We were lucky to catch up with Oscar Narvaez recently and have shared our conversation below.

Oscar, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

The story behind my mission is one of food and accepting the love of it. Growing up I always liked food and therefore struggled with weight gain. When I became vegan in 2011 I realized I had to change the way I ate and that involved me becoming more involved in the food I ate. One of the first items I veganized was scones. Time passed and one day someone that knew I baked vegan scones, invited me to sell my vegan scones at a market in the neighborhood of Pilsen, in Chicago, for a holiday market. I became vegan in 2011 after watching a documentary called Earthlings narrated by Joaquin Phoenix, Watching this documentary made me analyze and thing about the way I eat and how every decision I make when I buy food has a consequence. In short, I became vegan because I hate to see animals getting hurt and mistreated for the sake of human vanity. Necessity is one thing but in industrialized countries, I believe eating animals is a matter of choice in many instances. This alone made me realize that producing high quality vegan food can have an effect in the way we produce our food. This leads me to the mission of my business which is to change one bite at a time the way people eat by proving that vegan food does not have to be tasteless or of an inferior quality just for the mere reason that it lacks animal ingredients. I strongly believe vegan food can surpass conventional flavors when done with passion and effort. So, I have made it my mission to change the way we all eat by making delicious vegan food anybody can enjoy, vegan or not.

Oscar, 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?

Well, since I was a child I have always had a love for food and thus I have always struggled with weight gain. It was not until I became vegan that I realized that my love for bread and carbs in general have always made chunky. So what got me into the food industry was the fact that when I became vegan, I struggled finding things to eat so I started making my own vegan foods. Among those foods were scones. So, one day a friend of the family asked me if I wanted to participate in a little holiday market in Pilsen, Chicago selling my scones and that’s when I noticed the world needed vegan scones in their lives. Since then, I have developed many recipes along the way. Nowadays we have our store front in Ravinia, Highland Park, Illinois and here we provide a wide variety of vegan products like scones, biscuits, conchas (a Mexican bread,) cookies, donuts, cinnamon rolls and many products that are usually found at bakeries. At The Chunky Scone, we are able to offer vegan products that are hardly found anywhere else for miles. However, what truly sets us apart from others is the heart and passion we put into the foods we create. All of our bread flour is organic and we use sourdough to make anything bread related like pizzas, cinnamon rolls, bread, donuts, beignets, conchas, and anything that is made with instant yeast nowadays, we make with sourdough which is more flavorful, natural, and delicious. What I am most proud of about my company is the fact that we offer a wide variety of products y0u normally would not find anywhere else. From pies, to scones, pizza, soup, wraps, ice cream, sandwiches, bread, cakes, you name it, we almost can do it all. My company is versatile and we always experiment to keep coming up with new products and new flavors and I think that alone sets me apart from all other companies that keep doing the same thing over and over again.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

I think what helped me build The Chunky Scones and its reputation is my hard work, effort, and commitment to veganism and myself. I strongly believe in what I do and there is no hesitation from my part in the sense that in order for anyone to change the way we eat we have to start from the production side of things. If we are able to produce foods that are vegan but that anyone can enjoy, then we are slowly making a change. Change will not happen overnight. It will take decades for things to change completely but I am hopeful and positive that me and other vegan food entrepreneurs can slowly change the food industry. We have to remain positive, resilient, and keep committed to the cause of veganism and compassion for all beings.

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

I think the most effective strategy to grow a clientele is to be consistent with the product/s you make and to always fulfill any orders that are due for customers or other wholesale clients. It also helps to always be kind and understanding of everyone’s circumstances and that not always everything will be according to plan. At times, one must improvise to make customers and clients happy.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.thechunkyscones.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/thechunkyscone
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/thechunkyscones