My name is Ryan and you're listening to The Vegan Report. If you are an ethical vegan and you care
to do more to end animal abuse, then this podcast is for you. Every Tuesday, discover passionate,
thought-provoking and inspiring vegan leaders from all walks of life who will inspire you to take
actions. Today, I want you to imagine being able to shop for every vegan product you like
on one website. And the shipping is free. Well, that is the whole concept of Market 57,
or in French, Marché 57, an initiative that is making being vegan very easy. And the easier it
is to be vegan, the more people can be vegan for the end of animal exploitation. When I first heard
about Market 57, I thought, I guess this is one more creative way to advance animal rights. We
don't often think about vegan entrepreneurs as part of the effort to end animal abuse,
but I think they play a key role in that fight. So for this episode, I have with me Tamar Pinochian,
who is behind the Market 57 website. Tamar, welcome to the podcast. Thank you so much for
being here. Thank you for inviting me. Tamar, in addition of Market 57, you have your own line of
delicious vegan food. So you have the website with all the vegan products from so many different
brands, but you yourself make vegan products and sell them on your website. And your vegan food
line is called Vegan 57. Is that a clear summary of your business situation? Yes, it is. We first
started about 10 years ago with 57 Calves. That's what it was called initially. And it was just a
vegan restaurant. In the beginning, my mom and I were changing our diet. We were eating less and
less animal products. And 10 years ago in Laval, when we used to go out to eat something quick to
grab and go, vegan items were not very popular in restaurants. So the best bet would be a vegan
burger from Harveys if we had went out at night. And at that time, my mom had a fully Middle Eastern
restaurant in Laval, and she didn't want to sell meat anymore. So we decided that we were going to
change the restaurants, we were going to change the menu. And initially, we started a vegetarian
menu. So we had falafel sandwiches in the style of Mexican burrito with salsa and corn and everything.
We had a Greek falafel sandwich, which had a tzatziki like sauce. And then we had the traditional,
of course. And we were called 57 Calves, because each one of the falafel balls, the regular ones,
was 57 calories. So when we discovered that, we said it was cute to name our restaurant that way.
And it was vegetarian. I say vegetarian because we used to have, let's say, the Greek sauce,
we used to have it with the vegetarian version, and we used to have the vegan version without the
real yogurt. So after some time, we had a lot of vegans who used to come to our restaurant,
and they would ask us, why have two options when you could have the same delicious sauce and vegan
only? And of course, it made sense to not have both versions of one sauce available, but to have
one vegan version. And of course, because the menu was only falafel based, we thought, well,
we don't want to eat falafel every day, and I'm sure the customers don't. So why don't we expand
the menu? And we expanded the menu, we added vegan versions of shawarma plates, chichito plates, so
simile meat and simile chicken plates and sandwiches, like a filet cheesesteak sandwich,
but completely vegan with vegan cheese, vegan TVP, seasoned like beef. And we called ourselves 57
vegan because it no longer made sense to just refer to the falafels. That's how our journey started
with 57 Vegan. After some time, about three years in, our restaurant was very, very small. So when
people used to come in, we had like three tables, very small. It was mostly a takeout counter,
and it began to bother people, of course, people would come all the way from downtown, make the
trip to La Valla, there would be no place to sit or to hang out. So it started fading away the
restaurant part of it, of course, but we were still popular. People used to talk about us,
they used to order catering a lot. And we decided that, well, if we were to expand, what was the
best way to get our product in the hands of a bigger audience, let's say. And while going to
the grocery store, while walking down the ready to eat counter, we noticed that there is a lack
of good vegan sandwiches ready to eat. So we decided to try our luck. We wrapped up our sandwiches,
made our little stickers, put our brand on those sandwiches and went out to try to sell. And the
rest was history. That's how it all started. We began our journey of distribution. We started
distributing in grocery stores around town, and we decided to close the restaurant and just
concentrate on that, concentrate on getting all our products out in the grocery stores so that we
could be closer to the customer instead of annoying them with our very small restaurant.
That's amazing. What does your line of products look like nowadays?
