Innovation

While looking for an innovation at Veganized, our initial research failed to discern any truly new innovations. The restaurant itself seemed standard, operating like a normal restaurant would. So where is the special innovation? This is actually part of the charm of the restaurant. The restaurant’s principles and the way it applies them to itself is the innovation. Veganized believes in providing high quality and well-tasting food utilizing a vegan menu while also only using organic ingredients. The owner, Ron Biton talked to us about the numerous benefits of specializing in “plant protein” as well as his firm belief in his ideals as what is motivating him to continue with the restaurant.

The innovation emerged through Ron’s conversion to a belief in a vegan lifestyle and his passion to share what he believes with everyone else. This started 20 years ago when he switched to a vegan lifestyle and he started to cultivate his passion for cooking. His passion for business is what drove him to start the company, and his passion is what is motivating him to grow the company. He believed in starting this company while promoting the lifestyle that he believes in and making a profit. Ron started in New York, moved to New Jersey, and has plans to expand his business into areas like New York. He also has another idea, which would have one location in which he can send out food and supplies to other locations, like a nexus system. When asked about scaling Veganized, he states that “The concept that I am working on is a centralized kitchen, and we can do all of the prep here and then distribution can be done out of that to multiple locations…. Every community deserves to have a vegan, organic option.” We can see his purpose here again, as he talks about his reasoning for starting the company, and models his plan for growth in the upcoming years.

Inspiration

The start of running the restaurant that is natural plant-based resulted from the accumulated experience working in the service industry 20 years ago, as the owner of the establishment, Ron Biton, detailed. “You work in the restaurant, and you work with talented people in a good place that has excellent concepts, techniques and the layout inside and outside the industry. You learned basically and therefore are able to create your own.”

The initial inspiration came from the concern about the lack of organic vegan restaurants around the nearby area in New Brunswick and the increasing demand from customers due to the paucity of options for people who have this diet. Ron wondered whether he could start to operate a vegan organic based restaurant in New Brunswick to make it easier for people to find that option. With more information and knowledge being accessible to people, individuals are gradually changing their eating habits. They are starting to be more health-conscious. Therefore, they start incorporating more natural plant-based organic food through their diet. Given the prevailing trends toward organic ingredients, Ron wondered whether he could start to operate a vegan organic based restaurant to fulfill what consumers want and need. Therefore, he decided to start up and run such a the restaurant and found great success in the process.

The health benefits of vegan organic foods contributes to a resource-saving and environmental-friendly society. It works successfully by providing fresh, natural and organic ingredients. The restaurant not only provides organic food but also provides natural condiments and its take out containers are recyclable. Organic ingredients are better for the environment, requiring fewer resources and energy to grow. Ron commented “Automatically, when you look at the numbers statistically of how many sorts of livestock have been slaughtered each year, it is a huge drain on the system that requires a lot of resources, including water, fuel electricity, etc.”

Overall impact

Veganized in the owner’s and workers’ eyes benefits and impacts the environment and society in a number of ways. Although Sarah and Ron believe that Veganized impacts the environment in similar ways, they value some benefits over others. Veganized provides society with delicious and healthy food through the use of only pure, wholesome ingredients of the highest quality. They provide the community with a healthy vegan organic alternative restaurant, where they use local, seasonal and fair trade ingredients; this will in turn help to promote healthiness. This provides customers with a fully organic vegan menu that promotes healthy living and also promotes a menu in which there is no meat. Which in result leads to fewer animals being killed for food and less negative impact on the environment.

By doing so, the restaurant is producing fully organic food and making their customers aware of the benefits of eating organic vegan food. This can have a great long-term effect on society and can change the way regular Americans eat. They are also raising to the attention of consumers about what goes into their body and how organic food can positively impact their body. The very healthy menu that Veganized provides helps customers be more aware of the food they eat and helps promote a healthy lifestyle choice. Promoting healthy eating that tastes very good will lead to society eating healthier and paying attention to what they eat in the long run.

One quote that Sarah, a worker at Veganized, said was: “Society as a whole does not pay attention to what they put in their bodies which is resulting in bad health for a great number of people. This in result has even impacted the life expectancy of Americans because people do not pay enoz attention to what they eat. We at Veganized provide high-quality organic food that is good for the body. Raising awareness against all the chemicals that are in foods today and telling customers what they are putting into their body and how it benefits them”.

Business benefit

More and more people are switching over to a vegan lifestyle, and the demand for restaurants like this is rising. The location of Veganized near Rutgers University gives many young people access to the restaurant, who tend to eat out more. Overall their business will grow due to the increase in demand for vegan food, and the lack of vegan options elsewhere.

Social and environmental benefit

Veganized promotes a healthy lifestyle by using natural ingredients and is made fresh for the benefit of the customers. They use local food that is in season to help the environment and the businesses around them.

Interviews

Ron Biton, Owner

Sarah Mattessich, Server