We recently connected with Meagan Benz and have shared our conversation below.
Meagan, appreciate you joining us today. Looking back, what’s an important lesson you learned at a prior job?
Working in a kitchen as a pastry chef for someone else taught me a lot before venturing out to launch my own business, both in what to do and what NOT to do. I learned the importance of working with both of my hands at the same time instead of just one, efficiency is everything in the kitchen. I also learned that being in a dedicated relationship with the labor of costing out your food is crucial to business success. I saw the restaurant I was working for continuously lose money due to a lack of thorough work on costing the food the chef was making. I ran the numbers on pastries I was producing to make sure they were profitable, but given my percentage of product sold was comparably small to the food the chef was making, the restaurant was consistently selling product at a loss, which eventually lead to a closure. This lesson seams obvious, but a lot of people get into the business of running a restaurant/cafe/bakery/etc because they love making the food, and aren’t necessarily equipped to handle the business side of things. I have had to learn a LOT about how to make sure what we are doing is propelling us forward, and if you aren’t prepared to do a lot of math and analyze countless spreadsheets, you should find yourself a partner to help who does!
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
Crust is an all-vegan bakery that provides pastries to the Philadelphia area, completely free from animal products. Customers choose us for various reasons, including ethical veganism, health-conscious plant-based diets, or specific dietary restrictions due to allergies. Additionally, we attract customers who may not fit into these categories but simply love our products. To further accommodate various dietary needs, many of our baked goods are nut-free, soy-free, and, whenever possible, gluten-free. Our dedication to addressing common allergies has garnered recognition in the community, allowing us to expand our product lines while maintaining affordability and quality for our customers.
Many customers return year after year for birthday cakes for their children who are allergic to eggs, allowing them to celebrate with a cake they can enjoy. Since our offerings are naturally free from dairy and eggs, we also make an effort to avoid nuts and soy to accommodate even more common allergens. Parents frequently come to us for treats for their child’s classroom, confident that we provide safe options for children with allergies. Furthermore, we are one of the few places in the city where customers can enjoy vegan soft serve ice cream, with a rotating selection of seasonal flavors, bringing joy to those who may not have had this treat elsewhere.
We also offer full-service catering and are among the few bakeries in Philadelphia that provide a complete wedding planning package for dessert-related needs. Many vegan couples trust us for their dessert selections, sure that their guests will love the treats and not notice any difference between our vegan cakes and traditional ones.
Crust was born from a love for baking and a mission to make sustainably produced, high-quality vegan pastries accessible to the Philadelphia community and beyond, with our values deeply integrated into the brand. From the start, we prioritized sustainability initiatives, and as we have grown, we have continually sought new ways to reduce our environmental footprint. While producing food on a large scale is expensive, we have deliberately avoided typical cost-cutting measures like using non-eco-friendly packaging, sourcing ingredients from distant locations, and relying on single-use items, even when these options are cheaper. By eliminating animal ingredients from everything we create, we do not support animal agriculture, which we oppose due to its cruel and inhumane practices against humans, animals, and the planet. Our goal is to minimize our impact on the environment while saving animal lives, and our continued growth aligns with these objectives.
Another core pillar of Crust’s ethos stems from my years working in toxic kitchen environments with inequitable hiring practices. I wanted to create a space in the food industry that prioritizes safety and support for staff, ensuring that every employee is valued for their contributions. After witnessing the unjust treatment of coworkers in previous kitchen jobs, I felt motivated to build a kitchen environment where respect and equity are non-negotiable.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
My greatest accomplishment in running Crust is my perseverance in the face of daunting challenges. Over the past 10 years, we began as a wholesale and catering bakery for the first five years. I was initially hesitant about opening a storefront, fearful of the many associated challenges—hiring, training, mastering new equipment, and dealing with potential failures.
When the pandemic hit in 2020, I faced a harsh reality as all catering jobs were canceled, and our wholesale clients closed. To keep my staff employed, I knew I had to pivot. We found a nearby storefront for rent, negotiated a lease, signed in July and and opened our doors by September. Despite my reluctance, the necessity to face my fears and take this step was crucial for our survival. This move allowed us to bring back our entire staff safely; we utilized the second kitchen and storefront to ensure proper distancing as per COVID guidelines. As our new location gained popularity, we were able to expand our team and manage shifts effectively. We saw our revenue almost double from 2020 to 2021.
Since that pivotal moment in 2020, I have not only saved the business from closing during a global pandemic but also learned invaluable lessons in leadership and support for my team. The overwhelming nature of navigating these changes often prevented me from showing up as my best self, but each challenge became an opportunity for growth in my management practices.
How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?
Crust started out with no outside funding, just the savings of me and my former business partner and the dedication to work whatever hours we had to in order to make it work. We each put in $2,500 into a baby business bank account and hit the ground running. We both had full time day jobs and worked in the bakery nights and weekends in a shared kitchen space with lots of shared equipment to keep our costs low. We got a great deal on rent since we were willing to work overnight, and we didn’t have to pay ourselves since we had the day job to keep us paid. We reached out to coffee shops and coops all across Philly with bountiful sample boxes and pricing lists to acquire new customers, and we relied on social media and word of mouth to bring in catering orders. We also signed up for every weekend market we could sell pastries at to continue to spread the word about Crust and to get our product into the hands of everyone we could.
After the first year my then business partner left her job and began taking a measly wage from the bakery, six months later I did the same. Slowly we added new members to the team, churning out as much as we could with a small team of four. This allowed us to continue to add money to the bank without any debt, which eventually meant we saved enough money to fund a move into our own full time kitchen that we were able to outfit with all of our own equipment!
Ten years later and I am officially taking on a big loan in order to expand Crust into a new retail space with seating, espresso, made to order food, and more! Building a solid reputation for the bakery over the past decade and being more business smart with the experience I have gained, this gave me the confidence to take out an SBA loan to fund Crust’s next plan for growth. Obtaining an SBA loan was an uphill battle that required a LOT of work and time. It required me to be extremely detail oriented and knowledgable of the financial health of the business. I came up with a new business plan for this proposed growth opportunity and applied for funding in a multitude of places before I settled on a loan that fit our needs. Waiting to take on a significant amount of debt to fund growth plans helped me to make decisions that felt safe and thoughtful, something that was necessary for me to feel prepared to make the jump.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.crustveganbakery.com
- Instagram: crustveganbakery