We have a range of six vegan ready to eat sandwiches. We have one of them is a breakfast
sandwich. It's like a tofu based scrambled egg sandwich. We have the shawarma and shish
coke, traditional tastes that are all vegan. We have a baked falafel sandwich. We have Philly
cheese sandwich and a quesadilla with refried beans. We also, it's been two years now, we've
packed up our protein. We marinate our own protein, of course. So we packed it up and packaged them
and we sell our protein frozen. So it's pre-marinated, ready to eat. You just have
to heat it up in a skillet or in the oven and you just add it to your menu, to your recipes.
We also have vegan baklava and of course the sauces that we make like the garlic sauce,
the smoky mayo, spicy mayo. We sell all of those.
How did the website part appear?
You mean Marché 57?
Yes.
Before the pandemic, I had Saint-Cent Végan and it was a e-commerce website too, even though we
were distributing in grocery stores. But with the pandemic, we noticed that our friends in the
business who had small businesses like us and did not necessarily have an e-commerce website,
were having of course trouble getting to customers. And because people were told not to leave their
houses and try to order everything online, we decided that we were going to try to help
our customers and try to help our friends and business by making a website that was
actually on our website. It was on our own brand's website for Saint-Cent Végan.com. We started to add
their products and word was getting out and more people wanted to add their items on our website.
And I was trying to send suppliers to the website to distribute my own brand, but they were going
and seeing other brands too. So it was becoming a little confusing. I decided to make a separate
website called it Marche Saint-Cent Concepts to keep track of it belonging to us as well.
And that's how it grew. Marche Saint-Cent Concepts started that way in the hopes of helping our
customers and our friends. And then slowly, slowly it grew. We contacted other distributors who used
to sell vegan products. And that's how we decided that we're going to try to see where it goes,
add as many vegan products as we can to make it a website where anybody who is trying to be vegan,
anybody who is trying to change their habits, they don't have to second guess, is this vegan?
Is this not? Everything on the website is vegan. It's only vegan. We try to get stuff from local
businesses. Of course, that was the aim. So I said, well, we were going to help the local businesses
and other brands as well. Yeah, I think you distribute Beyond Meat products, for example.
And what I like about this concept is I have my list of vegan products. And often I have to go
and visit different shops in order to get them. But on your website, they're all in the same place.
So I can just fill my, what's it called, my basket, my online basket with all of those products
in one shopping spree instead of going to different places. And so I love that part of it.
And I love that I don't have to move. I don't have to go out.
Yes, you don't. We deliver. But that's, for me, that's magic. You know,
delivering food, I understand delivering, you know, products that don't need to be kept frozen or
something like that. But delivering food, that is, I feel like a whole other ballgame. So can you
describe how you deliver food? What is the art of delivering food to people?
Oh, that dilemma started with Same Content Vegan when we started distributing. And of course,
we need to get everything to the stores, refrigerated. You know, Matpak has strict
rules about that. And of course, we want our stuff to stay fresh and top quality while we deliver.
So we started saying, okay, we don't have enough volume to have a big truck yet.
But there are no small cars with refrigeration systems. Or we tried calling so many different
companies who do the refrigeration for trucks. Every time we used to tell them, okay, what if we
buy a Dodge Caravan or something small? Can you turn it into a fridge for us? And they would laugh
at us like, are you crazy? You know, why would you even? But we were small, you know, we couldn't
afford a truck and we didn't need it. So while I was looking for a car, you know, trying to see
what we could possibly use, I came across the Kia Soul. And the Kia Soul has an electric version.
And the cargo space is fairly big. So I was discussing it with my business partners and
like, okay, let's give it a try. Let's go see it. Let's go see the car. We went to see the car.
And like I said, the cargo space is fairly big. We decided we were going to take off the back seat
as well. So we bought the car. And then the challenge was how to actually refrigerate this car.
I had seen online while researching that there is the Coltainer company. And essentially,
they make containers, big containers with a refrigeration system in it. And we ordered one.
It cost very expensive. And when it came, it was extremely, extremely small. It's so small.
We couldn't even get three boxes in it. I guess we made a mistake with the measurement.
So because my uncle and my dad are very creative and very handy, we put that container apart.
We used the system, the cooling system, and we built our own box custom and behind the Kia.
And like that, we had a custom refrigerated car, electric, everything electric. So that kind of
completed our St. Comsett Vegan's vision of, okay, vegan business, I guess vegan car,
if you can call it vegan, because it was all electric. And that's how we started to deliver
our products fresh. It stayed cold and good with good quality. And then with Maschho St. Comsett,
that's just what followed. We had to get all the products to the customer fresh.
