A RECIPE FOR CHANGE

By SHAGORIKA EASWAR

The Jains are a small but influential community – so influential that most restaurants in India and most Indian restaurants in Canada offer a vegetarian no-onion, no-garlic Jain menu.

But to launch a bakery offering vegan products is a leap of faith. And one launched at the height of the pandemic, at that.

Vineet Jain ventured into an area that many entrepreneurs fear to tread.

“COVID was the reason we got into this business” says Jain, President and CEO of Vision Food Innovations. “When the pandemic started to impact families around the world, the importance of nourishing our bodies with naturally sourced ingredients that are also good for the planet, sparked the idea. The challenge was how long the pandemic has lasted. That hurt us financially, but we persevered.”

And met with great success, with his product range, Nature’s Flair, named the best plant-based muffins and cupcakes bakery in Canada within a few short months by Global Vegan Awards. The awards showcase global businesses and professionals who have brought about positive change through a plant-based lifestyle. They were also invited to participate in the inaugural Toronto Stock Exchange Food Investors Day.

With a master’s in food technology, Jain had been associated with the baking industry for nearly 30 years, with experience in every department, from R&D to operations.

“This is what I know – so much so that I might not get a job outside of this industry!” he jokes. “I had long nurtured a dream of striking out on my own, but it’s not easy. However, during the pandemic, thinking about how I could utilize my expertise to bring healthy foods to the table prompted the process.” 

He says he was fortunate in being able to gather like-minded people with the competencies he was looking for to his dream project. People with an equal passion for providing sustainable – and affordable – food products with health benefits. Their market research led them to  plant-based cupcakes and muffins.

At the start, he had a partner, and they raised equity capital. Then began the hunt for a facility. The ones they found were either not suited to a food industry, or too far, or too expensive. With a few months already invested in the process, Jain decided to convert his basement into an R&D facility.

“We decided to go parallel,” he says. “We were testing recipes and sourcing equipment while still looking for a facility to set up operations. We purchased eight trailer-loads of equipment worth half a million dollars, identified suppliers of ingredients, etc., and were ready to go as soon as we found a place.”

That place was a 20,000 sq. ft. warehouse in Georgetown, Ontario. They converted a part of it into an office and constructed the manufacturing facility, installed the equipment and the first shipment rolled out in March 2021.

They had begun with a team of four, including Jain. Today, the company employs 16.

The business was slow in the initial stages. It was challenging, getting retailers to agree to give them shelf space, says Jain. What worked in their favour in a very competitive business was that their range is completely plant-based. Companies like Beyond Meat and Oatly had paved the way and there is a growing interest in vegetarian and vegan products.

“Our range is healthy, without compromising on taste,” says Jain. “It is cholesterol-free, peanut and tree nuts-free and therefore safe to take to school. I firmly believe that each individual has to take initiative, do his or her part to stem the tide of fires, floods and other natural disasters that we are seeing. We can’t wait for others to come rescue us. That’s what drives me and I guess, that’s what helped convince retailers that our products had universal appeal. They connect the dots between health of individuals and a healthy planet.”

Soon, with chains multiplying orders, Nature’s Flair took off and they crossed a quarter million dollars within a few months. Now the products are available in Loblaw’s banner locations in Ontario, adding significant retail presence to its current roster of partners including, Farm Boy, Vince’s Market, Coppa’s Fresh Market, Pusateri’s Fine Foods, and several others.

Made in a facility free from nine common allergens – dairy, eggs, tree nuts, peanuts, fish, shellfish, sesame, sulphites and mustard – they incorporate superfood ingredients such as fava beans and oats and are free from artificial flavours and colours. And they come in a range of tempting flavours such as blueberry, chocolate chip, carrot, double chocolate, lemon cranberry, golden lemon, very berry, spiced carrot and pumpkin spice.

They also use ingredients desis are familiar with, such as turmeric and matpe beans or urad dal. He knows of the therapeutic value of turmeric, says Jain, and wanted to incorporate its benefits without the spice participating too much in taste or colour.

