WEBVTT - Beef wellington without the beef? A plant-based butcher is serious | EP 2 0:00:00.040 --> 0:00:01.500 This is a C. N. A. 0:00:01.500 --> 0:00:02.259 Podcast. 0:00:03.840 --> 0:00:05.890 Welcome 0:00:05.890 --> 0:00:09.890 back to the climate conversations with me julie you. It's 0:00:09.890 --> 0:00:13.260 no secret that the meat industry is a big polluter 0:00:13.640 --> 0:00:16.770 research shows that if cows were a nation would be 0:00:16.770 --> 0:00:20.430 the third largest greenhouse gas emitter every bite of the 0:00:20.430 --> 0:00:24.570 burger boost harmful greenhouse gasses. And yet one of life's 0:00:24.570 --> 0:00:28.480 greatest pleasures for some is sinking our teeth into a 0:00:28.490 --> 0:00:30.050 juicy burger. 0:00:30.240 --> 0:00:34.150 We know swapping to plant based meats would produce 90% 0:00:34.150 --> 0:00:39.690 fewer harmful emissions than regular beef burgers. Yes, 90%. There's 0:00:39.690 --> 0:00:43.080 a big business opportunity. And over the years a range 0:00:43.080 --> 0:00:46.820 of companies have sprung up offering plant based meats. The 0:00:46.830 --> 0:00:50.470 big hitters are impossible. Foods and beyond meat were valued 0:00:50.470 --> 0:00:55.070 at billions today. Yet there's space for smaller players catering 0:00:55.070 --> 0:00:56.160 to local tastes. 0:00:56.740 --> 0:01:00.080 The love handle? A local brand aims to be Asia's 0:01:00.090 --> 0:01:04.160 first plant based butcher with the largest curation of plant 0:01:04.160 --> 0:01:09.060 based meats, dairy and condiments that the business case is strong. 0:01:09.240 --> 0:01:12.620 But what would convince a meat eating population to switch 0:01:12.630 --> 0:01:15.890 to meatless alternatives and how does a chef deal with 0:01:15.890 --> 0:01:19.920 cooking a beef wellington without the beef with me in 0:01:19.920 --> 0:01:23.370 the studio today is celebrity chef and co founder of 0:01:23.370 --> 0:01:27.120 love handle at least 10 minutes. Welcome. Thanks for joining us. 0:01:27.130 --> 0:01:28.260 Thanks for having me. 0:01:28.640 --> 0:01:32.470 You know, a plant based butcher is quite an oxymoron, 0:01:32.470 --> 0:01:34.819 isn't it? To say the least your meat loving friends 0:01:34.819 --> 0:01:37.259 dismiss you off hand. What's your go to line when 0:01:37.260 --> 0:01:37.929 that happens 0:01:39.190 --> 0:01:42.160 man, I have so many friends 0:01:42.540 --> 0:01:43.760 and 0:01:44.240 --> 0:01:46.180 usually when I tell him that I run a plant 0:01:46.180 --> 0:01:47.450 based butcher, they're like 0:01:47.940 --> 0:01:48.860 firstly, 0:01:49.240 --> 0:01:53.600 what the heck is it? And secondly I'm never going there. 0:01:53.610 --> 0:01:58.070 It's almost normal for me to get that sort of feedback. 0:01:58.080 --> 0:02:00.360 But because I have beers in my shop, 0:02:01.440 --> 0:02:02.760 people come anyway 0:02:03.320 --> 0:02:04.250 and 0:02:04.640 --> 0:02:06.850 when they come they're like, oh, you know, it's something 0:02:06.850 --> 0:02:10.070 to eat. So they start with like fries for example, right, 0:02:10.080 --> 0:02:12.350 fries is naturally vegan, right? 0:02:12.740 --> 0:02:15.640 But then we have nuggets on our menu and then 0:02:15.639 --> 0:02:17.530 they tried the nuggets and they're like, oh my 0:02:17.530 --> 0:02:19.010 God, 0:02:19.020 --> 0:02:20.260 this doesn't taste like 0:02:20.639 --> 0:02:21.750 it's plant based, right? 0:02:22.240 --> 0:02:22.959 And then 0:02:23.540 --> 0:02:27.030 they slowly progress and they go through the whole menu 0:02:27.040 --> 0:02:28.160 and they're like, well 0:02:28.940 --> 0:02:30.360 this is not so bad after all, 0:02:30.370 --> 0:02:31.520 I'm coming back here again. 