So we would pack it and put it in the car, join it on the delivery route of the day.
And that's how it is. Of course, it's a lot of logistics. I have to plan, okay, which postal
codes can go on which routes on which day. It's a challenge to set up a website that way as well,
because I am not a programmer. I do not know how to make a website. I've learned everything on the
go. That's how entrepreneurship is. You can't say I don't know, you have to say how do I figure it
out? And we did a lot of figuring out as we go. Of course, I ship Quebec wide as well. For Quebec
wide, it's another story. We have to insulate boxes, add ice packs, make sure it's the next day
service. So all that needs coordination as well. And until you find a good website that gets you
good quotes and good prices, you lose a lot of money. You lose a lot of packages on the go and
pure later or Globix or whoever has a delay and they can't ship it on time. So it's very challenging.
But it's all part of the fun, I guess. And you mentioned how this is the challenge of being an
entrepreneur. And if we look at your profile, I mean, you studied psychology at Concordia
University, I think. So this is not the typical profile. If I had to guess, you know, what will
be the career of this person only based on your studies, I would not think that you would become
a vegan entrepreneur and distributing food around Montreal. So how did you get involved in this,
in the entrepreneurship world, starting with that restaurant with your mom to where you are now?
So while I was studying psychology, of course, psychology is a topic that I love very much.
And I think having learned psychology, it's helped me deal with people, and it's helped me
understand people better. So when I get comments of you know, you guys have great customer service,
I'm like, yes, psychology, you know, like, because you're able to see from the other side,
see from the other person's perspective, and really understand the person instead of just judging or
whatever. And while I was studying, I was of course, working as a first real job, I was working
at a call center. And because I was very, how do you say like, I'm very ambitious, and I always
want to go higher. So quickly, quickly, I started going up in the ranks, I was like, I'm going to
I started going up in the ranks, I was a team leader, I was a trainer from the for the project.
So I saw that I love that aspect of working with people, training people being in leadership
positions. After that, I went to work for my uncle's company, it's an IT company. And I went
in as a project manager. And I had to deal with of course, the company employees and quickly do the
HR when it's a family business, you start wearing a million hats. So that's where I learned how to
multitask and how to wear different hats, you know, HR needs help, you have to wear the HR
hat, you have to do, I don't know, grants, and you have to do accounting and end of year, everything
that needs to be done, you have to kind of figure it out and get it done. Because it was a small
business as well, at the time. And I saw that I absolutely love the business world. So I'm like,
okay, forget psychology, psychology helps me get here. It helps me deal with the employees and the
customers. But I absolutely love the business world. And because I had, I guess, the leadership
skills, I knew I had to do more. My mom's business at the time, of course, I mentioned that we were
changing it, and she needed help. So who was the best person to do that to me? So I kind of joined
her to do that. And I have to mention that I absolutely hate spending time in the kitchen,
and I hate cooking. But I kind of was thrown at this. And I took it upon myself to make it
successful. So here I am today. That's kind of my journey. Well, she was the one cooking, I think.
Yes, the recipes are all my mom. So you guys don't have to read. They're all delicious.
I'm not the one who came up with them. They are I've tasted them. I was going to ask you about,
you know, giving us tips for making good vegan food, but maybe you're the wrong person.
I'm the wrong person for that. But I mean, based on the experience and working in the kitchen,
of course, you pick up some stuff. But the most important thing to remember is that, you know,
if you're not a vegan, and you think, Oh, my God, vegan food must be so boring and so tasteless,
that is not true. Because even if you are a meat eater, or you know, you buy chicken or meat or
whatever you want to eat, before you marinate it and put spices and sauces, it tastes nothing,
you know, it doesn't taste good. So it's the same concept. It's just the protein, the base that is
changing. So vegan food can be very tasty, better than meat and chicken.
I agree with you. I think this is such a good point. I never met someone who ate, you know,
raw meat and found it actually, actually, no, I met one person, a friend of mine, and her and
her father used to, you know, purchase like minced meat, and eat it, like, without cooking it.
Thing that they eat, but again, they do put spices on it.
Well, she she did not put any spices on nothing. It was. I think this is an outlier situation.
