We were lucky to catch up with Brian Trupo recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Brian thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?

Trupo Treats started when co-founder Brian Trupo walked into Whole Foods and couldn’t find any chocolate that was milk chocolate instead of dark chocolate and clearly labeled “vegan.” So, he called up Charlie, his twin brother, and they started Trupo Treats. Trupo Treats is a vegan milk chocolate company that is dedicated to making ethical and delicious plant-based chocolate products while also donating proceeds to animal sanctuaries.

The Trupo Twins, have been vegetarians since they were 7 and 8 years old. Their story starts on a Thanksgiving as they waited for dinner to begin at a family friend’s house. When they found out that their family friends’ parents were out hunting for the dinner that they were about to eat, it resonated with them that the food they were so used to eating was actually the body of an animal who was killed for it. After that moment, Charlie became a vegetarian, and Brian followed suit less than a year later.

The Trupo Twins then became more aware of the cruelty involved in the dairy, egg, and honey industry, and Charlie became a vegan and stopped consuming any animal products at age 15. Four years later, Brian decided to also become a vegan after watching documentaries on Netflix like “Cowspiracy,” “What the Health,” and “Earthlings.”

Ever since, Brian and Charlie have had a passion to spread the vegan word and promote animal liberation. They first created their page “Veggie Brothers” on Instagram in August 2018, which was a stepping stone into their creation of Trupo Treats.

Brian , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Pretty much described it in the last response!

I want to make being vegan FUN! That’s ultimately why I started Trupo Treats, to bring back nostalgic chocolate products while also being kind to the people, planet, and animals.

We are basically a social cause who sells chocolate. We want to make an impact in this world and give back to environmental causes as well as animal sanctuaries. We hope to end slave labor in the chocolate industry and also make being an ethical business a norm.

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

My co-founder is actually my twin brother, Charlie. I am constantly pitching business ideas to him and he never liked them. One day, I pitched him on dairy-free milk chocolate and he loved the idea. His eyes glowed up and I could tell he thought this was a good idea. Two months later, we launched a Kickstarter for our vegan rice crunch bar and the rest is history! We used all of our social media followers from our previous account called Veggie Brothers, and marketed our plant-based and delicious chocolate bars to them. They helped us launch our business with almost $27k in sales in the first month! We were still in college when this all happened so it was very exciting for us.

What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?

I believe that the biggest skillset is learning how to sell something and also figuring out what people want. Emotional intelligence is HUGELY needed to be a successful entrepreneur. All my life, I sold a variety of things ranging from protein powder to football jerseys to towels and so on! I remember selling Florida Gator jerseys out of my fraternity house at the University of Florida (shoutout to SigEp). Everyone thought I was crazy for doing this but this is ultimately what helped me believe I could start a bigger business on my own. A couple years later, I started Trupo Treats, and slowly but surely it is turning into a national brand.

Contact Info:

• Website: trupotreats.com
• Instagram: @trupobrian and @trupotreats
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/btrupo/