0:02:31.530 --> 0:02:34.620 Yeah, exactly. So it's usually the case and it's what 0:02:34.620 --> 0:02:36.370 we do at love handles or it's what I try 0:02:36.370 --> 0:02:41.380 to achieve. It's like a low barrier of entry for 0:02:41.389 --> 0:02:43.660 enemy lovers to want to try. 0:02:44.040 --> 0:02:45.440 Time is cuisine. 0:02:45.450 --> 0:02:47.970 You used to love me. So tell us a bit 0:02:47.970 --> 0:02:50.800 more about love handle. How are you disrupting the food industry? 0:02:50.810 --> 0:02:53.060 So when I first started love handle, we started as 0:02:53.060 --> 0:02:56.410 a burger joint. I only wanted to do like dirty 0:02:56.419 --> 0:03:00.560 greasy vegan burgers because back then the scene 0:03:00.940 --> 0:03:05.790 in Singapore plant based means it's healthy. It's very wholesome. 0:03:05.800 --> 0:03:09.680 It's very clean eating and I could see why that 0:03:09.690 --> 0:03:14.350 diet would throw people off and plant based whatever. So 0:03:14.350 --> 0:03:17.760 I wanted to firstly break the idea 0:03:18.040 --> 0:03:21.040 that plant based food is a certain way and then 0:03:21.040 --> 0:03:22.060 we sort of just 0:03:22.240 --> 0:03:23.260 evolved 0:03:23.740 --> 0:03:27.380 over the years, as of course, the primary scene started growing. 0:03:27.389 --> 0:03:30.160 We sort of grew with the scene and 0:03:30.620 --> 0:03:31.710 then there were a lot of these 0:03:32.240 --> 0:03:36.020 alternative meat companies that are coming up and then they all, 0:03:36.020 --> 0:03:37.660 who would approach us and they're like, hey, can you 0:03:37.660 --> 0:03:40.770 take my product, here's some samples. So I ended up 0:03:40.770 --> 0:03:43.400 with a bunch of samples in my fridge, it was 0:03:43.410 --> 0:03:45.600 overcrowding my freezer and I was like, okay, I have 0:03:45.600 --> 0:03:46.550 all these products, 0:03:46.940 --> 0:03:49.140 what can I do with it? So the idea of 0:03:49.140 --> 0:03:54.130 opening a plant based butcher showcasing different alternatives and just 0:03:54.140 --> 0:03:58.990 give that kind of options to the general public. We 0:03:58.990 --> 0:04:00.760 were sort of filling up a gap. 0:04:01.140 --> 0:04:05.020 If you go to like your supermarkets in Singapore now, 0:04:05.030 --> 0:04:09.260 you see maybe a standard range of products, right? 0:04:09.640 --> 0:04:13.059 It's usually less than a handful of different brands, but 0:04:13.070 --> 0:04:14.680 if you come to a shop then you have the 0:04:14.680 --> 0:04:16.690 whole curated butcher display. 0:04:16.700 --> 0:04:18.900 What are we talking about here? What kind of range 0:04:18.910 --> 0:04:20.560 man talking about? Like 0:04:20.940 --> 0:04:25.860 chicken, We're talking about beef, steak, we have rundown that's 0:04:25.860 --> 0:04:29.169 prepared and ready to go. We have sausages, we have 0:04:29.170 --> 0:04:31.859 minced meat, we have wellington, 0:04:32.240 --> 0:04:35.420 we make in house sauces, mayonnaise. 0:04:35.430 --> 0:04:40.099 So I wonder who your customers are, Are they mostly vegans, 0:04:40.100 --> 0:04:43.160 vegetarians full on meat eaters looking for alternatives. 