So you mentioned, you know, how veganism is tasty. Often, people use the plant based label
instead of the vegan label. Because, well, veganism has also a social and political and
cultural connotation that is not strictly, you know, reserved to food and the world of cooking.
So why did you make the choice of adopting the vegan label instead of maybe
calling yourself 57 plant based? Yeah, it was just simpler. I mean, you see it and you know
that it's vegan. There's no questions asked. Recently, I saw someone have posted an item.
I'm not going to mention what it is, but they had posted on one of the vegan groups that they
have bought an item that had the plant based symbol and it had a plant based, I guess, mention
on the packaging. But if you looked at the ingredients, it contains something with fish.
So I think either companies, some companies don't understand what plant based is,
or they're using it as a loophole to like pass their products to another population.
I'm not sure why they would do that. But with me, there's no question. It's vegan. It's vegan.
There's no animal products at all. Just keep it simple. I mean, it's vegan.
Why would I call it anything else? I love that. And also, you won't name any product, but I will.
There's Bissell, I think they sell butter and they often call their one of their product,
plant based, made of vegetable oil. But then you look in the description and there is a
milk. And I mentioned that because my parents bought me a box of that butter and they had good
intentions and all. But then you look at the ingredients and you find that it's just bad
marketing on their part. Vegan, like I mentioned, has also a social
dimension to it. So how do you relate to that dimension of veganism with your company, but
also in your personal life? Yeah. So when we first opened, when we first made our restaurant,
vegetarian and vegan, we had a lot of old customers who used to come in and they would be like,
why did you change? You're going to close down in no time. Who eats vegan? Why would you even
remove your meats from your menu? So that was one issue. They would not understand that there is a
change coming and that it is better for their health. But also they used to ask us, for example,
the falafel that is always vegan, it has always been vegan. There is no animal product in it
whatsoever. But they used to come in and say, give me falafels, but not this vegan thing that
you're promoting. But it's the same recipe. It's the same ingredients. It's chickpeas, fava beans,
spices. There is absolutely nothing in it that is animal based. But because we were certainly
suddenly called 57V and they thought that our menu changed and our ingredients change and there's
something tricky we're doing to make it a vegan recipe. Maybe it's a vegan recipe, maybe it's a
vegan thing. To make it a vegan recipe. Meanwhile, the only thing is that there is no animal products
in it. Same thing with my grandpa. I always tell the story. He used to come and eat the shawarma
sandwich for a very long time, thinking that it was meat, even though our restaurant was vegan.
Until one day one of his friends told him that, you know, that's not meat, that's soy based,
he stopped eating it. And it's all in here, you know. There's nothing wrong with eating vegan or
plant based. The only thing is there are no animal products. But as soon as you say vegan,
they understand that, I don't know, maybe there's some weird ingredients we're adding in it.
I understand because a lot of the popular items that are vegan have a lot of like
ingredients list that are so long and the words you can't even pronounce. So people generally
think that when it's vegan, it's probably, you know, all those artificial ingredients that are
in it. But it's not true. You just have to pay attention even with non-vegan products, products
that are, you know, animal based or cookies or whatever that contain milk. You look at the
ingredients list, you're going to see a lot of words that you can't even pronounce, a lot of
artificial flavors, a lot of ingredients that aren't bad for you. So anything you eat, there
is a risk of not eating something good for you. Look at the ingredients list. But vegan does not
mean that it's artificial. Vegan only means that there are no animal products in it. So that was
something that we had to teach our customers, you know, educate. Of course, the customers who used
to be eat meaters and came to our restaurant again after we switched to vegan. So it took a while.
It was challenging, but the result is good. You know, I had a lot of friends who are still not
vegan, but who used to come to my restaurant and who used to eat the vegan silly cheese and who
used to enjoy it and who still tell me, oh Tamarino, we miss your restaurant, we miss your silly cheese,
but they still eat meat, but they were willing to, you know, once a week or twice a week,
switch to plant based. And I think that's what we want. We want everybody to start reducing.
