The time has come for a show that focuses on the leaders creating solutions to the industries that are crippling our health and our economy: meat and dairy. The Plantbased Business Hour launched March 19, 2020. (For Sponsorship Opportunities, Click Here.)
I created the Plantbased Business Hour because, with the exception of Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods, targeted plant-based business and innovation news is missing in the mainstream media. Consumers and investors want news and insight as to how many are working to create a better future for us through their plantbased business models and products. On the Plantbased Business Hour, I talk to the plant-based business leaders who are working on the large-scale opportunity of creating a safer food supply for a safer future: plant-based foods.
Tune in to hear from venture capitalists, CEOs, inventors, analysts, entrepreneurs, start-ups, and even leaders in the traditional meat and dairy spaces who are launching new initiatives as they look towards progress and profitable new product lines. The Plantbased Business Hour airs LIVE on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 1p PT on the Elysabeth Alfano LinkedIn Live Page, The Elysabeth Alfano FB Live Page, and the JaneUnChained News Network FB Live Page. The Plantbased Business Hour is then featured on vegconomist-the vegan business magazine and reposted to the Elysabeth Alfano YouTube Channel. and the Plantbased Business Hour Podcast (Apple, Google, iHeart, Stitcher, Tune In, etc.) as an audio-only option. In addition, all video episodes are below. Please subscribe to the podcast.
Plantbased Business represents big money. Plant-based Business also represents big opportunity as it is the big solution. And we need just that. We need large-scale food supply solutions for our health, our economy and the health of the planet.
So join me LIVE on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 1p PT for the Plantbased Business Hour. Share your comments, questions and time with me and the business innovators and leaders creating a new future. The Plantbased Business Hour is the best way to keep your finger on the pulse of the dynamic, impact-oriented, money-making, plant-based business world!
FOR SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES, CLICK HERE. Subscribe to the podcast here.
May 28: What’s the Next Big Thing? Chris Kerr of Unovis Asset Managers / New Crop Capital has invested behind all the biggies: Beyond Meat, Miyoko’s, Alpha Foods, Kite Hill, Purple Carrot. Now, he lets us in on a secret: What’s NEXT! Plus, Chris divulges what he looks for in a company before he invests. Valuations, exit strategies and product extensions: we get into it all.
May 26: What if Default Veg was the norm? Founder of Farm Forward and DefaultVeg, and Co-Author of the Eating Animals screenplay and collaborator with Jonathan Safran Foer, Dr. Aaron Gross joins me on the Plantbased Business Hour. We discuss the lack of social distancing in factory farms, how they are breeding grounds for Pandemics-Swine Flu and Asian Bird Flu-and the oppression of animals, workers and farmers by multinational “farming” coporations. We also discuss the support these wealthy coporations receive via subdidies and legal protections.
May 19: What’s The Skinny on Vegan London? The Vurger Co. Founders Rachel Hugh and Neil Potts weigh in on London-town, reinventing themselves during social distancing, their commitment to sustainability and zero plastics and their predictions for the future. Grab your burger and settle in – The Plantbased Business Hour heads to London!
May 14: What will the future be for Beyond Meat? Chuck Muth, Chief Growth Officer, talks about expanding to China, protecting IP, building relationships in Europe, price parity with meat, and new products. If you are watching the Beyond Meat stock, you will want to listen in.
May 12: Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams gives a powerful interview on the public health benefits of a plant-based diet, the public health issues with NYC’s wet markets and what is takes to be a leader in a time of crisis. Raw, humble and direct, Adams talks about curing his type 2 diabetes and partial blindness with a plant-based diet and the economic impact of implementing plant-based lifestyle nutrition in hospitals and in schools. He is known for putting vegan meal options in schools, hospitals and prisons and implementing #MeatlessMondays in 1700 public NYC schools.
May 7: From Australia! Mad Scientists or Creative Geniuses? Jim Fuller and Chris McLoghlin of Fable Food Co. are making braised beef from mushrooms and it’s delish! The two discuss the business hurdles of getting global distribution, solid investors and reliable manufacturing partners…and the intelligence of mushrooms! Of course, we also eat Braised Beef over Noodles and Braised Pork with BBQ Sauce!
May 5: Seth Goldman, Former Executive Chairman of Beyond Meat, Founder of Honest Tea and Founder of Eat The Change and Jonah Goldman, Co-Founder of PLNT Burger, talk about conscious capitalism, #planetdelicious and price parity with meat!!
April 30: On the Plantbased Business Hour, Michiel van Deursen of Capital V joins me to discuss the three “F”s of investing. Tune in to hear his incredible life-affirming come back story that turned his world around and put him on the path to vegan investing. An early investor in The Vegetarian Butcher, as well as many established brands, Michiel shares the one thing that he is waiting for that isn’t yet to market.