0:04:43.640 --> 0:04:45.420 So I think this is where it gets really interesting 0:04:45.430 --> 0:04:51.260 because we've never really marketed ourselves as vegan actually vegan 0:04:51.260 --> 0:04:54.430 is a word we try not to use if anything, 0:04:54.430 --> 0:04:57.440 we just say plant based, right? So if a table 0:04:57.440 --> 0:05:02.620 of four comes in, usually it's one vegan or two 0:05:02.630 --> 0:05:03.260 mos 0:05:03.440 --> 0:05:04.849 the rest of the gates are just 0:05:05.140 --> 0:05:08.310 meat eaters. I think it's a place where vegans and 0:05:08.310 --> 0:05:10.279 non vegans can come together and have a good meal 0:05:10.279 --> 0:05:13.320 and not feel like they're missing out on their meat 0:05:13.330 --> 0:05:17.150 because you know how many meters b like I need 0:05:17.150 --> 0:05:23.089 my protein any mind or my steak. So when you 0:05:23.089 --> 0:05:25.790 come to love and you don't feel like eating plants basically, 0:05:25.800 --> 0:05:29.240 that's interesting. So why do regulars keep coming back and 0:05:29.240 --> 0:05:31.659 what are the most important factors that consumers 0:05:31.839 --> 0:05:34.490 look for when choosing alternative meat products? 0:05:34.570 --> 0:05:37.070 I think the first thing is taste, it was washed 0:05:37.070 --> 0:05:37.750 down to, 0:05:38.140 --> 0:05:40.280 does it taste good? Of course we can't really call 0:05:40.279 --> 0:05:43.760 it chicken. If it doesn't taste like chicken, but if 0:05:43.760 --> 0:05:44.650 it tastes good 0:05:45.040 --> 0:05:45.670 then 0:05:46.240 --> 0:05:48.720 people will eat it. And I think that's the main 0:05:48.730 --> 0:05:50.460 thing that we focus on love handle. And 0:05:51.040 --> 0:05:53.460 also I feel white people keep coming back. It's because 0:05:53.460 --> 0:05:55.150 they don't feel like we are 0:05:55.640 --> 0:06:00.000 pushy or greenwashing anybody. But for us it's really just 0:06:00.000 --> 0:06:00.460 about 0:06:00.940 --> 0:06:01.750 the food. 0:06:02.140 --> 0:06:06.270 It's really just about convenience allowing you to bring back 0:06:06.279 --> 0:06:08.840 your meat from the butcher and cook it at home 0:06:08.850 --> 0:06:12.610 cooking for your family or for your vegan girlfriend or 0:06:12.610 --> 0:06:13.270 whatever it 0:06:13.279 --> 0:06:14.570 is this pricing issue. 0:06:14.580 --> 0:06:18.549 Well, yes, but I believe as the demand 0:06:18.640 --> 0:06:22.240 goes up, supply goes up and price will drop, but 0:06:22.250 --> 0:06:25.610 we're not even that pricey right now. I would compare 0:06:25.610 --> 0:06:28.710 us with premium meats, definitely not the meat you get 0:06:28.710 --> 0:06:31.450 in your wet market, but if you go to like 0:06:31.460 --> 0:06:35.900 Uber's or whatever butchery, right, we're priced about the same 0:06:35.910 --> 0:06:38.229 as I understand. The majority of your products have been 0:06:38.230 --> 0:06:42.850 developed in house over the years. How do you recreate meat? 0:06:42.940 --> 0:06:46.480 Not just any meat, but tasty meat that looks and 0:06:46.480 --> 0:06:50.460 feels like it without involving animals. And how are they 0:06:50.470 --> 0:06:51.610 made of? Exactly. 0:06:53.240 --> 0:06:57.539 Technology has sort of advanced over the years, five years ago, 0:06:57.540 --> 0:06:59.450 six years ago. If you 0:07:00.339 --> 0:07:04.359 ask someone to eat a vegetarian meal, it's pretty hard 0:07:04.740 --> 0:07:08.770 and it's pretty gross because your local vegetarian stores, I 0:07:08.770 --> 0:07:11.400 mean some people like it but it's very just like 0:07:11.410 --> 0:07:13.160 it's gluten and it's whatever. 0:07:13.840 --> 0:07:18.440 But now because of this technology, there's like high moisture extrusion. 