A vegan foodie couple baking impact in a mountain town 

No matter where you are in the world, if you’re vegan, you might have already heard about BReD, Whistler’s premiere vegan bakery. I’m happy to have called Ed & Natasha clients and worked with them even before I got to try their goods in 2024 (and they’re worth the wait—sooo worth it).

This interview took place in May 2021 and BReD’s founders have since launched their first cookbook, but there’s still a lot we can learn about their vegan origin stories and running a plant-based bakery in one of BC’s most hospitality-driven cities.

Justin Manning: All right, hello everybody! Welcome to another episode of VEG Networking, where vegan plant-based professionals connect and collaborate. We are thrilled to have two special guests with us today. They are UK natives, world travelers, animal rights advocates, and lovers of the great outdoors, especially the snow. They are also the recipients of the Small Business BC 2021 Youth Entrepreneur of the Year award. We have with us the co-founders of Ed’s BReD, Natasha Tatton and Ed Tatton. Welcome!

Ed Tatton: Thanks Justin.

Natasha Tatton: Thanks Justin, that’s quite the intro.

JM: You guys have both picked up a lot of steam since your, as I call it, iconic business in the Whistler area that started not too long ago. Why don’t we start back at the beginning with our first conversation starter, which is:

What is your plant-based or vegan origin story?

ET: I’ve worked as a fine dining chef my whole career since I was 13 years old. I’ve always had an interest in food, especially vegetables and vegetarian food, because a lot of the time it can be sort of put aside on a menu. When I met Tash, she was vegetarian, and it just grew from there. Fast forward, once we got to Whistler, I went to Alta Bistro, a farm-to-table restaurant. I had been making sourdough previously in the UK and then brought that to the restaurant, started making sourdough, and actually just selling sourdough to the local community. Then, fast forward another two years, that grew and grew, and Tash and I wanted to start a business. We were both vegan, and it kind of just snowballed from there, really.

NT: We didn’t go vegan until we moved to Whistler in about 2014. That was when we started to make vegan choices, but I didn’t really know that it was termed vegan. I was just cutting out animal products from my diet. I think I started watching a few movies, probably Cowspiracy was one that had quite a big impact on us. We’ve always been quite environmentally focused, using eco products and being happy to pay more if it’s better for the earth. Once you start to make those connections and realize, “Oh, this is vegan; oh, I’m vegan,” then you start getting comfortable with that word. But it was a long transition for both of us; it wasn’t an overnight thing. It wasn’t like we did a Veganuary challenge on the first of January. Lots of people have that, and it’s so nice they get this sort of anniversary to celebrate. We don’t really have that, but we’ve been vegan for years now, so we’re never looking back!

JM: We’re an inclusive group here and of course there’s no competition, there’s no judgment or anything like that but since I think you said 2014, really when those decisions started to solidify and then that’s nothing to sneeze at, that’s quite a long time.

Second question is your entrepreneurial origin story.

So maybe it’s the same for both of you or maybe it’s independently different. Happy to hear from both, but what you mentioned, Ed, about back in the UK baking bread, I think it was something related to a yoga studio?

NT: That was in Whistler, that was Loka Yoga.

ET: That was here. I wasn’t part of this whole like you know 2020 sourdough sort of boom. I’ve been making sourdough since 2008 and before then I made bread at you know catering college and things like that so when I came to Whistler I had more time on my hands I wasn’t working as much so started making sourdough and taking that to the local yoga studio. Once people smell fresh bread, I was basically exchanging it with the owner Tina for a yoga pass so it’s good for her good for me. And people were like, “Where can we buy this?”

NT: They could smell the bread in the yoga studio and they were waiting. When can we get some of this bread? So Ed thought maybe I could make 30 loaves at the restaurant and sell them to the yogis and a few friends. Didn’t expect it to get so popular.

ET: I had access to the kitchen, which was really good. A lot of people always say, what would you recommend for young entrepreneurs starting out? Literally, I put in maybe a thousand dollars to buy some tins to buy a little bit of equipment. It was really cheap rent because they were doing me a favour at the restaurant. They don’t open for lunch, so it was perfect. I had all morning to prep the sourdough, put it in the fridge, do my shift, and then the next morning I’d bake it fresh.