April 28: Legal Eagle Carissa Kranz Talks U.S. Wet Markets, her legal petition in support of banning NY wet markets and her company BeVeg, which certifies companies as vegan in order to standardize the market. Carissa has been vegan since birth and, before becoming a lawyer and CEO of her own company, was a performing ballerina.
April 27: One of the most influential and dedicated figures in the Plantbased Business arena, Sebastiano Cossia Castiglioni joins me on the Plantbased Business Hour to discuss inefficient meat and dairy operations, solutions for change and feeding a growing population.
We also discuss working alongside meat and dairy to replace their product lines with plant-based alternatives and supporting vegan businesses and sanctuaries during Covid-19.
April 23: Can one app change the world? CEO Vikas Garg of abillionveg joins me on the Plantbased Business Hour to discuss how, through reviews, the direct feedback from customers to restaurants about their vegan options allows restaurants to do more and better vegan dishes, thus growing the market. abillionveg app also donates $1 per review to animal sanctuaries and allows consumers the chance for their voice to be heard while doing what they love most: taking pictures of food.
April 22: Founder of Tofurky, Seth Tibbott, dishes with me on the The Plantbased Business Hour on meat and dairy bailouts, Tofurky’s booming plant-based business, their new factory strategy during Covid-19, the delay of the Moocho Cheese launch and his book, In Search of the Wild Tofurky. Plus, Felipe Alvalos of Big Love Catering joins us to talk feeding first responders vegan meals from the kindness of his heart.
April 21: Rebecca Mink, Founder/Designer of Mink Shoes shares how she crafts her vegan luxury shoes in Italy, the passion behind the craft and how the Florence leather market is opening to vegan leather!
Rebecca makes vegan shoes for the stars and, in a step ahead of the markets, she is taking her luxury shoes direct to consumers with her custom boutique. Get your shoe obsession on! It’s Mink Shoes on the PlantBased Business Hour.
April 17: Slaughterhouse shutdowns, Burger King law suits, Physician Committee for Responsible Medicine takes on U.S. Wet Markets, The Mile High Vegan Network and the So Flo Vegan Summit. With coverage from JaneUnChained News Network and Vegconomist, I break down the vegan news with Courtney Garza of VegWorld Magazine on The Plantbased Business Hour.
April 15: Who is eating the most plant-based jerky around the country? It isn’t cowboys! CEO and Founder of It’s Jerky Y’all and All of Y’all’s Foods, Brett Christoffel, shares the pitfalls for entrepreneurs and the power of being mission driven. Get your Texan on, It’s Jerky Y’All!
April 13: 2020 is the year of Vegan Chicken! Mechanical Engineer and CEO of Rebellyous Foods, Christie Lagally, explains how she takes on the largest sector of the meat industry (Chicken) by creating a delicious chicken nugget that can scale up in volume and scale down in price to truly replace chicken production. She talks food and engineering the machinery for large scale production.
April 10: A NASA research gig turns into a discovery of a lifetime….will microbes feed the world? CEO of Nature’s Fynd, Thomas Jonas explains how all protein comes from plants and microbes and that microbes will become our efficient, nutritious, and prolific food supply of the future.
April 9: Co-CEO and Co-Founder of GoodDot (India), Abhishek Sinha joins me on the PLANTBASED BUSINESS HOUR to discuss veganism in India, the cultural pros and cons to embracing same and GoodDot’s exploding business beyond Asia.
April 8: Is it enough to buy plant-based items when our tax dollars support meat and dairy subsidies? If meat and dairy is propped up by subsidies giving them unfair competitivie advantage, are we really a capitalist economy? Connie Spence of Agriculture Fairness Alliance and the Vegan Justice League Explains.
April 7: Jeffrey Harris, Co-CEO and Co-Founder of Plant Power Fast Food joins me on the PLANTBASED BUSINESS HOUR to talk about sales during Coronavirus, the beauty of a dedicated, loyal customer base and what he does in the face of fear. For a dose of inspiration and motivation, listen in!
April 6: Lisa Feria of Stray Dog Capital joins me on the Plantbased Business Hour to discuss plantbased bacon, vegan foods tasting better than their counterparts and the most important skill for an entrepreneur.
April 2: The Queen of Cheese, Miyoko Schinner of Miyoko’s Creamery joins me to discuss health and cruelty issues with dairy and the struggling industry. In addition, we discuss her mission that is a company, Miyoko’s new cheddar cheese, the impetus for starting a cheese dynasty and the reality that is the rapid growth of plantbased dairy. To inform the USDA that you do NOT want dairy to be recommended as a health food on its nutritional guidelines, visit this link:http://bit.ly/2Qp1SU6
April 1: What’s the next Big (Plantbased) Idea? Andrew Ive, General Partner and Founder of Big Idea Ventures shares the secret, but here’s a hint: it isn’t food. Watch and listen in to find out!
