NewHavenBIZ

8 n e w h a v e n B I Z | J a n u a r y 2 0 2 3 | n e w h a v e n b i z . c o m By Liese Klein I n between orders on a recent Sunday aernoon, the counter staff at ree Girls Vegan Creamery in Guilford had little time to chat or glance at their phones. e workers were in constant motion, vacuum-sealing packages of crabless crab cakes, labeling containers of sauce and stacking foil- wrapped holiday roasts in a freezer. e steady activity was in service of a growing clientele: ree Girls Vegan Creamery sold out of their $78 Holiday Roast well before most holiday decorations went up. Now the staff was tasked with packing and shipping nearly 400 orders of a wheat-gluten- and-chickpea roast filled with plant- based stuffing and cranberry sauce. "We sold a ton. We have to cut it off at some point so we sold to our limit," said Tracy Alexander, founder of ree Girls Vegan Creamery. e Holiday Roast won a national contest for plant-based entrees in November and is only one of the Guilford company's successful products: ree Girls is looking for an industrial space to ramp up nationwide shipping and plans to roll out a new line of filled pastas later this month. Alexander's vegan products are now available both at the original location, at 645 Boston Post Road, and at ree Girls Vegan Downtown, at 23 Water St., near Guilford's Town Green. She runs the business with her adult daughters, Brittany Guerra and Taylor Pitts, the "three girls." "People appreciate the creativity," Alexander said when asked for the key to the company's growing sales and expanding product line. "You're always going to find something new here." Italian-inspired recipes ree Girls Vegan Creamery started in 2016 aer Alexander's mother was diagnosed with cancer and she began researching the health benefits of a vegan diet, which consists of exclusively plant-based foods. She has since expanded the company's commitment to animal-welfare issues, with donations to local animal nonprofits. Alexander gives credit for ree Girls' success to her trove of 400 recipes that transform the hearty Italian dishes of her New Haven childhood into plant-based versions. at translates into a menu with lots of items like vegan lasagnas, sausage and peppers and even traditionally meat-and-dairy-laden classics like pizzagaina, or Easter ham pie. (Alexander only makes that labor-intensive favorite on special occasions.) ree Girls' first products — cheeses like parmesan, ricotta and mozzarella made from nuts that gave the company the "creamery" in its name — are also big sellers, both at the counter and online. "When I put the website up, I had an e-commerce portion of it and I had put just the cheeses up initially," Alexander said. "Over the years, we just kept adding — it just kind of happened organically." Alexander said she's kept the business growing by sticking to a focus on Italian-inspired recipes and staying true to her vision of tasty, healthful food. She has also resisted franchising or expanding beyond her comfort zone, ruling out a full-service restaurant anytime soon. "I'm not trying to do a big, fancy restaurant," Alexander said, citing the demanding hours and finances of the business. "I think part of our success has been that we never borrowed any money," she added. "If we needed a refrigerator, I just sold more cheese that week." Eateries falter as market grows at caution seems to be warranted as vegan and vegetarian restaurants in the New Haven area have struggled to stay in business in recent years. e most recent casualty was Pataka in New Haven, a vegetarian Indian restaurant on Howe Street that closed late last year. Upscale Vegan eatery G-Zen in Branford shuttered in April; the owners said they wanted to focus on a West Hartford location. In downtown New Haven, Ahimsa and Red Lentil are among the vegan eateries that have shut down in recent years, even as many area restaurants and college dining halls add vegan options. e last vegan full-service restaurant le standing in central New Haven is e Cannon on Dwight Street, a sports bar focused on soccer that features a vegan food menu. ose ups and downs reflect the overall plant-based food segment, which has had both growth and Planting Seeds Vegan chefs tap growing market by staying small PHOTOS | CONTRIBUTED New Haven-based chef Silvia Loney, who specializes in plant-based sushi, has found success with her Chef Sil's Vegan Kitchen pop-ups. Three Girls Vegan Creamery's family leadership team (from left) Taylor Pitts, Tracy Alexander and Brittany Guerra have found success with mail-order and delivery in addition to a small retail location.

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