NewHavenBIZ

n e w h a v e n b i z . c o m | J a n u a r y 2 0 2 3 | n e w h a v e n B I Z 9 More than commercial banking. COMMERCIAL BANKING from a bank that can take your business to the next level. Our local teams have helped Connecticut businesses for more than 220 years, let us help you. Visit washtrust.com or call 800-475-2265 Member FDIC. setbacks in recent years. Plant-based products could make up to 7.7% of the global protein market by 2030 with a projected value of over $162 billion, according to a 2021 report by Bloomberg Intelligence. at number would represent a 451% increase from the 2020 market value of $29.4 billion, according to Bloomberg. "Food-related consumer habits oen come and go as fads, but plant-based alternatives are here to stay — and grow," Jennifer Bartashus, senior consumer staples analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, said in the report. But some recent forays into offering vegan foods to the mass market have fallen short. McDonald's tried out a McPlant burger made of Beyond Meat patties but the sandwich failed to become a permanent menu item. Top vegan manufacturer Beyond Meat's stock has swooned as sales fell far short of projections, down nearly 80% for the year. A food industry analyst quoted in the New York Times said vegan foods are the future, but his outlook is long term. "is is a 20- to 25-year story," Mizuho Americas analyst John Baumgartner told the Times. "It's not going to happen in three to five to 10 years." Vegan food demand has greatly increased in the grocery sector, said Peter Dodge, director of New Haven's veteran vegetarian market Edge of the Woods. Dodge was one of a group of "idealistic people" who opened the store on Whalley Avenue in 1977 with a full range of produce and grocery items but no meat; he saw business boom during the pandemic but said it had recently returned to pre- pandemic levels. About a third of the market's customers are now completely vegan, compared to a much smaller percentage in prior decades, Dodge said. "I've seen a big expansion of products available, so the demand is there," he said. In addition, about half of Edge of the Woods' hot and prepared foods are now free of animal products. As for vegan restaurants, "I've seen them come and go," Dodge said. Entrepreneurs with high ideals are oen felled by the hours and margins of running an eatery, he added. "It's a really demanding business — restaurants are no easy game," he said. Profits in pop-ups Staying small and specialized has paid off so far for Silvia Loney, who has been growing her plant-based business by catering and running Chef Sil's Vegan Kitchen pop-ups across the city in the last year. Of Cuban and Colombian heritage, Loney specializes in Latin fusion dishes in addition to vegan sushi. One of her prized recipes is a vegan version of the Colombian soup sancocho that exchanges mushrooms and lentils for the traditional chicken. Aer switching to a vegan diet for health reasons, Loney began cooking as a way to recreate the dishes of her childhood in Florida. "I was just playing around with different flavors and just making sure that I had the same flavor and then the same feeling that I had when I ate those foods growing up," Loney said. Loney turned to local entrepreneurship programs to help turn her cuisine into a business, including this spring's Food Business Accelerator, a partnership between Collab and CitySeed. Now she offers her vegan sushi as a caterer and operates as a pop-up vendor at events like this summer's Gather New Festival. "e industry is very tough when it comes to real estate — finding a place that you can actually rent out for me to have a brick and mortar," Loney said. She cooks out of a commercial kitchen and also operates as a "ghost kitchen," preparing food for delivery only. "ere's a demand for vegan food, so right now, that's what's working," Loney said. "But I am obviously working towards a bigger picture. I'm working towards getting something established for myself, whether it's a brick and mortar or having something mobile in terms of a food truck. I'm exploring all of that right now." n Vegan dishes from Silvia Loney feature ingredients like microgreens and hearts of palm.

• Cover