Fake Meats Test Kitchen
It’s been one year since Steven started FakeMeats.com – an online store for vegan and vegetarian meats and treats! It’s amazing – one year ago, we were excited to get a few orders every day or so… and now, we have sold to almost every state in the US, several US military bases, and we’re even shipping Fake Meats to Canada! The store that started out with a few of our favorite jerkies has grown immensely to include a huge variety of meat substitutes, condiments, seasonings, gelatin-free candy, and much more. I am so proud of Steven and the work he has put in to this company.
One of Steven’s Fake Meats dreams was to start a meal pack program – a subscription service that provides the customer with the fake meats, seasonings, recipes for every Monday of the month. The meals would be great for a vegan/vegetarian looking for some new recipes, someone looking to have meatless meal one night a week, or someone just looking for the convenience of a planned meal!
Well, after months of testing recipes developed in the Fake Meats test kitchen (ours, hee hee) and several months working with a test group (including meat eaters, vegetarians, and vegans, from across the US) the Fake Meats Meal Packs are officially launching in January! The program offers a variety of recipes that use Soy Curls, Heartline Meatless Meats, vegan and vegetarian seasonings, and much more.
One of my favorite things about the recipe testing phase (besides eating all the yummy food) was the community aspect of the program. The test group has been posting pictures and thoughts on the Facebook page, sharing their unique changes to the recipes, and we even did a few Skype dates with the testers to get their live reactions! The group liked the community aspect so much, that we realized this is another unique and beneficial aspect of the Meal Pack program. We’re promoting the Facebook interaction for new customers and even thinking of doing some google hangouts to meet everyone! Stop by the Fake Meats Facebook page to see some of the Meal Pack meals people have been cooking.
People have been signing up for a few weeks now, and the response has been great! The deadline to join the inaugural January Meal Pack program is December 9th (this Sunday). If you’re interested in the Fake Meats Meal Pack program, you can find more information about it here.
Would you be interested in a program like this? Any ideas for Fake Meats recipes we should develop in the test kitchen?
Themocracy
That sounds like it was really fun to develop. I love testing new recipes. My cousin is a vegan so I will pass the word on to her!
Thank you so much!
What are some fun new recipes you’ve tried lately? 🙂
How cool is this!!! I’m sharing this with Rich, maybe he will get it for me for Chirstmas!
Ooo! That would be great! 🙂 You could at least try it for a month or two 🙂
Great idea! Glad the company is thriving!!
Wow that’s awesome!!!! Maybe someday when I don’t live with my parents and am cooking all of my meals again I’ll sign up 🙂 But not tell my husband and see if I can fake him out on the Fake Meats, haha.
Also I love the picture of Steven cutting the onions. EVIL ONIONS.
LOL! We made my dad meals with Fake Meats products when he was here, and he would ask what was in stuff and jokingly said “I have got to quit asking what I am eating.” He liked it though 🙂
And yes! ONIONS ARE EVIL! Although, Steven can actually cut them – we posed that pic to try to be funny 🙂
I sometimes wearing swimming goggles when cutting onions. You look silly but have zero burning in your eyes.
I am guilty of wearing my ski goggles to cut onions 😉
My friend is a vegetarian and I will tell her about the program. Maybe you could try meatless meatballs? (that sounds so wrong just typing it out). Congrats on the company’s amazing growth.
Thanks for telling her! And thank you for the congrats.
We do sell some soysage that I wonder if we could make it to meatballs for a sub or something. Hmm… good idea! Thanks!
Haha, I have the same problem while cutting onions.
I didn’t realize Fake Meats was so new! That’s really awesome that it’s grown so much in just a year. I think the Meal Pack program sounds so cool! You definitely don’t find the social aspect in cooking anywhere else. I’d love to try it out sometime, it seems perfect to fit into my once-a-week-vegetarian lifestyle.
Thank you! 🙂 And I sometimes forget we just started it last year! I am so excited it’s grown so much 🙂
It was fun being part of the test group, hopefully we had at least a few good suggestions, though the packs were pretty dynamite as they were. Improvements more for people like me who don’t read recipes very attentively. 🙂
We were so happy that you and Laima and the kids were part of our test group! All feedback was good! And lol – I am SO awful at reading recipes. I REALLY messed up vegan french toast this am… at least I tried? 😉
That’s so exciting!! I’ll have to check out the website!
I generally avoid both real and fake meat, but that food looks insanely delicious! especially those stuffed peppers!!
I was surprised how much I liked the stuffed peppers! They’re stuffed with a simple noodle/red sauce/and soysage crumblers mix… kind of similar to how that stovetop helper stuff is, I think? Anyway, I loved the pepper/noodle/sauce/fake meats combo 🙂
I’m always so impressed when I hear about people who have an idea that they put into action. Starting your own business is no small feat, so congratulations!
Thank you! Steven is so adventurous! I love that about him 🙂
I am always available for recipe testing 🙂
Me too 🙂
This concept is so intriguing! Do you think that a one month pack would make a good gift for people?
I do! I hope we get some holiday subscribers that way 😉
Congratulations on your new product launch, that is so exciting! The pictures of the food look DELICIOSO and I absolutely love that red apron on you!!!
Thank you! 🙂