I first met Sarah Gross about four and a half years ago at a vegan potluck, where she was the guest of honor and had been invited to talk about her then-new company Rescue Chocolate. If you’re unfamiliar with Rescue Chocolate, you need to get to know them! Rescue Chocolate is “the sweetest way to save a life”, with 100% of the company’s profits going to animal rescue organizations. Rescue Chocolate is also probably the best vegan chocolate on the market, and I don’t think I’ve ever tasted anything more incredibly delicious that a Peanut Butter Pit Bull. (These chocolates are for humans only, so even though there might be a photo of a dog on the wrapper, you can’t feed it to your pooch.)
When not working with chocolate, Sarah keeps herself busy with U.S. Veg Corps, the vegan event company she founded with partner Nira Paliwoda. U.S. Veg Corps is known for organizing the New York City Vegetarian Food Festival every year, as well as other events such as The Better Booze Festival and the upcoming Arizona Vegetarian Food Festival. I always run into Sarah at her events, and she’s usually so busy that we rarely have time to talk other just a few words, so when I saw her at The Lusty Vegan Experience last month I asked if I could interview her for Chic Vegan. We talked about veganism, veg fests, and one of my favorite subjects, chocolate.
Chic Vegan: What motivated you to become vegan? Was it an overnight switch or more gradual shift?
Sarah Gross: It wasn’t super-fast or –slow, but probably just a normal rate of progression in my thinking. I always had a soft spot for animals. Back in middle school I volunteered at my municipal animal control facility (which had a very high kill rate), trying to socialize the dogs and cats to make them more adoptable. Around the same time I became a vegetarian, purely from the humane point of view. The more I read about how dairy products are produced, the more I realized that there is incredible cruelty even in a vegetarian diet. So then I made the transition to become a vegan. It was only later that I learned about the health and environmental benefits of a vegan lifestyle.
CV: When people learn that you are vegan, what is the #1 question they ask and what is your response?
SG: I’m constantly asked how I get my protein, which is the funniest question given the truth. As a lot of people who go vegetarian and vegan soon realize, no one in the country has ever died of a protein deficiency! Calorie for calorie, broccoli and leafy greens have more protein than meat!
CV: Other than chocolate, is there a vegan product that you can’t live without?
SG: Nut butters, beginning with everyone’s favorite peanut butter and moving on to almonds, cashews and delicious mixtures of the above.
CV: Tell me a little bit about Rescue Chocolate and what inspired you to create the company.
SG: The company’s mission is two-fold. First, to provide a superior chocolate product which is vegan, organic, fairly traded, handcrafted in Brooklyn, kosher, and delicious. Second, to raise funds for–and awareness of–animal rescue. Each flavor is named after a specific animal issue, and there are links to further resources about that issue on the Rescue Chocolate website. I select an annual animal rescue organization to receive my profits, and I also partner with rescue groups to aid them in their own fundraising efforts.
CV: Do you have a favorite in the Rescue Chocolate line? (Mine’s Peanut Butter Pit Bull!)
SG: That is everyone’s favorite and the best-seller by a landslide. I actually cycle through every flavor in turn as my favorite. Right now I’ll go with the Robust 82% bar, which is one of my newest bars. It is SO deep and smooth. Mmmm! It has the highest cacao percentage of any of my products, and it is for the real chocolate aficionados.
CV: There have been some new products added to the Rescue Chocolate line this year. Can you tell us a little about them?
SG: I introduced a second mini bar (after the PBPB mini), which is a coconut rum flavor. It was one of 4 flavors that I included in a holiday gift set last year, and it was too good to offer only seasonally. The other big launch was my Robust Rescue line. In addition to the 82% mentioned above, I have bars in 70% and 75% varieties. They are larger than the typical Rescue Chocolate bar, and they pack a blissful punch. They’re also considered low glycemic as they’re our first bars sweetened with just coconut sugar.
CV: You also co-founded U.S. Veg Corp and co-organize the NYC Vegetarian Food Festival. What was the motivation behind starting an event planning company?
SG: It’s just one more avenue for getting the word out about the benefits of veganism. The events are all entirely vegan, but the casual attendee might not realize that. My partner and I make sure that there are all kinds of engaging speakers, family-friendly activities, musical entertainment, cooking demos, book signings, mingling with the gobs of delicious vegan food samples. We started in New York because, remarkably, there wasn’t a well-established Vegetarian Food Festival as there were in other world-class cities around the country. Next up, we’re invading Scottsdale, Arizona where we uncovered a similar hole to be filled.
CV: What events can we expect to see from US Veg Corp in the future?
SG: In addition to our large-scale festivals, we like to do more intimate and funky events. In the past, we’ve done a vegan ping pong tournament, a merciful fashion event, a vegan cookbook/art installation/tasting evening, and a neighborhood food crawl in Greenpoint. We’ll definitely be going down those types of roads again. The 2nd Annual Better Booze Festival will return, you’re the first to know, in June 2015!
CV: What advice would you give to entrepreneurs who want to start their own vegan business?
SG: Don’t listen to the naysayers, and just follow your passion. I have no formal business training. In fact, I previously worked as a professional ballet dancer and then as a Pilates instructor. But I have found it is supremely possible to learn as you go along, and find success doing what you’re most passionate about!
CV: In your wildest dreams what will your life look like in 5 years?
SG: I’d love for Rescue Chocolate to be carried in wider distribution so that people everywhere would have no trouble picking up their bars as easily as they pick up their favorite cereal. I’d like to house Rescue Chocolate operations in a bigger production and shipping facility. And I’d also like for the Rescue Chocolate mascot—my dog, Mocha—to have a yard of her own in which to romp! She’s content to be a New York City apartment dog now, but I’m sure her sights are set on enlarging as well.