Customers would come in and pick it up at the bar, and I’d just bake all morning. I loved the fact that the kids could see where the food was being produced. There was no plastic. I was buying the flour in paper bags and baking the bread, giving it back to them in paper bags. That grew. Like Natasha said, starting at 30, all through Facebook, all done on trust. So it’s very similar to a farmer’s market style, cheap rent, low overheads, and then direct customer feedback, which was really nice.

You could see what people were buying, how much they were prepared to spend. Then they started asking, when are you going to open a shop? So it really got me thinking that I wanted to open a restaurant all my life as a chef, but it was something along the lines of Alta Bistro. Whistler’s food scene is a little bit behind Vancouver, and also restaurants cost so much, so we were like, maybe a bakery could work. You know, there’s definitely a gap there. There’s no vegan places except for Green Moustache, which is more juices and salads. With my fine dining background and my understanding of flavors and textures, maybe I can make a few cookies and cakes, and the sourdough can be the main thing.

NT: So when the community was saying, “Oh, you’re going to open a bakery!” We started to think about it and said, okay, yeah, we can open a bakery. And in our minds we’re like it’s all gonna have to be vegan though because we can’t profit from animal cruelty so the great thing is we already had the Whistler locals on board so they didn’t need to know it was vegan it’s not like we hid it but we didn’t need to put it in their face, we knew they were going to support us and just trust that our products were good.

For some of the customers it’s taking a really long time to figure out that we’re vegan and that’s kind of nice because they’re already converted by then and then when they sort of realize like oh but I like this and this is vegan then they kind of start thinking I might like other vegan things you never know where they’re gonna go with it, so it’s kind of cool.

But we are starting to think about becoming a bit more bold as a vegan business because we have noticed a big shift in what consumers are looking for nowadays, we’re getting a lot of people coming in asking what’s vegan and they don’t trust that everything is vegan so we feel like we’re sort of starting to think about getting a certification and also more direct branding that kind of thing. So it’s been quite interesting to see how the customer has changed in the last couple of years.

JM: Yes and we’re definitely going to get into those questions, some trend questions, where’s your business going in the future questions. But correct me:

When you announced the location that you were going to open the bakery, it wasn’t a warm welcome, this is gonna be easy for you guys. Do you want to talk a little bit about that?

ET: Yeah I mean so we had a rough size of space that we were looking at, we knew how big the oven was going to be and certain pieces of equipment and we knew the rent was crazy expensive so we did look in Pemberton, we looked in Squamish, we looked in the main village but the village was crazy. And we live in Creekside and I remember just walking through and just seeing all these like news or for lease signs start poking our eyes through the window seeing the size of the spaces and then we just reached out to the landlady.

NT: We saw in the paper, The Pique local news magazine that there was a new landlord and she was really passionate about reviving Creekside which is where we live and having independent locally owned businesses and she wasn’t interested in having any big chains so we thought this is our opportunity. We’ve seen the Creekside village sit empty for years and it baffled us because there’s free parking, there’s a bank, a gym, a supermarket, liquor store all the amenities, bus stops, valley trail access, it’s the first stop from Vancouver, there’s a gondola there, I mean it’s just a no-brainer like why wouldn’t that location work because a bakery relies on footfall. Well, there is footfall in Creekside, so we kind of saw the potential.

But a lot of the locals had given up thinking that anything would ever work in Creekside, they said, “Why are you opening there? It’s a dead zone. No one goes to Creekside, nothing’s happening.” And it was just like “fail fail fail” and I’m thinking that you don’t even know that our business is vegan I mean we’re really going out there but actually Ed and I have been through this before when we bought our home in the UK we bought it in an area that was considered a ghetto and we had the same feedback then why are you buying in that area it’s a ghetto and we could see the potential. Again, it was located near a train station, school, shops, restaurants, and if we thought, well this area has got to be up and coming at some point and luckily it did come up the ranks and that’s where we got the capital to start the bakery so we’ve kind of been through that before and it’s just kind of like it almost drives us to prove people wrong I guess, it’s quite kind of exciting, I’m really glad you think that because you’re going to be really surprised really soon.

