049: The Ethics of Vegan and Plant Based Businesses (Elysabeth Alfano)

When you don't see enough in mainstream media that shines a positive light on the vegan movement, you take matters into your own hands. That's how Elysabeth Alfano came to create The Plant Based Business Hour AND The Plant Based Business Minute. Both are designed to raise awareness about the business of veganism.   There is no doubt, Elysabeth is sitting on the right side of history. Yet, she will be the first to say the direction of her business picked her. After receiving degrees from Northwestern and from The Thunderbird School of Global Management, Elysabeth Alfano started her career in Brand Marketing with Special K and Frosted Mini Wheats at The Kellogg Company.  She then successfully ran her own international company before exiting and focusing on investing.  In 2019, she started Plant Powered Consulting to help brands launch and succeed by solidifying branding, growing brand awareness and voice, and carving out market share. Citing clients such as vegconomist-the vegan business magazine, vKind, The Vegan Museum and Change Foods, Elysabeth has been with Passion Placement since the early days building.   She focuses on marketing and media strategies, assisting with client relations and connections in the plant-based landscape, and, along with Plant Powered Consulting Team Member, Jackie Lutze, developing and executing the branded social media platforms. A seasoned speaker and writer, Elysabeth combines her business acumen, journalism and on-camera skills to host her podcast show as well as appearing on shows. After interviewing athletes, business people and other professionals, her focus shifted to the world of veganism and plant based lifestyles. Knowing that veganism is right at our front door, Elysabeth is part of the movement that is going through radical shifts moving forward. Ever the optimist, Elysabeth believes the silver lining of the COVID pandemic is that people are taking more personal responsibility for their health and how they spend their dollars. There is more concern about the animals. Corporations are becoming more responsible when it comes to the environment. More food manufacturers are rolling out plant based and vegan choices. With Elysabeth's marketing and media acumen, companies contract her to help them achieve their goals more efficiently in time and money invested. Opportunities in business With an eye on what is coming, Elysabeth says there is a huge amount of growth potential for those wanting to move into the industry. Many plant-based meat products are being introduced to market as are plant-based seafood choices. With vegans being only 3% of society, the majority of growth with plant-based businesses is from meat eaters. There is a lot of room within the industry for those who specialize in nutrition. Other trends are more cruelty free cosmetics, clothing, furniture, being introduced to market. Cruelty free is humane and does not involve experimentation on animals in product development. According to Alfano, younger consumers are very values driven. They are holding corporations responsible for the actions they take. Mission aligned companies are growing with a focus on the health of the customers. This aligns perfectly with meal delivery programs that are focused on healthy food choices. Going Vegan For someone considering going vegan, there are a number of ways to achieve this. Elysabeth recommends that you shift your mindset to one of adding healthy foods to your diet rather than looking at what you are giving up. In reality, you have more choice with a vegan diet than most diets that include any type of meat or dairy. Regardless of whether you move in degrees, or immediately jump in with both feet, the first step is to get rid of meat and dairy. This is the most important step you can take. From there, do your research. Follow experts within the industry to get a handle on healthy food choices. And most of all, realize this is a process. www.elysabethalfano.com https://twitter.com/ElysabethAlfano https://www.linkedin.com/in/elysabeth-alfano-8b370b7/ https://www.facebook.com/elysabethalfano1  Elysabeth @ elysabethalfano.com  Ready to get started? Check out all the amazing recipes from Elysabeth. www.elysabethalfano.com/recipes