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Toothpicks may not convey luxury or opulence, but that wasn’t always the case. Centuries ago, royalty used gold and silver toothpicks — but now they’re cheaply made and more commonly associated with the working class. That’s where Canadian entrepreneur Peter Smith saw a business opportunity.

The Toronto-based founder and CEO of Daneson sells toothpicks. But not just any toothpicks. Smith sells luxury toothpicks made from American milled northern white birch that come in six flavours: bourbon, single malt, ginger honey, lemon, mint and “cinnamint.” A four-bottle pack starts at $25. With just 12 toothpicks per bottle, that’s 50 cents per toothpick. Comparatively, a plastic jar of 250 Touch Round Toothpicks costs about $2 — or less than 1 cent per toothpick.

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But Smith is finding that people are willing to pay a premium price for his superior product.

“People are innately hardwired to want them,” Smith says of toothpicks. “If the first thing a dude did is pick up a weapon and kill something, the second thing he did is clean his teeth.”