JM: What did I miss?

ET: Oh, he’s back. The whole answer, all of it.

JM: Based on the kind of reception that you got, where you were gonna set up shop, right?

ET: Yes, pretty much. That initial skepticism has faded. We’ve proven ourselves, and people understand what we’re about. It’s the same story for other independent spots in Whistler, like Alta Bistro and Mount Curry Coffee. When they opened seven or eight years ago, they faced similar challenges. Ultimately, it comes down to whether the business and concept are strong enough, not the location. There are restaurants worldwide, even Michelin-starred ones, that people will drive hours for if they’re worth it.

JM: Absolutely, yeah probably hit the nail on the head. That community is probably hard to earn trust, hard to break into but once you do it’s like the trust is over the moon, the love is over the moon, the support is over the moon which is what you’re experiencing right now. So in your business, I mean very unique, vegan sourdough bakery that in and of itself is unique but I guess like from a restaurant or bakery perspective:

What are some trends that you’re noticing in your industry?

ET: Well like I mentioned earlier definitely the pandemic we saw a huge increase in people either making sourdough themselves or taking an interest or having a friend or family member that was making it and I think that gave people a much higher appreciation of the craft because a lot of people just gave up they’re like I’m going back to work now this is way too much effort so I think that really helped us, it gave people an appreciation and also comparing us to other vegan bakeries or other vegan products that can be a bit inferior or look a bit basic sometimes so I think it’s just making sure that our product is just as good or better.

NT: Consumer trends are shifting, and we’ve all noticed a growing demand for plant-forward menus in restaurants. During the pandemic, we saw MILA open as a fully vegan restaurant, Do Chay reinvent itself into a 95% vegan concept, and Aleph’s Eatery transition to a vegan menu, all encouraging signs. On a larger scale, a three Michelin star restaurant in New York recently made the switch to vegan dining, reinforcing the movement’s momentum.

Veganism is gaining traction, though many outside the space may not fully see it yet. Those paying attention can see the positive trajectory, it’s only set to grow. In Vancouver, several restaurants that went vegan during the pandemic have fared relatively well despite restrictions. In contrast, some long-standing Whistler restaurants, sticking to the same meat-heavy menus for a decade, are struggling, empty dining rooms, staff layoffs, and little movement forward. Meanwhile, there’s a noticeable energy in Vancouver’s vegan dining scene, and hopefully, that enthusiasm will start to ripple through the broader restaurant community.

JM: One hundred percent. And Ed you kind of mentioned one thing that I’ll point out if you guys want to touch on it a little bit more, from a trend perspective, we’ve had other special guests, especially in the food space talking about the trend of environmental sustainability when it comes to packaging and all these other things. You mentioned that early on you’re obviously ahead of the curve.

You were already forward thinking about no plastic and the bread is coming in paper bags. Did you want to touch on that at all?

ET: 100% of the packaging that we use is compostable. We keep it really simple like brown paper. We’re actually in the process now of upgrading using a Canadian company that’s carbon neutral to do but that’s more to do with just printing. It will still be on 100% compostable packaging. We tried before the pandemic to serve our for here drinks in a ceramic cup and trusting people to take it out onto the street in front of us where there’s lots of seating that they’re just going to bring it back because everyone knows that coffee or tea tastes better in a proper cup than a paper cup. So we were trying to really force and encourage that.

And then once we hit the pandemic we weren’t allowed to use people’s cups. Natasha came up with an idea of every coffee that we sold we would plant a tree. So we’re working with a charity for the future and we’ve nearly planted 10,000 trees with those guys since working with them. 

