How does it feel a few months on from winning the award?
I still feel an incredible sense of achievement. We know we have great products and we know that they are enjoyed nationally, but Thibault and I are novices in the business world and have made numerous mistakes along the way, and are still on a steep learning curve today. To have received an award for the business, not just the products, is a fantastic boost of confidence. Like everyone, we have a tendency to focus on the negative, and the award is a reminder that despite the numerous mistakes, we are still building something worthy of recognition.
What is one piece of advice would you give to any aspiring business owner?
Embrace learning. There is a lot of help available out there, and it’s important to remember ‘You don’t know what you don’t know’. There will always be someone more experienced or knowledgeable than you, so seek them out and listen to their advice.
How do you strive to make a difference in the Wales Food and Drink market?
There is still a lot of prejudice against vegan food from consumers and businesses. It is fully understandable, some of the vegan desserts out there are truly awful, but they no longer have to be. Pâtisserie Verte has poured 4 years worth of Research & Development into innovating the vegan dessert market, and Thibault has created over 150 vegan French patisseries. Sometimes we encounter people who refuse to even try our desserts if they hear that they are vegan, but we’re persevering and the multiple awards we have received for our products, including 3 Stars at the Great Taste Awards, is proving that vegan patisserie can reach the higher echelons of taste.
What do you see as the biggest challenge for the sector?
Climate change is the biggest challenge for us, and we’re not alone. The price of our chocolate has skyrocketed in the last year due to failure of crops, and this has affected the type of products we can bring to the market and who we can sell to. Other commodities have been affected and I recently read that a well-established olive company has had to stop selling through wholesale as their products were no longer viable that route due to the extraordinary rising cost of olive oil. As the effects of climate change become more pronounced worldwide, we are going to see challenges in supply and costs across a range of core ingredients, thus affecting the sector as a whole.
Who is your Food and Drink hero?
Bethan Jones is our ‘behind the scenes’ Food & Drink hero. She works tirelessly for the sector and helped us through some extremely tough times. Her advice has been invaluable to the longevity of our business.
Matt Pritchard is our ‘out there’ Food and Drink hero. Vegans are often portrayed in the media as weak, and the food ‘boring’. Pritchard is neither of these: his heroic physical stunts, powered 100% by plants, shows what a vegan diet can do; and his recipe books are exciting and tasty. He’s a massive supporter of all things vegan, and we enjoyed collaborating with him on his latest recipe book.