0:07:18.450 --> 0:07:21.760 There is different kinds of products or techniques 0:07:22.140 --> 0:07:28.070 to recreate this texture, like tvp textured vegetable protein from soy. 0:07:28.080 --> 0:07:31.750 People use cognac to make seafood. So I think it's 0:07:31.760 --> 0:07:34.760 a lot of creativity and these products are actually already 0:07:34.760 --> 0:07:38.700 out there. It's just that now with technology we can 0:07:38.700 --> 0:07:39.060 sort of 0:07:39.440 --> 0:07:42.570 play around with the texture and make it as close 0:07:42.570 --> 0:07:45.429 to rumi as possible and then the flavoring, it all 0:07:45.430 --> 0:07:46.160 just comes. 0:07:46.940 --> 0:07:48.830 Usually for me, I try to think of a dish 0:07:48.830 --> 0:07:51.990 that I want to make for example, chicken, rice, I 0:07:51.990 --> 0:07:54.790 think about the texture of the chicken. I think about 0:07:54.800 --> 0:07:56.800 the flavor of the chicken. Okay, well what can I 0:07:56.800 --> 0:08:00.460 put in this meat that makes it feel like 0:08:00.840 --> 0:08:01.610 chicken rice 0:08:01.680 --> 0:08:03.920 science is fascinating. So 0:08:03.920 --> 0:08:08.110 it's science. It's flavor is a lot of R. And D. 0:08:08.120 --> 0:08:10.990 We make a pastrami and love handle. And it's made 0:08:10.990 --> 0:08:14.450 with jackfruit, it's made of raw jackfruit because jackfruit has 0:08:14.460 --> 0:08:18.600 a very fibrous texture and young jackfruit doesn't have any flavor. 0:08:18.610 --> 0:08:21.280 So you just get the texture and just put whatever 0:08:21.280 --> 0:08:23.680 flavor you have. So that's like almost 20 ingredients in 0:08:23.680 --> 0:08:24.450 the pastrami. 0:08:24.740 --> 0:08:28.990 But everything is ingredients that you know ingredients that you 0:08:28.990 --> 0:08:32.490 can find in your supermarket. It's interesting. And we made 0:08:32.490 --> 0:08:35.620 like 12 versions of it, the first one we thought 0:08:35.620 --> 0:08:38.660 it was good that people taste, it was bad. 0:08:39.040 --> 0:08:41.660 And then we went back and we did it again 0:08:41.670 --> 0:08:43.260 and I thought it's sort of good 0:08:43.740 --> 0:08:46.050 and we got some feedback and they're like no bro 0:08:46.050 --> 0:08:49.760 it's bad. So we just kept going back to the 0:08:49.760 --> 0:08:54.670 drawing board and now we are like okay this should 0:08:54.670 --> 0:08:57.020 be it. People coming to us and telling us good 0:08:57.020 --> 0:08:58.390 things about this pastrami. 0:08:58.500 --> 0:08:59.420 You 0:08:59.420 --> 0:08:59.760 know 0:09:00.140 --> 0:09:02.150 it definitely takes time 0:09:02.540 --> 0:09:05.340 and I wonder if there are necessarily healthier in terms 0:09:05.340 --> 0:09:10.390 of calories, cholesterol nutritional value. Can I eat your plant 0:09:10.390 --> 0:09:12.580 based cheese burger every day. 0:09:12.590 --> 0:09:14.150 Well we would say 0:09:14.840 --> 0:09:16.350 have everything in moderation. 0:09:16.360 --> 0:09:17.500 Well 0:09:17.510 --> 0:09:19.850 I believe in the plant based scene. 0:09:20.340 --> 0:09:21.150 Just like 0:09:21.540 --> 0:09:25.420 any other cuisine, there are healthy stuff and then they 0:09:25.420 --> 0:09:25.949 are 0:09:26.640 --> 0:09:28.350 delicious and greasy 0:09:28.740 --> 0:09:31.160 stuff. Same with the plant based cuisine, right? You have 0:09:31.160 --> 0:09:31.559 your 0:09:32.240 --> 0:09:36.460 healthy options, your salads or raw vegan diet or whatever. 