It's good for the environment for the animals. Yes, but it's also good for their health. So
I completely agree. I mean, I was recently watching a speech of someone from the meat industry and she
was talking about how meat was good because there were no hormones in meat. And I was thinking,
okay, but what about the antibiotics for starter? I mean, they're in their blood and in their flesh
and doesn't sound very yummy. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. You know, my parents,
because of the Middle Eastern mentality, of course, it took a lot of time for me to,
especially with my dad, to understand that we don't want to have dairy anymore and we don't want to
have meat, red meat. And for him, it's like, what is wrong with having that? Because back in time
and back in, you know, even in Armenia or in Lebanon, you know, Middle Eastern countries as well,
the meat industry hasn't or wasn't in their time like it is right now. Right now, we are feeding
our animals such bad ingredients and trying to force them to reproduce in such short periods of
times and giving them vitamins. And I don't know what to keep them, you know, on their feet and to
keep them from reproducing. So it's not the same thing. I try to explain that, you know,
you think that meat in your time was was okay and people weren't getting sick or
even in Armenia, it hasn't started yet to become so industrialized, let's say, for them to have the
need to reproduce their animals so fast and so much. So maybe in their countries, the meat was
better. But here you can't compare it anymore. I mean, the amount of things that the animals have
to eat and go through in order to be able to keep up with the demand, it's just you shouldn't eat
it. That's it. Well, I was going to ask you about the reaction of your family to your vegan
transition, because you're from Armenia. And I think most people are not very familiar with
Armenia, what is Armenia. And I was thinking about a discussion I had with a guest on
Serbia. And that guest started a sanctuary, an animal sanctuary in Serbia. And she was telling
me about how people related so differently to animals, compared to Western countries.
And her field of concentration or focus was dogs. And she was telling me that, oh, there,
you don't keep the dog inside the house, the dog stay outside, and you don't really think about
does the dog get cold outside or something like that. So it's a whole different mindset
related to animals. And I'm always curious if that cultural difference, so can you tell us more about
Armenia and also animal rights in Armenia?
So we have a lot of stray dogs in Armenia. I have no idea why, honestly, but we do.
When I went to Armenia, I guess it was maybe 2018. I don't remember, like a while ago.
I had seen that during my trip, there was going to be a vegan festival in Armenia, believe it or not.
It had just started. And I said, okay, I'm gonna bring my 57 pounds of meat and I'm gonna
go there. I'm gonna do a live so that the audience here in Quebec know that I'm in Armenia and that
there's a vegan festival there. I was so excited and I went and there was like one table. That was
the festival. It was outside. There was one table and it was like a few people talking about veganism
and giving up. So it was just just starting. And I was like, oh, I'm gonna go there. I'm gonna
eat meat and I'm gonna go to the festival. I'm gonna go there. And then I saw a few people
talking about veganism and giving up. So it was just just starting. When I went back again,
pre-pandemic, there were cafes that were completely vegan. There were in restaurants,
the menus had vegan items. I remember my aunt, my aunt's been vegan almost all her life. So when
she was in the kitchen, she was like, what does she eat? How does she live? Because she wouldn't
eat any animal products. And it was so foreign for them. It doesn't make sense. I also sing. So I had
gone to a couple of singing lessons in Armenia. And I told the vocal coach, I told him, he used
to always tell me, Tamar, you're gonna eat meat, you're gonna eat well, and that's how you're gonna
know. And it was so foreign to him. He said, why don't you eat meat? You need your energy. If you
don't eat meat, you're not gonna have any energy to sing. So that's how it is. That's how it was.
Now there are so many cafes. There are so many items on menus everywhere you go in restaurants.
So it has evolved. Anybody going to Armenia who is vegan will have plenty of choices.
And I know that there are a lot of animal rights organizations. I know one I follow,
she takes care of horses, another one of dogs. So yeah, it's getting there. It's getting there.
Definitely. I'm so happy to hear that. And you, by the way, you have a beautiful voice in, you know,
preparing for this episode, I found some videos of you singing in Armenian.
In Armenian. Thank you. You're amazing. Okay. Thank you.
Oh, you've been going around sneaky, sneaky.
