Our Vision
The Alder Cafe & Grocery blurs the lines between an old fashioned corner grocery store, a farmers market, a butcher, and a cafe that sells provisions, house made "seed to table" take-away foods and market cuisine with a culinary tourist atmosphere. Shopping at the Alder Grocery is a culinary journey and exploration of our local bounty. We also stock everyday food and beverage items too!
Why Alder?
When we started our journey to name our grocery and cafe, we wanted to use the name of a local tree to pay homage to our region and tie in with the theme of Spring Creek Village in Canmore, which names all its buildings and lodgings after local trees. We decided on Alder! Alder is considered a tree for building and creation, which is what we are setting out to do with our store. Alder wood was used by Indigenous Peoples to create utensils and eating bowls as well as for smoking salmon. In Celtic mythology, Alder is considered sacred and symbolises the resurrection of life after the spring equinox. In Europe, Alder wood is used extensively for building support pilings in coastal cities, such as Venice and Amsterdam because the wood is resistant to decay. Strength, resilience, protection. That’s the Alder. And, on top of that, of course, it starts with the very first letter of the alphabet! It’s perfect.