NT: We want to build on that year after year. We have the metrics of how many trees we’ve planted on our home page of our website. We have it on the coffee machines when people pick up their coffee, they hopefully see that and we didn’t charge extra for that, we took that out of our profit. It was kind of annoying that the health inspector given us a health permit says we can only serve in single-use containers and we’re not completely comfortable with using compostable packaging because there is still the deforestation there’s still the production the transportation emissions and then the end of the life of that product we can’t guarantee that it’s actually being composted even though it says it’s PLA seven approved and there’s a lot of of critics out there saying that it is just kind of green washing so we’re aware of that and we’re starting to look into other options that are maybe bamboo based or plant fibres where we can guarantee the breakdown of that better, but it is kind of hard because the main the main sort of coffee cup that’s out there is PLA seven lined and that’s perhaps not compostable in a lot of places. We’re very aware of these things and we’re constantly trying to find a better alternative and networking and that kind of thing. So I don’t want to make anyone think that we’re perfect, but I think it’s better to just to get going with these things rather than wait for the perfect scenario, you know, 

ET: The interesting thing about it though is that it’s not an opt-in option we just do it for every coffee sold whereas when we looked at our analytics and our data we found it was only between 5 or 10 percent per day of coffee sales were customers bringing in a reusable cup so actually when you look at that, you know it’s very few people, five to ten people potentially a day that are trying to do the right thing and bring in their own cup. But actually now it’s 100 of people are giving to this charity.

NT: I don’t know how environmentally friendly reusable cups are either because what I started to notice was people would open their car doors and a whole bunch of them would roll out and people leave them in places. I’ve been on so many hikes and found water bottles and reusable cups left in places, so you start to think what’s the end cycle of those products, are they recyclable? And you kind of start to question what is the actual perfect solution to getting a takeout coffee? It really seems that any way you turn there’s kind of an issue, but as long as we’re aware of those issues and keep trying to innovate and find people that are innovating and supporting them, then hopefully we will come up with better solutions.

JM: I’m so thrilled we got to dive deeper into that; it’s such an important point. You guys are truly ahead of the curve, and it’s amazing to see such a unique approach, not just offering the option to do good, but making it happen. That mindset could be applied across so many industries, pushing people toward positive change rather than leaving it as a choice. Honestly, that might be the solution to some of the biggest challenges we face.

You also touched on Trees for the Future, and we’ll get to that in a moment. But first, this is my favourite question, and I’m sure it’s a favourite for many others as well:

Where are you going? Where is your brand headed in the future?

NT: We have a big, hairy, audacious goal of putting Whistler on the map as an eco-tourism resort. I’ve got dreams of creating a bear sanctuary so that no bears are shot in Whistler. They would all be re-homed in a safe space. Right now, if bears enter human territory and get into bins, there’s only one solution, and it’s not a good one.

I also envision a bio-dome where people from all over BC off-grid communities, First Nations, and teachers can come to learn about sustainable living practices. That’s my dream. The next step is mapping out how to get there. The first thing we’re working on is becoming a B Corp, so that our benefit mission is embedded into our company’s structure, our articles of incorporation, our processes, everything. We need to formalize that first to be taken seriously and build from there.

JM: That sounds incredible. If nobody’s ever heard of a BHAG, a big hairy audacious goal, talk about one right there. We could all visualize that and see that. And that’s why right off the top in the introduction we talked about the fact that you guys are animal rights advocates because that was sort of the first thing out of your mouth right was how do we protect that side of the community. So it’s absolutely remarkable. Okay, you briefly touched on Trees for the Future.

Did you want to talk a little bit more about that and maybe any other charitable organizations that you support?

ET: When we when we first thought of that, we thought about keeping it local, within Canada, but the government does so much with tree planting and everything here, anyway.

NT: Well, also, the cost of planting a tree in Canada might be like $1.50, and that would actually mean that we would have to put the price up to incorporate that. So we kind of had to look at a more economical solution but still allowed us to have an impact. And as far as I’m concerned, a tree planted anywhere on the earth is a tree planted, and the whole planet benefits.

