Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Naomi Oyegoke. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Naomi, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

The idea to start selling vegan food came to me about three years ago shortly after losing my father. I would always laugh thinking about how he called my meals “rabbit food.” Needless to say, he wasn’t vegan, but he was always pleasantly surprised at how tasty my vegan foods were and was so supportive of my decision to be vegan. I started the business, originally under the name Rooted Soul Food, dedicating the brand to my father and his mother. It was, and very much still is, a passion project.

In October 2019, I began serving my vegan food at pop-up events around San Antonio and even did a weekly kitchen take-over at the famous La Botanica, Texas’ first vegan restaurant. I was selling out quickly at each event and my lines were getting longer when Covid hit and shut everything down. Still, the demand for my dishes rose. Customers were reaching out to me through social media DM’s to request meals. I decided the best way to service clients was to freeze my popular vegan lasagnas and deliver them around town so people could reheat them on their own.

I was at home with two toddlers out of daycare because of the pandemic, and trying to find frozen, healthy vegan meals at the grocery store for easy family dinners. With limited options, I realized there was a gap in the market and an opportunity to switch gears to the frozen food industry. I knew that if I was looking for higher-quality, better-tasting, frozen vegan options, others must be, too.

It was at this time my husband Mike joined full time as co-owner. Together we turned my side hustle into a true frozen food manufacturing business. We rebranded as Rooted Vegan Cuisine, which officially celebrated a grand reopening in October 2020. Since then, the company has continued to grow, first offering vegan products in stores in San Antonio, then all across Texas, and just this month we announced our popular vegan lasagna is available for national shipping through the website:www.passthelasagna.com

We have received so much support – first locally and now nationwide – and are looking forward to continuing to expand and introduce new Rooted Vegan Cuisine offerings across the country.

Naomi, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I am the founder, co-owner and head chef of Rooted Vegan Cuisine. I am vegan and passionate about sharing healthy, delicious vegan cuisine with others. I first started serving vegan dishes at pop-up events and kitchen takeovers in San Antonio in October 2019, but when the pandemic hit, these events stopped and we switched gears to the frozen food industry where we felt there was an opportunity to offer healthier, tastier, vegan meals. My husband joined me full time as co-owner and we rebranded as Rooted Vegan Cuisine in October 2020. I am thrilled that we are now shipping our vegan lasagna nationally and will be introducing more frozen vegan dishes to ship nationwide next year. I am proud of the hand-crafted products we sell and I think the quality of our food really sets us apart from others. Rooted Vegan cuisine is filled with fresh ingredients, and none of the fillers or excessive oil found in many other vegan brands. I am excited to show people that eating vegan – even with the whole family – can be both easy and tasty.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Our brand was truly born as a result of the pandemic when we pivoted from serving hot food at events to becoming a frozen food brand. I had been serving my vegan food at pop-up events and restaurants, but Covid stopped all of that. During the pandemic, my customers were reaching out to me through social media to request my meals, so I began freezing my vegan lasagnas and delivering them around town. At the same time, I was home with my family trying to find frozen, healthy vegan meals at the grocery store and realizing there were limited options. I saw this as an opportunity knowing that if I was looking for higher-quality, better-tasting, frozen vegan options, others must be, too. Instead of letting the pandemic take down our business, we saw an opportunity to grow our business in a new direction. We are so proud that what started as a local business in San Antonio has now gone national. And, it’s only the beginning!

Okay – so how did you figure out the manufacturing part? Did you have prior experience?

We manufacture everything ourselves, but we had no experience in manufacturing prior to launching our brand. We initially thought frozen food manufacturing would be easier than food service, but we quickly realized that is far from the reality and this is a very challenging market to be in. We have learned so much and are continuing to learn about the frozen food industry and manufacturing as we grow.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.rootedvegancuisine.com
• Instagram: @rootedvegancuisine
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bD_MObd5VY&list=TLGGDCsiLH2AoaQwNTEyMjAyMg&t=2s

Image Credits
Rooted Vegan Cuisine