Unique Slow Rise Bakery is a small family-run business near Shannon Falls in Squamish. A Vancouver food influencer visited unannounced and recorded a short video showcasing pineapple and BBQ pork buns, an egg tart, pork and soup dumplings, and a braised pork belly rice bowl with a waterfall backdrop. The video produced an immediate surge in customers, creating 2.5-hour line-ups and tripling business while causing severe parking congestion. The bakery hired a traffic controller and streamlined operations to reduce wait times and speed turnover. The influencer transitioned into content creation during 2020 after working in corporate roles for Canadian charities. An early viral video of an affordable family-style taco kit launched greater visibility and continued food-focused posts.
Arriving unannounced one day this past spring, Ms. Ullock and her partner took a seat outdoors at a faded wooden picnic table. In a video later posted to TikTok and Instagram, she displays a small feast that includes hefty pineapple and BBQ pork buns, an egg tart, juicy pork and soup dumplings, and a braised pork belly rice bowl, eating and nodding in approval as a picturesque waterfall cascades behind her.
The effect was immediate. Owner Unique Chan said the bakery suddenly saw 2.5-hour line-ups, and business tripled. The parking lot became so congested that they hired a traffic controller. "We had an entire system change. We streamlined everything to bring the wait time down, to have quicker turnaround to avoid the parking issue," Ms. Chan said in an interview. "Laura's impact forced us - in a good way - to really step up our game."
Ms. Ullock had worked most of her adult life in corporate roles for Canadian charities, only beginning to dabble with content creation in 2020. As COVID-19 swept the globe, and life ground to a halt, she began posting videos about how local restaurants were adapting to pandemic restrictions, fuelled mostly by personal interest. An early video showing a local Mexican restaurant's affordably priced family-style takeout taco kits was her first to go viral.
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