0:09:36.940 --> 0:09:39.850 But who's to say that there can't be a 0:09:40.540 --> 0:09:45.780 greasy delicious plant based meal. So we're on that side 0:09:45.780 --> 0:09:48.570 of the spectrum though, we still use of course whole 0:09:48.570 --> 0:09:51.520 foods and we use whole vegetables and we have cleaner 0:09:51.530 --> 0:09:52.960 eating dishes. But 0:09:53.540 --> 0:09:57.559 I mean that's not one of about, 0:09:57.940 --> 0:10:00.250 we're going for a show break, we'll be right back. 0:10:01.140 --> 0:10:05.650 Hi, I'm Stephen share and I host the new season 0:10:05.650 --> 0:10:08.750 of our podcast heart of the matter, join me in 0:10:08.750 --> 0:10:11.100 getting right to the heart of the headlines as we 0:10:11.100 --> 0:10:14.460 speak with experts and newsmakers to delve deep into the 0:10:14.460 --> 0:10:18.290 most talked about news developments, look out for our episodes 0:10:18.300 --> 0:10:21.150 wherever you get your podcast 0:10:23.000 --> 0:10:25.110 as a chef. Is it a whole other sort of 0:10:25.110 --> 0:10:30.090 ordeal trying to prep marinade and cook with plant based meat? 0:10:31.440 --> 0:10:34.340 I think it just takes a lot of experience and 0:10:34.350 --> 0:10:36.700 a lot of patients working with plant based meat. You 0:10:36.700 --> 0:10:38.250 throw everything you know 0:10:39.440 --> 0:10:43.770 out the window because nothing works that way, right, Whatever 0:10:43.770 --> 0:10:46.250 you learn in school, whatever you picked up three years, 0:10:46.740 --> 0:10:48.500 I had to set a clear 0:10:49.140 --> 0:10:49.949 my mind 0:10:50.440 --> 0:10:55.220 and relearn handling these plant based products of course. Then 0:10:55.220 --> 0:10:58.829 there's some basics right of marination and like making sauces, 0:10:58.840 --> 0:11:03.980 but you're just constantly looking for substitutes even with soy milk, 0:11:03.980 --> 0:11:06.990 can I use the soy milk that has less fat 0:11:06.990 --> 0:11:09.830 or more fat. Should I be using a different kind 0:11:09.830 --> 0:11:11.050 of milk for this 0:11:11.140 --> 0:11:13.530 from my jesus et cetera? You need to have a 0:11:13.530 --> 0:11:16.750 lot of patients to figure out which 0:11:17.240 --> 0:11:19.360 product works best for whatever you want to do. All 0:11:19.360 --> 0:11:21.740 right, so I'm a south korean. I love my korean 0:11:21.740 --> 0:11:24.900 barbecue fried chicken, but I'm not the best cook out there. 0:11:24.910 --> 0:11:27.100 So do you think it's something that I can and 0:11:27.100 --> 0:11:28.590 we want to whip up at home? 0:11:28.630 --> 0:11:29.760 Oh, definitely 0:11:29.780 --> 0:11:31.880 give us some examples. What can I try, 0:11:31.890 --> 0:11:34.340 man? I'm working on a fried chicken right 0:11:34.340 --> 0:11:35.959 now. How's that going? 0:11:37.040 --> 0:11:41.310 Well, I did it yesterday. I mean I didn't know 0:11:41.309 --> 0:11:43.600 I was going to be having this interview with you today, 0:11:43.610 --> 0:11:48.860 talking about fried chicken, but some friends came over yesterday 0:11:49.340 --> 0:11:51.260 and I just so happen to have this fried chicken 0:11:51.740 --> 0:11:54.860 on my hands and I was like, yo you wanna 0:11:55.340 --> 0:11:57.760 try these fried chicken? It looks exactly like 0:11:58.140 --> 0:11:58.880 fried chicken 0:11:58.890 --> 0:12:00.050 drumsticks and everything. 0:12:00.059 --> 0:12:04.040 It's like chicken breast. So you know the crispy skin, 0:12:04.050 --> 0:12:07.350 it's like a buttermilk chicken, right? They had it and 0:12:07.350 --> 0:12:10.810 they were like, yo I can't even tell that it's 0:12:10.820 --> 0:12:16.540 not me like that really gets me going if chefs 0:12:16.540 --> 0:12:18.059 and bartenders there 0:12:18.140 --> 0:12:19.840 coming to your place and yeah, 0:12:20.140 --> 0:12:23.939 eating this stuff and they give the stamp of approval, 0:12:23.950 --> 0:12:26.410 then you're like, okay, you're golden, right, this is all 0:12:26.410 --> 0:12:28.520 you need is who you need to impress right? The 0:12:28.520 --> 0:12:31.470 industry people so that the other guys when they come 0:12:31.470 --> 0:12:34.150 through they know what we're doing. You know what we're about. 