I mean, I need to prepare for my guests. It's the least I can do when they give me so generously of
their time, you know. I'm a bit curious about your aunt because how did she become vegan? Did she
tell you the story of her vegan? She just never really enjoyed meat. So she was vegetarian most
of her life. And then by reading and researching, she's very big on researching and, you know,
natural ingredients and supplements and everything. So she just decided that, okay, vegan is the way
to go. And I remember we were young and she used to come over to eat and we were just like,
but what is she going to eat? You know, it was always a dilemma for my parents too. Like, oh,
she's coming over. So what can we cook so that she doesn't stay hungry? You know,
she's not going to eat what we're having. So, yeah. So we were always, we had her always to
see what she was doing and learn from her. It's very kind from them to think about her
and her wellbeing. You know, I still think that half of my family believe that I just
breathe air and drink water and that's, you know, that's my diet. They absolutely don't know what,
how I survive. Yeah. Yeah. I want to go back to entrepreneurship. Do you believe that
thinking about your background and your family background, you're not the only entrepreneur in
your family. You mentioned your uncle. Do you think that there is something innate about
being an entrepreneur that there is a calling and that, you know, you need to have those innate
qualities or that calling in order to become an entrepreneur? Or do you think that it's something
accessible for everyone? Entrepreneurship is accessible to everyone, but whether you can be
successful and whether you can keep up with all the challenges, I think those are skills
that you can learn, but also you have to have a thick skin and you have to have at least,
you have to like to lead and manage because a lot of people, you know, they are put in management
positions, but they can't do it. They don't know how to manage people and they don't enjoy it. So
whether it's innate or not, I don't know. I guess the leadership part of it and being able to manage
is you have to have it in you. But skills are learned. A lot of things I learned on the job
and I wouldn't have learned otherwise, you know, so I guess.
And yeah, you make a pertinent point. And I guess maybe the alternative for people who
are less comfortable with leading would be to find a business partner who could take care of that
side of the business while you do yours. Definitely. So when you have business partners,
of course it helps because then you have someone to rely on to go to for questions and when you
need help. Also mentors, I know people are very big on mentors. For a very short period of time,
I had an external mentor and he helped a lot with questions I had. So I had a lot of questions
I had. So I very much encourage people to go out there and meet people in their industry and, you
know, talk to them. Oftentimes we think that if we go and bother someone in business, then they
won't want to help us. But we've all been through the same cycle. You know, we've all been there.
We have been through the challenges and we have had to go and find the answers and we've had to
had to go and get mentors or help from other people in the business. So definitely don't
shy away from trying to get the help. I was researching entrepreneurship and
one of the first things that came up was fear. Most people, I think, fear launching their business.
They're not comfortable with the risk and they fear to fail. And I want to get a bit practical
because this whole podcast is an invitation for vegans to do more. And maybe that looks like
building your own vegan business. What would you say to someone who has a good idea, wants to
launch their business, but is afraid and that fear is stopping them from pursuing their passion?
We are all afraid. We've been afraid since day one. And if you're not afraid, then it's not a big
enough challenge. So definitely go out there and try. The worst thing is that you're going to fail.
I mean, that's the worst that's going to happen. And you have to try if it's something in you. And
if it's something that you've wanted or you still want and you have to try. I mean, anything is in
life is that way. If you don't try, you don't know. So the fear doesn't go away. Every day,
there's a new fear that adds up. I'm going to tell you that. Every day, there's a new challenge.
Every time you add a project, there is new challenges. If you grow, there's new challenges.
If you stay small, there's challenges. You want to grow your team, you need more employees, or
you have to grow your demand. You need machines and nobody can make the machine you need. So you
have to go figure out what an engineer, but it's good. It's fun. It keeps you alive. Or else it
would be boring. You would close after a while. Well, I get that feeling from you that you're
pursuing the challenge and the excitement of entrepreneurship. Yes, it's not all exciting.
There's a lot of yelling and screaming and tears too, but it's all part of the process. So
I'm not saying this to make anybody afraid. Of course, you need to pursue your dreams. That's
why we're alive. That's what's going to keep us alive. If everybody didn't pursue their dreams,
we wouldn't have all these inventions and all these choices. Things fail, sure, but you get up
and you try something else. That's the worst of it. There's nothing else that's going to happen to.
You just fail and you try again. In our journey, you think we didn't fail? We failed. We've had
products we've launched and it flopped and we said, okay, we're scrapping that project. So let's
try something else. So sure, it happens, but you got to pursue it. You have to try.
Well, I'm so glad that you are sharing this part of your entrepreneurial journey because
when you look at big brands or brands you are familiar with, you look at the success,
you look at how shiny it is and how beautiful and all. And I guess you don't see the tears.
