Q: What’s the origin story behind Living Tree Foods?
A: Emily Wilson and Kyle McKay met in law school and began dating. Kyle had previously lived on a dairy farm and did not have a positive impression of vegan food. Emily, on the other hand, was a lifelong vegetarian turned vegan. Kyle was blown away by the food Emily cooked and ate on a regular basis. They figured that if Kyle had such a misconception about how delicious a plant-based diet could be, there must be others out there like him. They started selling a handful of products at local farmers’ markets, and the positive reaction confirmed their suspicions. Since then, they have made it their mission to break down barriers to eating a plant-based diet by making accessible vegan versions of traditional products, without compromising taste and quality.
Q: What’s the best thing anyone has said about your product so far?
A: “I’m going to cry – I haven’t had this taste in 20 years” or “Even my husband loves it!”
Q: What’s the most rewarding thing about building your company so far?
A: It’s most rewarding knowing that people who otherwise would be eating animal products are choosing to eat our plant-based products, which benefits their health, the environment, and farmed animals.
Q: What are the top 1-3 things that you’re focused on right now?
A: We are currently focused on expanding across Canada, gaining distribution into more mid-size retail chains, and developing new flavours of ravioli.
Q: What is your key objective in attending CHFA?
A: We look forward to meeting and working with an Ontario or Canada-wide distributor to allow us to serve customers out east.