0:12:34.440 --> 0:12:37.190 You were a major player and the plant based food 0:12:37.190 --> 0:12:39.679 scene in Singapore. Tell us about how your plant based 0:12:39.679 --> 0:12:40.790 journey started. 0:12:40.800 --> 0:12:44.609 Okay so I've always been cooking like meat stuff right? 0:12:44.620 --> 0:12:48.190 And then about 67 years ago I started being a 0:12:48.190 --> 0:12:53.520 restaurant called Harvest. We were doing like modern vegan cuisine. 0:12:53.530 --> 0:12:56.450 I saw that there was a market because the primary 0:12:56.450 --> 0:12:59.420 scene in bali was opening the scene in U. K. 0:12:59.420 --> 0:13:02.760 Was coming and always start coming from the kitchen 0:13:03.040 --> 0:13:04.660 whenever somebody walks in 0:13:05.640 --> 0:13:08.460 and ask for vegan options it's usually 0:13:09.140 --> 0:13:12.110 always like an afterthought we just try to whip something 0:13:12.110 --> 0:13:14.780 up in the kitchen put a bunch of salad together. 0:13:14.790 --> 0:13:19.150 Some weird dressing and here so I know from the 0:13:19.160 --> 0:13:22.890 other side of being in the kitchen that nobody really 0:13:22.890 --> 0:13:26.470 cares about being in food. So I wanted to have 0:13:26.470 --> 0:13:27.350 a place where 0:13:27.440 --> 0:13:29.560 vegans and non vegans can come together 0:13:30.040 --> 0:13:32.449 and have a good meal and that has always been 0:13:32.450 --> 0:13:33.060 my 0:13:33.540 --> 0:13:37.260 go since I started cooking plant based food. 0:13:37.940 --> 0:13:40.309 That's where it started man like for me I don't 0:13:40.309 --> 0:13:43.960 like being super exclusive. I think for me it's really 0:13:43.960 --> 0:13:46.160 about community and I think it's sad that 0:13:46.640 --> 0:13:49.140 for example I'm vegan and you're not vegan and the 0:13:49.140 --> 0:13:51.319 rest of us here they're not vegans and you guys 0:13:51.320 --> 0:13:54.560 have to either cater to me or 0:13:54.940 --> 0:13:56.390 I'll have my dinner at home and I'll come out 0:13:56.390 --> 0:13:59.020 and meet you, which is quite sad. Right? So if 0:13:59.020 --> 0:14:01.140 you have a place where everybody just come together and 0:14:01.140 --> 0:14:03.229 have a good meal and it's about the community, it's 0:14:03.230 --> 0:14:05.020 about the vibes and 0:14:05.030 --> 0:14:08.600 and I know you're also passionate about the environment, ethical 0:14:08.600 --> 0:14:11.260 treatment of animals and food security. Why do they matter 0:14:11.260 --> 0:14:12.250 to you personally? 0:14:12.640 --> 0:14:15.850 I think the past two years has really, I guess 0:14:15.860 --> 0:14:17.860 changed my mindset a little bit 0:14:18.340 --> 0:14:26.240 before that. I wasn't really like sustainable man. It's hard recycling. 0:14:26.250 --> 0:14:30.250 Sometimes it can be a chore, right? But since the pandemic, 0:14:31.040 --> 0:14:33.260 I think my mindset has changed a little bit because 0:14:33.740 --> 0:14:37.090 we're talking a lot about food security now in Singapore, right? 0:14:37.100 --> 0:14:41.970 We've all experienced the past two years. Borders being closed. 0:14:41.980 --> 0:14:44.590 People are afraid of what are we going to eat? 0:14:44.600 --> 0:14:48.460 Food prices are rising because important is difficult. 