March 31: Lou Cooperhouse, CEO and President of BlueNalu, joins me to discuss the impending reality of cellular aquaculture, changing consumer habits and demands, the waste, inefficiency, cruelty and environmental biproduct of fishing and fish farms and the worldwide rising demand for fish. This is the future! Listen in.
March 30: Ryan Bethencourt, Founder of Wild Earth Pet Foods and Co-Author of The Clean Pet Food Revolution: How Better Pet Food Will Change the World, joins me to discuss how our pet food industry props up factory farming and how much of the pet food consists of dead, diseased, disabled and dying animal contributing to the spread of disease. We also talk about the changing landscape of investing in plantbased start-ups. Finally, Dr. Jeff Schaider, Former Chariman of the Department of Emergency Health at one of the largest emergency rooms in the country, Cook County in Chicago, talks about Coronavirus, testing and managing supplies.
March 27: How Are Vegan Restaurants Surviving During COVID-19 Crisis? Andrew Kalish of Sam & Gertie’s and Kāl’ish and Jennie Plasterer of Kitchen 17 are two of very few Chicago vegan restaurants which have not closed…in fact they have reinvented themselves, forging ahead with new business models to keep vegan food, their businesses and hope alive. Tune in to listen to these two business leaders braving the frontlines of Coronavirus!
Tuesday, March 24, 2020. Firecracker and Powerhouse Rachel Konrad of Impossible Foods joins me on The Plantbased Business Hour to discuss Impossible Pork, the expected swift shift of consumer food trends and if an IPO is in the future. Rachel also explains in great detail how studies show that people don’t like to have their food coming from dead carcasses.
Monday, March 23, 2020. Claire Smith, CEO of Beyond Investing and Chairwoman of Beyond Animal, talks about the bottleneck with bank loans for vegan businesses.
March 20: Founder of Before the Butcher and current Presiplant of #UnCut Burgers, Danny O’Malley joins me to discuss 1) how being acquired has helped his company weather the Coronavirus, 2) if grocers are considering plant-based meats when meat supplies have run out, and 3) if we have come to a saturation point for plant-based burgers.
Marh 19: First up is Curt Albright of Clear Current Captial. Curt and I discuss 1) the power of impact investing, 2) the contract manufacturing deficit for plant-based businesses and 3) the individual potency of the consumer. Watch below and share.
Below are business interviews that inspired me to start the Plant-based Business Hour.
2020: David Yeung on China’s Growing Interest in Plant-based
2020: Jim Richards of Milkadamia onThe End of Dairy
2020: Shark Tank’s Mrs. Goldfarb from UnReal Deli
2019: Plant Power Ventures and Veggie Grill Co-Founder on Predictions for a Plant-based Economy
2019: CEO of Greenleaf Foods (Lightlife and Field Roast), Dan Curtin on Celebrating 40 Years of Lightlife
2019: Josh Tetrick of Eat JUST Distributing Plant-based Eggs Around the World
2018: Good Food Institute’s Director of Innovation, Brad Barbera
2018: Aidan Altman and Andrew McClure are intent on making animal butter obsolete!
2018: Ethan Brown Launches Beyond Sausage (in my kitchen)
2018: Upton’s Natural Founder Daniel Stackmann and VP Nicole Sopko on the Vegan Economy.
2017: Citibank Exec Phillip Wollen on the Mathematical Imperative for Going Vegan
In addition to the Plantbased Business Hour, a series in my overall Awesome Vegan Influencer Series podcast, I continue with my weekly radio show. The Elysabeth Alfano Show airs every Sunday 4p ET live on the WCGO-Chicago, WCGORadio.com, The Smart Talk Radio Network, The JaneUnChained News Network, Vegan Magazine and Alexa. To hear more of The Elysabeth Alfano Show, click here.
And please, help me make the first and only syndicated plant-based radio show in the nation a huge success! Tell YOUR local station to pick up The Elysabeth Alfano Show, available across the nation through the Smart Talk Radio Network or by contacting me at Elysabeth at Elysabeth@ElysabethAlfano.com.
SUBSCRIBE to The Elysabeth Alfano Show on iTunes and to my Youtube Channel, Elysabeth Alfano. Be sure to subscribe to my monthly newsletter so you never miss a Facebook Live interview session or live cooking demos. Plus, don’t forget to stay in touch on Instagram and Twitter.
Thank you, also, to VegFund for supporting this podcast! In addition to my weekly Sunday radio show (4p ET on WCGO) you can catch me live on WGN Radio, WCPT Radio, WLS Radio and periodically on WGN-TV, WCIU-TV, iHeart Radio, Good Morning LALALand, Bagels Over Broadway, Splash Magazine Worldwide and NPR’s KCRW as a plant-based expert.