You don't see the sweat. You don't see all the efforts and pain of
making that brand and making that brand shine. Exactly. You mentioned big brands. There are so
many big brands whose products we bring on Raxa St. Comsets only to find that after a year or even
after a few months, they're discontinued. They just scrapped the project. So even big brands have that.
It's going to happen, but they're still making fortunes. They're still making other products.
It's just one or two products that flopped. So it's going to happen.
And I want to also share that think about, I guess, your everyday life. And we all failed at some
point. I guess entrepreneurship is the same as the rest of life. It's not something exceptional.
Yeah, exactly. Well, you chose quite a particular niche, which is veganism to launch your business.
If you were able to go back in the past and talk with your past self,
what would you have said to that person, to that younger Tamar, on the challenges of
launching a vegan business for a vegan clientele, but also, like you mentioned, people for
an ever-growing number of meat eaters who are also interested in vegan food?
Yeah. What would I tell myself? It's going to be hard, but you're going to succeed.
It was a niche, of course, and we were right at the beginning of the trend, I guess, especially in Laval.
But what would I tell myself? Just trust. There was a lot of nights where we were
or months where we were like, okay, we're just going to close down. We can't do this. This is too small.
And if it was so small, the big brands wouldn't do it, wouldn't put vegan products on their shelves,
on their catalogs. I think every day there is more and more people who are understanding the benefits
of at least switching to plant-based a couple of times a week. And I think that's the biggest
thing. And it's only going to grow. So trust yourself. You got it.
And a vegan clientele is a committed and I feel like loyal clientele. I know that I go out of my
way to go and seek vegan products that I like. And it is because partly I'm making this purchasing
choice out of convictions. It's not just a transaction for me. I'm actually thinking about
it as if I'm voting for more of that in my world. Yeah, they're very loyal customer-based. And
if we grew, it's because of our customers and word of mouth. So we are forever grateful to them,
especially the ones who used to come to the restaurant, because they're the ones who went
out and started buying from the grocery stores before everybody else started learning about us.
So the vegan community is a very interesting community. They are very committed, as you said.
They are very caring for the environment and for the animals. And they take care of
making sure that the vegan local businesses thrive and to make sure to spread the word
about those businesses for sure. Now you have said the word local a few times in this conversation,
but I know you're ambitious. So what are your plans for the future? Do you want to expand
your brand to more than Quebec, more than even Canada? I know that most of my listeners actually
are from Canada, yes, but also from the US and Europe. So when should they expect to see
57 Vegan on their... That would be amazing if we got to the US and to Europe. That would be a dream,
honestly, because of the challenges of our short life products. For example, the sandwiches that
only are good for seven days, their shelf life is seven days only. It's a little hard for me to ship
to Europe, especially. But right now we need to move our kitchen. So that's the first challenge
we're facing. We need to move everything by end of February. The second challenge is production.
Everything is made by hand here. All the sandwiches are rolled by hand, filled by hand.
The proteins are marinated, cooked. It's one person doing that. So we are looking at automation
and machines so that we can start thinking about going into Ontario and going Canada wide, why not?
We have challenges with the machines, of course, we have challenges with space. So it's coming,
and we would love to expand, of course. So I think the first step would be to go to Ontario
and then Canada wide. And then for sure, we would love to be in the US as well.
And of course, there will be links in the description for people. Even if you're in the US,
you know, click on that link and get inspired by what you have done. Yeah, in that space. I think
it's worth it. And just even to get yourself angry if you're listening to this before lunch or dinner.
So Tamar, I think we have covered much of the points I wanted covered for this conversation.
Did you have anything more to add before we stop the recording?
I would just thank you for this invitation and for meeting me at the Vegan Festival.
I think you're doing a great job. I don't think there's enough podcasts about veganism. Or they
started and they stopped. I've been following the couple who started and then they stopped. So
I wish you luck very much. And I hope that your audience grows so much and you're able to educate
people and to advance veganism even more and reach a lot of people.
Thank you, Tamar. This is the kind of compliments that I wanted to hear.
I like to hear. So thank you so much. It goes straight to my heart. So Tamar, thank you again
for having answered my question and having been a guest on this show.
It has been a pleasure and thank you so much for your work and your excellent product,
which I absolutely love. They're delicious. So thank you for your hard work.
We'll speak soon, I hope.
Thank you everyone for listening and thank you so much for being a friend of this show.
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