0:14:48.940 --> 0:14:53.010 I think Singapore has to be self sustainable in one 0:14:53.010 --> 0:14:56.690 way or another. And if we can't have more land 0:14:56.690 --> 0:14:58.860 to grow our own stuff, then 0:14:59.240 --> 0:15:02.410 plant based meat is the next best thing. It's something 0:15:02.410 --> 0:15:05.510 that we're producing in Singapore, it's something that we have 0:15:05.510 --> 0:15:08.550 the resources to do it here. I think that's why 0:15:08.550 --> 0:15:12.860 it's important whether or not it becomes a staple in 0:15:12.860 --> 0:15:14.750 the next few years, we don't know, 0:15:15.140 --> 0:15:17.960 but as long as more people are 0:15:18.540 --> 0:15:23.110 open to the idea that actually I can have a 0:15:23.110 --> 0:15:24.160 Prime Ismaeel. 0:15:24.170 --> 0:15:26.490 So when you talk to her like a chef's or 0:15:26.490 --> 0:15:29.130 other people in that F and B circle is there 0:15:29.130 --> 0:15:31.100 sort of that shift in mindset? 0:15:31.110 --> 0:15:34.160 For sure. For sure. I got lucky because 0:15:34.540 --> 0:15:38.650 I started cooking plum babies like 6, 7 years ago. 0:15:39.240 --> 0:15:41.860 But now if you don't have a plan based item 0:15:41.860 --> 0:15:44.550 on your menu, you'll get a bad review just because 0:15:44.550 --> 0:15:46.100 you don't have a plan based item on the menu, 0:15:46.100 --> 0:15:46.560 which is 0:15:47.140 --> 0:15:50.750 to be honest, pretty crazy. But I think also it's 0:15:50.750 --> 0:15:54.130 a ship in the right direction. My friends now that 0:15:54.130 --> 0:15:56.770 an industry to ask me like bro, how do you 0:15:56.770 --> 0:15:59.750 do this, what do you use in substitute of butter? 0:15:59.760 --> 0:16:02.430 I think I just got really lucky but it's also 0:16:02.430 --> 0:16:04.420 good to see a lot of chefs trying to take 0:16:04.430 --> 0:16:06.860 on cooking plant based stuff 0:16:06.870 --> 0:16:10.380 and the alternative protein movement isn't really limited to just 0:16:10.380 --> 0:16:10.860 meet 0:16:10.940 --> 0:16:14.710 many of your peers have been working on other animal 0:16:14.710 --> 0:16:18.110 like free versions of seafood, dairy products and also even 0:16:18.110 --> 0:16:21.590 pet food. How do you see the competition sort of 0:16:21.600 --> 0:16:23.950 shaping up for Love handle. How are you trying to 0:16:23.950 --> 0:16:24.990 stay ahead? 0:16:25.000 --> 0:16:27.660 I think Love handle is in a very unique position 0:16:27.670 --> 0:16:31.850 because we are very consumer facing a lot of these 0:16:32.340 --> 0:16:36.070 brands, they usually focus a lot on commercial. So working 0:16:36.070 --> 0:16:40.480 with restaurants and hotels for us, we focus on direct 0:16:40.480 --> 0:16:43.690 to consumer because we have a brand, we have certain 0:16:43.690 --> 0:16:45.060 kind of street cred 0:16:45.440 --> 0:16:49.890 so consumers trust us and these manufacturers trust us in 0:16:49.890 --> 0:16:52.060 what we do. So we're in a sweet spot, we 0:16:52.060 --> 0:16:55.670 wouldn't call them our competitors because eventually we still need 0:16:55.670 --> 0:16:58.780 to work together and grow this community. You know, I 0:16:58.780 --> 0:17:01.360 wouldn't say we have competitors. 0:17:01.440 --> 0:17:03.430 Also not saying that we're the only ones that are 0:17:03.430 --> 0:17:06.770 doing this with this manufacturers and new brands coming up. 0:17:06.940 --> 0:17:09.990 We're always trying to build an inclusive community. We have 0:17:09.990 --> 0:17:13.690 different collaborations, were throwing like a street party and we're 0:17:13.690 --> 0:17:16.660 getting all these plant based people to come down and 0:17:16.660 --> 0:17:21.240 collaborate and show their support. So I wouldn't say it's competition, 0:17:21.240 --> 0:17:24.280 but it's just really growing the community together. 