Vegan bakeries have experienced a great deal of success lately, winning Food Network’s “Cupcake Wars” two times consecutively while growing quickly in many locations throughout the country. Vegan products are free of animal-made products, including milk, eggs and honey. However, vegan bakers are still wary of advertising themselves as vegan for fear of scaring off potential customers. Many bakeries simply use terms like “egg-free” and “dairy-free”, knowing that vegans will read the labels and understand that the food is truly vegan.
Some bakeries, like Pattycake Vegan Bakery in Columbus, Ohio, opened with a strong political message proudly advertising that their food was vegan. While the concentrated vegan population of Columbus bought good there frequently, outsiders rarely ventured to the bakery. At last owner Jennie Scheinbach removed “vegan” from the company name, signs and advertisements, and slowly experienced an increase in sales.
Other vegan bakeries have chosen not t deny their political message, like Danielle Konya who operate Vegan Treats, distributing her vegan baked goods in bags marked with “vegan” and “compassion never tasted so delicious.” Ms. Konya believes that covertly, vegan bakeries will accomplish little to change the world around them.
In the past vegan recipes used primitive means to replace animal products, such as tofu instead of eggs lending a ‘cakey’ taste to vegan foods. However new cooking methods have vastly improved the quality of vegan cooking, such as flax seeds, coconut oil and soy.
Though many people now agree that vegan baking has significantly approved, it seems that the negative connotation of vegan food is still instilled in many potential customers, prompting some vegan bakeries to adopt new ways of marketing their animal-product free food.
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