The nice thing about Trees for the Future is they work with farmers in sub-Saharan Africa. We’ve got degraded land, and they actually opt into the program. Some of these tree-planting ventures aren’t actually as good as they sound. They can actually end up mass evicting a whole village and getting them out of there to put in a tree-planting thing. So it sounds really good on the surface, but actually, it can have horrible social consequences.
So Trees for the Future actually have farmers that sign up to say, “Look, my land is totally barren, I can’t feed my family, and I want to regenerate it.” And they go on like a five-year program with them where they give them seeds and coaching, and they go and look at the land and make sure that what they’re doing is right. And they also make sure that the people that pay for the trees, their trees are actually being planted. It’s not just a seed that gets lost or forgotten about or doesn’t actually germinate.

So they have a lot of metrics involved. They plant the trees with farmers in five different countries. And what I really like about it is it’s the home of coffee, Ethiopia. And so we’re kind of paying it back. You know, there are a lot of problems in lots of places in the world, but I think that some of the undeveloped countries have got the biggest, hardest problems. So it’s kind of on the richer countries to give something back.

Not to undermine any of the problems in Canada or in other richer countries, but I don’t think that you should always feel bad about giving back to somewhere just because it’s not local.

ET: Also, it’s kind of cool because they’re not just trees to be harvested, they’re trees for shelter, for wind protection around the farm, and then they can grow vegetables to feed themselves and take to the market. So I kind of like the fact that, like I said, they’re being taught, there’s education involved, to feed themselves and then feed their community.

So it’s kind of like building a lifestyle, not just putting a tree up to be then, you know, chopped down. It’s for wind protection and shade and these sorts of things. So it’s a really good charity, we’re really happy to be working with them, and I think we’ll continue to for years to come.

NT: So that’s the first charity that we have a formal agreement with and we actually calculate metrics, but we have given sort of one-off donations to different local environmental and animal organizations. We did a fundraiser in December where Ed made doggy treats, vegan doggy treats, that are human friendly, and we had to stop ourselves eating them all, and then we sold them and a hundred percent of the sale went to The Happy Herd Animal Sanctuary. And with that, we didn’t have a price on them, we had a minimum of donation and we would say how much would you like to donate and that encouraged people to give more.

ET: It was minimum a dollar but what we found is a lot of people double that or triple that sort of thing. Especially being in December you know Christmas time, people are a bit more giving. So that would be something else that we could bring back and donate

NT: That only got us about 375 dollars worth, then we’ve given $500 to WAG which is with the animal shelter for cats and dogs. We gave another $500 to aware our local wildlife voice charity we’ve given one-off donations but what we need to work on and this is what the B Corp is helping us with, is formalizing these agreements with certain charities and having metrics in place where we’re totally transparent and accountable for meeting targets and how much we’ve given. So we’re very honest about it all and it’s still a work in progress. So as I said, we want to formalize these things. We do have to say no to some people; we have a lot of young people that are athletes they ask us to sponsor them to do races and I do support that but I have to think, as our little business with a little pot of money, what’s going to have the biggest impact on our mission? It has to help animals and the planet and people as well, if possible. So when I look at somebody running a race I kind of think well that’s good for you but what about the planet and the animals… so I wish them well. We can’t contribute to everything, but I think it’s good to pick what your mission is and then make sure that your giving aligns with that so you’re on the right path with your mission.

JM: Absolutely, yeah, and for those who don’t know, last year Ed and Natasha were gracious enough to help donate to a Veganuary fundraiser that I put on. And in all of the years that I’ve been fundraising, especially, you know, the last quite a while since being vegan myself, I’ve encountered that with other businesses. I started to really appreciate it when these companies did exactly what you said, “If it’s not going to help the animals, then no.” And I started to love that.

And you’re tugging on my heartstrings when you talk about The Happy Herd. If you ever go onto my Instagram, under the photos of you section, it’s all Happy Herd. And I also got to go to Ethiopia and have coffee ceremonies in multiple people’s homes, roasting the green bean all the way to a dark cup of coffee, which is incredible. But this is not about me, so I digress.

What is a book, podcast, or app that you guys think is worth sharing with us? Because usually, we kind of summarize these meetings in an email.

Are there any books, podcasts, or apps that we can note down and share with our members and everybody else?

