SUMMERSIDE, P.E.I. — It started with a fruitless search for a can of chicken haddie.
It led to a life-changing journey of entrepreneurship.
In 2014, Charlotte Langley went looking for a can of the aforementioned treat, which, despite its name, is actually a tin of mixed white fish.
Langley, 36, is from Summerside though she has made Toronto her home for a number of years, and chicken haddie is a comfort food from childhood.
When she couldn’t find it in Canada's largest city, she took matters into her own hands, developing a recipe and taking a deep dive into the world of food canning.
Her business, Scout Canning, was born about a year later.
As of June 2020, Langley’s tinned seafood products are available in retailers across North America.
“It’s surreal, still,” remarked the lively chef. “It’s really awesome to be in the market with a really great product that I’m really proud of.”
The Journal Pioneer last spoke with Langley about her business shortly after it launched in 2015. Since then she has taken on a couple of investors, sought funding and developed a line of five sustainably-sourced seafood products.
One of the people who helped Langley get Scout Canning into the market was David Barber of Almanac Investments, which helped her access the funds to get her product to market.
"Consumers' palettes are changing, which presents an opening in the market for healthier options. With incredible products and a transparent business model, Scout is well-positioned for success and deciding to invest wasn't a difficult one,” said Barber.
Scout does not have a P.E.I. retailer yet, but Langley is working on making the product available at home. The business does ship through its online store though, at www.enjoyscout.ca.
The enterprise has also become Langley’s primary job; though she has a couple of side gigs, canning is now about 80 per cent of her focus.
“I’m not a business lady by trade,” laughed Langley, “but I am learning a lot and feeling very good about it.”
Her offerings are far from the usual canned fish fare and include products like wild albacore tuna with garden herb pesto, and P.E.I. mussels in a smoked paprika and fennel tomato sauce.
Products from species caught in the Pacific are produced for Scout by a fish processor in Nanaimo, B.C., while the Atlantic species, like mussels and lobster, are processed at Acadian Supreme in Abram-Village, P.E.I.
Since she started Scout, Langley has become an official ocean ambassador for the Marine Stewardship Council. The council is an international organization that can provides sustainability certification for wild-caught fisheries.
It’s a cause Langley has taken to heart. All of the material that goes into her products are as sustainably sourced as possible and she is always looking for ways to continue that work. She also believes strongly that everyone in the supply chain, from fishers all the way to herself, deserve a fair return for their work.
A lot of seafood is cheap because of questionable labour and environmental practices.
The United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization estimates that 85 per cent of marine fish stocks are fully exploited or overfished.
So when you bring a product to market that purposefully tries to address those concerns, and carries a more appropriate price tag, you have the added challenge of having to educate the customer as to why that is, said Langley.
For example, a three-pack of Scout mussels retails for $29.99.
“People have to understand the true value of food,” added Langley. “As a chef, I feel it’s my responsibility to make really great choices for others who may not recognize some of the challenges in the ocean.”
“The reason I did this is because it’s part of who I am. I would not do it any other way.”
Langley hopes to continue to expand Scout by adding new products (she has her eye on P.E.I. oysters) and continuing to increase her distribution network.
The switch from full-time chef to entrepreneur has been a challenging, but fulfilling, experience, said Langley.
She is excited to keep working in a field she loves, promoting products and practices she believes in, she added.
“I don’t want to waste time, I want to make impacts in my life that are positive, that help other people.”
