber of Commerce Small Business of the Year in 2020, and won the Canadian Grocer Impact Award for Community Service in 2021. It is a Certified B Corporation, the third-party standard for companies that fold social and environmental performance into how they are run.
Building a factory instead of a shortcut
For years the bars were co-packed. Then, in October 2022, Made With Local opened its own manufacturing facility in Windsor, Nova Scotia, a small town about an hour from Halifax, taking production fully in-house. The move roughly quadrupled the company's output and landed it a place on Costco Canada's shelves at the same time.
“We're quadrupling local manufacturing here in a small town in Nova Scotia. It's a big deal.”
The head office stayed in Dartmouth, the plant went up in Windsor, and the social-enterprise partners kept their share of the work. That is the whole trick of this company: it kept adding capacity without exporting the two things that make it distinctive, Nova Scotia manufacturing and inclusive employment.
What you actually get in the box
The core product is the Real Food Bar, sold in twelve-packs by flavour, currently $36.50 a box direct from the brand. The lineup runs to seven or so flavours, including Strawberry Sunshine, Peanut Butter Blondie, Peanut Butter Brownie, Lemon Square, Chocolate Mint Chip, Coconut in the Dark, and Blueberry Almond Butter. The bars are gluten-free, made with no palm oil and no sugar alcohols, a source of fibre, and built on Canadian ingredients. They contain tree nuts and may contain peanuts, so they are not an allergen-free product. More recently the company added a protein cookie line, extending the same real-food idea into a higher-protein format.
The texture is the point of difference. These are soft, baked, oat-forward bars that taste homemade rather than extruded, which is the whole reason the brand exists. If your reference point is a chalky protein bar, this is the other end of the shelf.
Where it sits on the Canadian snack-bar shelf
Made With Local competes in one of grocery's most crowded aisles, but it occupies a corner few of its rivals can claim: made in Nova Scotia, B Corp certified, and produced by an inclusive workforce. Here is where it sits next to snack bars you probably already know:
| Brand | What it is | Angle | Made in | Where to buy |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Made With LocalFeatured | Oat-and-fruit Real Food Bars | Gluten-free, no palm oil, B Corp, social-enterprise made | Windsor, NS | Costco, Walmart, Sobeys, Loblaws, DTC |
| MadeGood | Allergen-free granola bars and minis | Free from the common allergens, organic, school-safe | Vaughan, ON | Mass grocery, Costco |
| Taste of Nature | Organic whole-food fruit and nut bars | Certified organic, non-GMO, single-origin flavours | Toronto, ON | Grocery, natural retail |
| SimplyProtein | Low-sugar plant-based protein bars | Higher protein, low sugar, gluten-free | Canada | Grocery, pharmacy, DTC |
| Clif Bar | Oat-based energy bars | Organic oats, athlete-oriented, mainstream | USA | Mass retail nationwide |
Comparison reflects general positioning as of July 2026 and is for context, not a spec sheet. Product ranges, ingredients, and availability change; check each brand's site for current details.
From one market stall to 3,500 doors
The scale-up is real and it is recent. In 2021 the brand was in roughly 1,000 to 1,500 retailers. By March 2026, Retail Insider reported it had reached more than 3,500 Canadian retail doors, including Costco Canada, Walmart Canada, Sobeys, Loblaws banners, London Drugs, and Fresh St. Market. Notably, the same reporting has the company easing off United States expansion in favour of deepening its Canadian footprint, a made-in-Canada posture that fits the brand name almost too neatly.
What the press is saying
Made With Local expands to 3,500 Canadian retail stores as Halifax snack brand scales nationally
“I grew up in a farming family in PEI, moved to Nova Scotia to do a degree in environmental science at Dalhousie.”
— Sheena Russell, Founder & CEO
Read the full feature →Made with Local takes a bite of Canadian snack bar market
“For me, there has to be purpose alongside people and profit.”