NT: I’m a big fan of the Vegan Business Tribe. It’s a couple, David Pannell and Lisa Fox; they’re in the UK, but they’ve started this global network of vegan business owners, and they have a podcast. So their site is called Vegan Business Tribe. I highly recommend you become a free member and listen to the podcast. They also have a paid membership that has a marketing course on it that’s very helpful.

Also, there’s Vegan Business Talk with Katrina Fox. She is a fellow Brit but lives in Australia, and she has that podcast. She also has conversations with vegan women leaders, I think it is. And there are a couple of others. Business for Good is quite useful, and the BDC B Corp Effect is something I’ve started listening to recently. They have Canadian B Corps on there; not all of them are vegan, but it’s interesting since they all have a sort of ethical mission.

There’s also another one, I think it’s American, called Awarepreneurs, so I’ve got lots to share with you. And The Plant-Based Business Podcast, that’s by a group that had an event called Vevolution in London, UK. They interview business owners from all over the world who are all vegan as well. So I really like those.

Any that you play, I enjoy all of those as well. Ed likes Hip Hop Saved My Life, which isn’t a business podcast, but it is hosted by a vegan comedian called Romesh Ranganathan. So if you like hip hop and comedy, Ed recommends that one for your downtime.

JM: So that’s where all the amazing hip-hop music gets embedded into your guys Instagram stories! They’re always these incredible tracks that I’m like, “Where? Gotta find that!” So that makes total sense.

Okay, so, you know, maybe looking at this through the lens of either companies that you admire or aspire to, or maybe companies that have helped you on your journey:

Are there any companies that you love to support and would like to shout out?

NT: Well, we mentioned all those lovely restaurants in Vancouver; we’re big fans of those. What I see in the vegan space is that it’s really exciting at the lower end when you look at fast food and burgers, there’s just crazy development in that sector. But what I’m kind of interested in is catering for all across the board and looking at the higher-end places, the fine dining and stuff, because that is still a little bit behind the times with veganism. I get it. You want to appeal to the masses first, and it takes time. But we don’t want veganism to be seen as junk food or cheap food or something nasty. We want it to be seen as, “Oh yeah, there’s no compromise.” That’s kind of what we’re about.

But we like following The Happy Pear, an Irish couple of twins that have a load of businesses in Ireland. There’s also Frankie from Frankie [We Salute You!] in Kelowna.

ET: He’s the ex-chef from The Acorn. He’s a really nice guy who moved out there from Vancouver and started The Acorn and The Arbor. Brian is doing amazing things over in Kelowna, so if you ever find yourself out there, it’s a really good restaurant. I talk to him every now and then via social media and things.

NT: I like watching what Persephone Brewing is doing as well on the Sunshine Coast; they’re B Corp certified. They did have a little vegan bar in Vancouver, but I think it’s closed now. I’m sort of watching them to see if they’re going to do something else like that or get into the vegan space again. I hope so! The Snug, that’s it, you might know it.

There’s also a new company we discovered recently that’s really exciting in Vancouver called ChopValue. They upcycle chopsticks into chopping boards and other products, and they have some really interesting sustainability facts and what they’re doing is incredible so yeah lots of different companies there.

JM: Yeah ChopValue is booming and you guys are in wonderful company because we had Felix on as one of our special guests several months ago so you guys are in excellent company. We just got a question here: who are the twins in Ireland? You said that’s The Happy Pear?

ET: Yeah they’re two brothers they started out doing a fruit and veg sort of stall and now they’re they’re huge, they’ve got multiple cafes and they’ve got they do a lot of products for supermarkets like dips and ready-made meals. Yes, it’s a huge company. They’ve got their own podcast. They’re very active.

JM: Yeah and Ed you were a special guest with them or they were a special guest with you on Instagram live not too long ago as well we did still have a Q and A, they’ve got sort of a bakery section to one of their cafes that they make sourdough and a lot of stuff. We found out yesterday they are 100 percent vegan except they’ve got a few old school regulars that still want dairy milk but apparently they are phasing that out.

