Nutty Club Ju Jubes
Winnipeg, Manitoba
Since 1903, those with a sweet tooth have been well served by Scott-Bathgate, purveyors of Nutty Club candies, nuts and popcorn. Can-d-man (the red-and-white striped character with top hat, bad hair and no hands that adorns Nutty Club packages) first appeared in the 1930s. Soon after, the company became the first in Western Canada to put candy and nuts in cellophane bags. Taste These soft-yet-firm blobs offer an easy chew (if you ignore the hunks sticking to your molars) and five mellow flavours. The classic Canadian jube-a far cry from the smaller, harder variety our neighbours down south enjoy.

Spitz Sunflower Seeds
Medicine Hat, Alberta
What started out as a birdseed business in 1982 has evolved into Spitz International, an Alberta-based company that roasts, packages and distributes Canada’s most popular sunflower seeds. Owners Tom and Emmy Droog, originally from Holland, dress up the humble seed with seasonings (chili lime or dill pickle anyone?) and, new this year, chocolate and candy coatings. Taste A salt fiend’s dream, especially if you suck the coating off before cracking each seed to extract the nutty kernel.

Drake’s Bison Jerky
Drake, Saskatchewan
Drake Meat Processors began salting, smoking and packing meat in Drake (population 247) in 1949. Carnivores in Sas katchewan and Alberta will recognize the line-up of sausages, hams, beer sticks and other meat products sold under the Homestead Cabin brand. We love the label’s caveman ("Cave in to your cravin’") which taps into our primal need for dried meat snacks. Taste Tear off a thin strip of this cabernet-coloured jerky (made from local bison) and settle in for a long, leisurely chew that releases waves of deep smoky flavour and hits of pepper.

Old Dutch Potato Chips
Winnipeg, Manitoba
This classic chip actually got its start in Minnesota in the 1930s when Karl Marx (no, not that one) began selling homemade potato chips. In 1954, Marx partnered with a Winnipeg company to bring the familiar windmill logo across the border. Old Dutch was the first Canadian snack company to introduce Salt and Vinegar and Sour Cream and Onion potato chips. Taste Pure nostalgia: the plain chip serves up a satisfying snap on first bite, easy crumbling in the mouth, and a distinct salty potato flavour-a welcome reminder that the
Calgary plant can fry up to 400,000 kilograms of potatoes in one day.

Clodhoppers
Abbotsford, British Columbia (via Winnipeg, Manitoba)
Winnipegger Chris Emery loves his grandmother. A lot. In 1996, Emery and his high-school buddy Larry Finnson borrowed grandma’s recipe and began producing these cashew, graham wafer and fudge confections. In 2006, British Columbia’s Brookside Foods acquired the Clodhopper brand and retained Emery and Finnson as chief cheerleaders. Wise move: a recent appearance on multimedia retailing behemoth QVC saw the boys sell all 2,300 cases they had brought with them. Taste Imagine a symphony in your mouth, beginning with the lightness of a graham cracker crunch, followed by the greater depth of the cashew and chocolate and fudge strains weaving throughout.