Asked for which ones are the most popular, Jain says that depends on the age group. Blueberry and lemon-cranberry are big hits with the 20-plus while younger customers are reaching for chocolate chip in droves. The seasonal pumpkin spice quickly gained in popularity, as well.

The idea was to introduce basic, familiar flavours, while streamlining the process of supply chain, food safety certification, etc.

“We wanted to iron out any wrinkles and are now looking at expanding to different flavours such as cardamom and saffron, etc.”

In less than two years, the facility has received BRC food safety certification. Products are also Vegan Certified and Kosher Certified.

Jain came to Canada in 2001 from Saudi Arabia, where  he had worked for seven years in the baking industry after having worked with Britannia in India for two years.

Their son Rishabh was a toddler at the time and the Jains were planning ahead for his schooling and higher education.

“We had two options – either to go back to India or to come to Canada which we had heard good things about as a country of immigrants,” says Jain.

On their first visit, the idea was to fulfil landing requirements and to scope employment opportunities. Jain sent out many resumés, cold-called prospective employers and also knocked on several doors. To no avail. He even attempted to look for employment as a day labourer but met with no success.

“I realized that writing Master’s in Food Technology on my resumé was working against me as smaller organizations weren’t going to consider me thinking I wouldn’t last.”

The day before their return, he received a call from Western Bakeries for an interview.

“I told them I was flying back the next day, but they said you can’t, you’re meeting the VP on Monday and that they would assist in rescheduling our flights. On Monday, I had an offer letter.”

The family settled in Mississauga, and with a job offer in hand, they skipped the initial stages of an immigrant’s journey. Other aspects were relatively smooth, too, as maintaining a vegetarian lifestyle in the GTA was not difficult. His accent in was a bit of a challenge in the early days, he says, but since his role was mainly technical, it wasn’t really an issue.

“Getting used to winter was another matter and coming from plus 50 to minus 30 took some adjusting,” says Jain with a chuckle.

The family put down roots. Their daughter Vaani was born in Canada and all was going well when his wife Ritu began experiencing health issues in 2008.

In 2010, a biopsy confirmed she had brain cancer. They went through all the ups and downs of treatment and remission and were just about finding their footing again when she relapsed in 2017.

“A bone marrow transplant saved her life,” says a very grateful Jain. “We received top-of-the-world treatment and support from Princess Margaret Hospital and Sunnybrook Hospital. We were also blessed to have the full support of our family, friends and our team at Vision Food. We couldn’t have come through this without them. Our journey would have been very different in the US or even in India.”

He credits Ritu for always being there for him.

“I’m a very ambitious man and while in India, had wanted to pursue an MBA. Then a lucrative offer from Saudi drew us there where that was put on the back burner. In Canada, the first few years went by in establishing ourselves, but even while holding senior positions in the industry, that dream surfaced again and I enrolled in the Executive MBA program at the Richard Ivey School of Business. It was a very expensive course for us a as a family, but Ritu encouraged me to follow my dream, she has never once held me back.”

Rishabh, now 23, and Vaani, now 19, are also fully behind their dad.

“They challenge me to come up with new vegan recipes,” says Jain with a fond laugh.

He tells would-be entrepreneurs not to go for short cuts, not to take the easy way out.

“They may seem like a short-term answer, but they can put a stranglehold on you, keep you in survival mode instead of breaking free. I would say, convert initial struggles into opportunities. Focus on your strengths. And have a clear focus on where you want to get. Chart a clear path.

“I wanted to serve the community by providing healthy food options. I wanted to be my own man, take decisions for myself. There were sleepless nights, of course there were. But passion for the goal sustained me. I knew that starting a venture with good intention, honesty and hard work, I would be able to make it.

“I am proud that I am able to stick to my principles. I am pushing for the planet while having fun diversifying into different flavours. It’s like doing another MBA – this time, a practical one!”

• Grant’s is proud to present this series about people who are making a difference in the community. Represented by PMA Canada (www.pmacanada.com).