NT: Yeah, I was pretty shocked to find that they still serve dairy in their café. At the same time, they’re an old brand that’s been around for 20 years, and I feel that way back then, veganism just wasn’t an acceptable thing. I think it’s time for them to change that. Oh, and I should mention Matthew Kenney as well! Matthew Kenney is an incredible fine dining chef in California, and he has a huge, we’re talking about 50 or more, restaurants around the world that he’s kind of involved in or part owner of. His umbrella of businesses is really cool, and he has a cookery course at the Future Food Institute, I think it’s called. That’s really good; we’re actually halfway through it ourselves!

ET: Yeah, it’s a really good online course that you can take part in, and there are different modules that you just work your way through. It’s nice to take photos of what you’ve made, and then it unlocks the next module. They have online chefs who work for him that comment and give you feedback, along with other people doing the course around the world. It’s really inclusive, and it’s geared toward both home cooks and even chef-level participants. It’s quite good!

JM: Well, that really gets my creative brain going, and I think, Ed, you could monetize even further by creating your own sort of OG sourdough creator course for people because, to your point, obviously, there was a boom in interest, and then people fell off. So maybe that’s something for the future for you guys.

You briefly touched on it earlier, but we always preface this question by saying this is not the time to be humble or say, “Oh, I don’t know if I’m the right person to be giving advice,” because we’re outright asking you for it. You guys have won awards; you’re successful, and it hasn’t taken you too long at all to get to where you are. It sounds like the moon is not even the limit for you guys. So with that being said:

What advice do you have for business owners and entrepreneurs, whether they’re new, in the middle of their journey, or maybe they’re a 20-year business that needs to shake things up? Do you have any advice?

ET: For me, I believed in our concept, and I know that we’re both hard-working. I think if you believe in your concept, you’re willing to throw everything at it. We very rarely take a day off; we’ll go for a walk and say, “Okay, we won’t talk about work,” but within 10 minutes, it comes back around to something to do with work. So I think if you believe in your concept, it will drive you and give you that dedication.

For us as well, we’ve put everything into it. We sold our house in the UK and borrowed a lot of money. As we’ve said on previous podcasts and things, it can’t fail. We’re basically like, if it fails, then we’re young enough to recover, but at the same point, we’ve just thrown everything at it.

NT: One thing I would say, which David Pannell at Vegan Business Tribe has really been making me think about, and I think he did a podcast on this that he released this week, is about finding your niche. He said it’s not veganism; that’s just your sector. What we’re seeing now is all of the brands are offering vegan options. Almost every restaurant has vegan options, which is great, but for a business owner, it’s not enough just to be vegan. You have to have a niche that’s more specific than that. For us, it’s being a vegan sourdough bakery, that’s our specialty, it’s the sourdough.

I think that’s really interesting. He talks about being remarkable. You know, remarkable means people will sit around a dinner table and talk about you. So what are you doing that’s making you remarkable? If you follow along with his podcast or join the Vegan Business Tribe, you can learn a lot more about that, and it really makes you think. That will help you stand out against the big brands that are just trying to replicate what we’ve all been doing for years.

Market yourself as well. Think big and learn as much as you can about marketing. If you haven’t got money, then spend time trying to get on podcast shows, writing to magazines and press releases, and winning awards. That’ll get you media attention or at least nominations for them. Tell your local paper that you’re up for the top 10 or whatever. Just try to get as much publicity as you can because you don’t know who’s going to see that and what opportunities it might provide for you. We have actually had a lot of really cool opportunities because we’ve gotten our name out there, but we haven’t had a whole lot of money for marketing. It’s mainly been time spent.

JM: Wow, beautiful! So everybody, you heard it here first. The advice from our special guests today is to really establish a concept that you live, eat, and breathe. You are it, you truly are. Believe in it, find your niche within a niche, and then go all in to make it happen. Take action, be quick, and pivot when necessary. One thing you mentioned at the beginning was to listen to your customers, pay attention to their feedback and understand their perception of what’s going on. Absolutely, this has been a remarkable conversation! You can find Natasha and Ed on Instagram at @eds_bred, and online at www.edsbred.com. Thank you so much, Ed and Natasha. It’s been a pleasure!

NT: Thank you so much; it’s been great talking to you.

Header photo credit: Darby Magill

 

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