A new butcher shop has opened on Richter Street in Kelowna's north end with respect and sustainability at the top of mind. 

Carnist held a grand opening on Sept. 10, offering various food samples and serving up beverages while owners Emilie Gratton and Tom Looijschelder met with members of the community and shared their passion for the business. 

Gratton said Carnist is the first full carcass, ethical butchery in the Okanagan. "It's probably even the first one in B.C." 

Gratton explained that the butcher shop operates on three pillars of respect.

"The respect of the animals. We want to make sure that the animals are treated well and that the animals have a great life before they go into consumption... No antibiotics, no hormones, they have to be outside and they have to be nourished.

"The respect of the environment. By eating the full carcass nose to tail we are able to feed a lot more people than a regular butchery... There are some parts of the animal that are equally as good as the traditional parts... with the respect of the environment is also to source local."

Gratton said they use produce from B.C. farmers, specifically in the Interior and Lower Mainland, adding that the more they grow the more opportunity they'll have to work with smaller farms. 

The last pillar is the respect of the farmers.

"We make sure that we pay the farmers a good wage for them to be able to continue to work the right way... We are also not pretending that we are doing the big work. We are a window for the quality of work that they make. It takes so many months to grow a pig, it takes a couple of hours for a butchery to cut it, and then the final user could put it in the microwave and completely screw what the farmer has been doing," said Gratton.

She noted that educating their customers on the best preparation and cooking for each piece adds to the respect for farmers. 

The husband and wife team made the perfect pair in opening the shop, Gratton with her marketing background focused on the business and paperwork side of things, while Looijschelder is a food engineer.

"In the Netherlands, he studied food engineering, which is a little bit different than food engineering here," Gratton explained her husband's expertise. "Food engineering in the Netherlands is the science of taste."

Gratton and Looijschelder were previously living in Vancouver but found themselves constantly travelling to the Okanagan. When deciding to open up the business, Gratton said it just made sense to them to come to Kelowna. 

"Kelowna is the capital of organic," Gratton said. "People are more and more informed about what they eat, where they get it from."

Carnist is also serving as a storefront to other local businesses like Rad Relish and would love to bring in more Okanagan products. 

Check out the new shop at 1038 Ricther Street.