— Sheena Russell, Founder & CEO
Read the full feature →Made With Local Quadruples Production, Enters Costco
“We're quadrupling local manufacturing here in a small town in Nova Scotia. It's a big deal.”
— Sheena Russell, Founder & CEO
Read the full feature →2021 Impact Award winners: Community Service
“In working with these groups, we are providing valuable, good work for those not able to find employment due to physical or intellectual limitations.”
— Sheena Russell, Founder & CEO
Read the full feature →Where to actually buy it
Each link below goes to the brand's own shop. Real Food Bars are sold in twelve-packs by flavour, and the store locator will point you to the nearest of the 3,500-plus Canadian retailers if you would rather grab a box in person:
Follow the brand
Made With Local runs an active, founder-forward social presence, heavy on the people behind the bars and the Nova Scotia making-of. It is worth a few minutes if you want the real texture of the company: Instagram, TikTok, and LinkedIn.
Questions this guide answers
- What is Made With Local?
- Made With Local is an independent Canadian snack brand based in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. It makes gluten-free Real Food Bars and protein cookies from oats, fruit, nuts, and seeds, with Canadian ingredients. The company was founded in 2012 by Sheena Russell and is a Certified B Corporation. The corporate entity is Made With Local Snack Foods Inc.
- Who founded Made With Local?
- Made With Local was founded in 2012 by Sheena Russell, who is the founder and CEO. Russell grew up in a farming family in Prince Edward Island, moved to Nova Scotia to study environmental science at Dalhousie University, and started the business at a Halifax farmers' market table. Kathy MacDonald co-founded the company in its early days.
- Where is Made With Local made?
- The company's head office is in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. Its Real Food Bars are manufactured in-house at a facility in Windsor, Nova Scotia, which opened in October 2022. A portion of production and packing is also handled by social-enterprise partners, including The Flower Cart Group in New Minas, Nova Scotia.
- A defining part of Made With Local is that its bars are produced and packed in partnership with social enterprises that employ people facing barriers to the mainstream workforce, including people living with physical or intellectual disabilities. The company partnered with The Flower Cart Group in New Minas, Nova Scotia beginning in 2014, and works with a Toronto-based social-enterprise producer as well. Made With Local is a Certified B Corporation.
- Are Made With Local bars gluten-free?
- Yes. Made With Local Real Food Bars are gluten-free. The brand also states its bars contain no palm oil and no sugar alcohols, are a source of fibre, and are made with Canadian ingredients. The bars contain tree nuts and may contain peanuts, so they are not allergen-free. Always check the individual product label for current allergen information.
- Where can I buy Made With Local?
- Made With Local sells directly at madewithlocal.com, where Real Food Bars are sold in twelve-packs by flavour. As of 2026 the brand is stocked in more than 3,500 Canadian retail doors, including Costco Canada, Walmart Canada, Sobeys, Loblaws banners, London Drugs, and Fresh St. Market. Use the store locator on the brand's site to find nearby stock.
- How many stores carry Made With Local?
- As of March 2026, Made With Local was stocked in more than 3,500 retail doors across Canada, according to Retail Insider. That is up from roughly 1,000 to 1,500 retailers in 2021, reflecting a national scale-up while the brand keeps manufacturing in Nova Scotia.
- What flavours does Made With Local make?
- Made With Local's Real Food Bar flavours include Strawberry Sunshine, Peanut Butter Blondie, Peanut Butter Brownie, Lemon Square, Chocolate Mint Chip, Coconut in the Dark, and Blueberry Almond Butter. The brand has also launched a protein cookie line. Flavours and availability change over time, so check madewithlocal.com for the current lineup.
Bottom line
Made With Local is the rare grocery brand whose social mission is not a footnote but the production line itself. A gluten-free bar that tastes homemade is a nice thing to find in the snack aisle. A gluten-free bar that is made in Nova Scotia, by an inclusive workforce, by a company that chose the harder version of every growth decision, is a better story than most of the shelf can tell. The bars are good. The reason they exist is better. If you see the box at your Costco or your local grocer, it is worth the pick-up.