Feel Their Pain: Ethics in Vegan Businesses – Rich Labbate, Ep. 26

As the trend of veganism continues to grow worldwide, large corporations are entering the market. What role do consumers have to continue to support the small businesses that kept the movement alive up until now?

On this episode of One Step Beyond, Aram is joined by Rich Labbate of Rocco’s Sweet Shoppe, an all vegan bakery in Gilbert, Arizona. Rich tells us of his time growing up in punk, playing in Insted and The Alligators, as well as the many turns his life and career took him on before he started Rocco’s Sweet Shoppe in 2016. Since then, Rich has seen dozens of other vegan-friendly restaurants open in town, major fast food chains have started offering plant based menus, and companies that didn’t even exist a few years ago are now hot commodities on the stock market. Join us for a conversation on morals, ethics, compassion, and food.

In this episode we talk about:

• Finding vegetarianism pre-internet
• Not forgetting your drive – even if it might not work
• How to align your life, work, and hobbies to your ethics & morals
• Walking away from ethical dilemmas
• The trend of veganism, and the bandwagon companies that followed
• The separation of capitalism and ethics
• “Plant Based” vs “Vegan”
• How to hold companies accountable as they become successful
• Voting with your wallet

Connect with Rich on LinkedIn.

Connect with Aram on LinkedIn and Instagram.

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