0:17:24.290 --> 0:17:27.159 That's interesting. So I would like to ask, what advice 0:17:27.340 --> 0:17:30.870 then would you give to an emerging startup who has 0:17:30.869 --> 0:17:33.860 a vision like you do to transform the sector, 0:17:35.640 --> 0:17:38.550 man, I need something, I tell myself all the time, 0:17:38.560 --> 0:17:41.760 we have to basically stay hungry 0:17:42.340 --> 0:17:46.090 and not settle for whatever it is you have Now 0:17:46.100 --> 0:17:47.860 people are always trying to look for 0:17:48.240 --> 0:17:52.220 the next best thing, but there's just so many boundaries 0:17:52.220 --> 0:17:52.949 to break 0:17:53.420 --> 0:17:56.540 in this plant based scene, if everyone is doing the 0:17:56.540 --> 0:17:57.359 same thing, 0:17:57.940 --> 0:18:00.510 like everyone is sort of, oh, there's this new technology 0:18:00.510 --> 0:18:03.250 and then everyone goes into this new technology, but that's 0:18:03.250 --> 0:18:07.830 like a whole spectrum, this whole world of other stuff 0:18:07.830 --> 0:18:11.859 that's not either been discovered yet or somebody is doing 0:18:11.859 --> 0:18:14.659 it on the down low and no one knows about it. 0:18:14.670 --> 0:18:15.270 I think 0:18:15.440 --> 0:18:19.410 the more diverse everybody gets trying to achieve their own 0:18:19.410 --> 0:18:20.449 goals instead of 0:18:20.540 --> 0:18:23.790 trying to be at the same place together. I think 0:18:23.790 --> 0:18:25.030 that helps the scene. 0:18:25.040 --> 0:18:28.890 What's next for love handle? What does success look like 0:18:28.890 --> 0:18:31.280 for you when it comes to getting more foodies to 0:18:31.280 --> 0:18:32.310 go meatless? 0:18:33.540 --> 0:18:37.670 Well, so the goal has always been kind of have 0:18:38.340 --> 0:18:41.000 love handle in every major city. That's what we taught 0:18:41.000 --> 0:18:43.960 ourselves when we started that of course, still stays right. 0:18:43.970 --> 0:18:46.159 We want to be asset light, so we don't want 0:18:46.160 --> 0:18:48.389 to open too many shops in the city or whatever. 0:18:48.400 --> 0:18:49.050 But 0:18:49.540 --> 0:18:53.379 I think at least for me being in three different countries, 0:18:53.390 --> 0:18:58.350 having a showroom there and being someone of an influence 0:18:58.350 --> 0:19:02.510 to whatever city or country that we're in, I think 0:19:02.510 --> 0:19:05.770 that is success for me, as long as we are 0:19:06.140 --> 0:19:08.320 pushing people towards the right direction, 0:19:08.740 --> 0:19:10.560 as long as there are people 0:19:11.140 --> 0:19:14.950 walking through a love handle and being open to try 0:19:14.960 --> 0:19:18.270 plant based food. I think that's success for me, man, wow, 0:19:18.270 --> 0:19:20.260 What an exciting vision and mission. I wish you the 0:19:20.260 --> 0:19:21.320 best of luck it is. 0:19:21.330 --> 0:19:22.650 Thank you. Thanks for having 0:19:22.650 --> 0:19:22.960 me. 0:19:23.840 --> 0:19:25.070 Well, 0:19:25.070 --> 0:19:28.190 we hope you enjoyed this episode of the climate conversations. 0:19:28.200 --> 0:19:31.800 So what gets measured, gets managed now this is the 0:19:31.800 --> 0:19:35.690 belief underlying the business of my guests next week. Find 0:19:35.690 --> 0:19:39.070 out how a climate tech startup wants to offer companies 0:19:39.080 --> 0:19:42.370