b'COMPANY PROFILEBUSINESS SUCCESSWITHBANNOCKBy Andrew BrooksK e k u l i C a f e b r e a k s n e w g r o u n d a s a n I n d i g e n o u s q u i c k - s e r v i c e r e s t a u r a n t i n C a n a d aD ont panic. we haveIts the franchising model, says Bond- that have further fuelled itsBannock! With thatHogg, that will be the main avenuesuccess and brand recognition intagline, Kekuli Cafe hasfor future growth, particularly in majorits home province.been winning hearts andpopulation centres in B.C., as well as mindsand tastebuds in Alberta and Saskatchewan. TheTHE BEGINNINGin British Columbias Southern Interioradvantage of the franchise model isKekuli began as a summer hobby for since it first opened its doors in 2004. that anyone can be trained to own andBond-Hogg. As a teacher, she had the operate a Kekuli Cafe, she explains. entire summer to work on what she Make that tent flaps, not doors: Kekulinow calls a labour of love: baking and founder and CEO Sharon Bond- The company is also trialling a new,selling bannock. The year after their Hogg and her husband Darren Hoggspeedier coffee concept. WereWestside Daze debut, Bond-Hogg first served bannock, the traditionaltesting a new business model atand her husband Darren started to Indigenous frybread, out of a pop-upOkanagan; we call it a coffee barbuild some momentum for their fledg-vendor tent at the Westside Dazegrab-and-go, notes Bond-Hogg, aling business. They renamed it Kekuli annual festival in Westbank/Westmember of Nooaitch First Nation, aCafe, after the kekulisor pit housesKelowna in 2004. At that time, it wasntNlakapamux First Nations govern- built by the Interior Salish peoples of yet called Kekuli Cafe, but ratherment in B.C.s southern interior. Itsthe Thompson Okanagan region, and Patricia Sams Bannock Stand.great for the college students, andmoved the cafe to its first permanent would work great in a mall or airport,home, a concession stand at a friends Fast forward to today and there arelocations where people are in a rushcar wash.now four Kekuli Cafe locations in theand just want to grab a quick bite or Southern Interior of B.C.: in Kelowna,acoffee. It was then that Bond-Hogg began Westbank/West Kelowna, Merritt andto realize she might be able to build Kamloops. The Merritt and KamloopsKekuli has also rolled out a mobile appher labour of love into something locations are franchised, while theand developed its own loyalty/rewardsmuch bigger. She left teaching for other two are corporate locations.program for customersinitiativesgood when her first business loan 34A CCAB PUBLICATIONFall 2023'