Calgary gifts worth buying local

Milk Jar Candle Co.

Hand-poured coconut soy candles with wooden wicks, made in Calgary and sold in dozens of shops around the city. What sets them apart is the hiring. Milk Jar has built its workplace around employment for people with disabilities, and they donate from every candle made.

Blume

Organic superfood latte blends that turn hot water and any milk into something worth drinking. The beetroot and the matcha coconut are the ones we keep in the cupboard, and the seasonal gingerbread one is a solid stocking gift.

The Silk Road Spice Merchant

The best spice shop in the city and the reason our cupboard looks the way it does. Whole spices, ground spices, chiles and hand-mixed blends, from the everyday to things you will not find anywhere else in Alberta. Their boxed gift sets and cocktail kits solve most gifting problems in one stop.

Canadian Heritage Roasting Company

Founded by wildland firefighters who learned to roast in a cast iron pan on the fireline, and still one of the best roasters in the city. Their tree-planting programme means every purchase puts something back.

The Sugar Cube

Calgary's candy people, started as a candy truck in 2013 and now doing candy platters, CandyGrams, advent calendars and cotton candy carts. They carry vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free and peanut-free options, which is rarer in candy than it should be.

Big Buns Club

We met this couple through our co-working kitchen and fell for their whole operation immediately. The dough is made with almond milk and no eggs, the buns are made in limited numbers each week, and the flavours rotate. A gift card or a subscription is the easy answer, and turning up at a holiday party with a box of these earns you a great deal of credit.