Vegan Fine Foods

Our Story

Before becoming a professor in international business, Steven Smith worked for corporate giants Proctor & Gamble and PepsiCo. He worked as a chemical engineer and corporate manager for eight years before returning to school for his MBA and Ph.D. He learned a lot about the food and beverage industry from these companies. He also discovered that big corporations had little interest in healthy food and people’s health and a lot of interest in profit.

Seven years of hard work and stress getting two post-graduate degrees left Steven tired, overweight and in poor health. “I didn’t start out deciding to become a life-long vegan, I started a plant-based diet just to get my health back and lose weight. After a few weeks, I felt so great and had so much energy that twenty years later I’m still a committed vegan. As I learned more, my horizons expanded well beyond just the amazing health benefits of a plant-based diet.”

“I saw an opportunity for an all-vegan market because I knew that shopping was a lot of work and very time consuming for those wanting to maintain a healthy vegan lifestyle. I went to Whole Foods, green markets, local grocery stores, all kinds of places just to get the foods I needed. Then, I had to read all the labels because meat and dairy products get slipped into a lot of foods, even wine! Preservatives too! I knew the ones that would do no harm versus the ones you should not ingest, but what about people who don’t know? My rule of thumb is the fewer ingredients the better, especially the ones that are hard to pronounce. I thought ‘wouldn’t it be nice to go to a place where someone else did all the work, where you knew it was 100% plant-based and care was taken to select a broad array of super healthy products with some vegan indulgences mixed in?’ So I wrote my business plan and started my research,” Steven said.

Vegan Fine Foods will appeal to a wide range of vegans and non-vegans alike. From raw vegan super healthy foods to kid-friendly Pinkberry vegan frozen yogurt. “I still enjoy eating vegan meat alternatives and vegan cheese from time to time. People just learning about a vegan diet think vegans eat mainly salads, but nothing could be further from the truth. We are going to specialize in transitional products like plant-based cheeses, they taste incredible and are healthier for you than dairy too. Plus, they’re vegan!” The Inika Café will also serve some great comfort foods that anyone would enjoy, along with a broad selection from Açaí bowls to wraps to juices to desserts. “We like to say we are ‘strictly vegan – but not just for vegans,” says Steven. “We don’t preach or judge. Vegetarians, flexitarians, paleos and carnivores looking to eat plant-based to improve their health are welcome and will find foods that they will really enjoy.”

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