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Kory Zelickson is an entrepreneur, and he's a vegan. It all comes together in his new company Vejii.
He's created a one-stop-shop for all of the popular packaged foods that vegans, vegetarians and flexitarians are drawn to.
And he's chosen Kelowna for the home base.
It's the produce section that's the biggest draw for people who choose a vegan diet, but there is a growing list of interesting options in the freezer section as well. Zelickson told KelownaNow that the growth is expected to continue.
"We just launched Vejii in the Canadian market," he said. "Right now we're offering a large selection of plant-based frozen meat products. We'll be expanding into the dairy and cheese categories in the next couple of weeks."
Vejii launched a few months ago in the United States. Zelickson says his company learned a lot about the more popular product categories and brands.
Now from his headquarters at Kelowna's Innovation Centre, he's looking for Canadian brands and start-ups looking for exposure to add to his product list.
Just a few percent of Canadians consider themselves vegan, but it's not just vegans who buy the products.
"Certainly everything on our site is going to be vegan," said Zelickson, but he sees a marketplace that's larger than that. "I think there are a lot more people who are flexitarian or people that are interested in plant-based products."
The company currently employs about 14 people, with its distribution centre in the Vancouver area.
"We're shipping across Canada right now," he said, "looking at expanding distribution into central, probably Ontario as well to offer faster delivery time."
The company is betting that the plant-based food sector will continue to grow, and if you agree, investing could be easy.
Vejii may be going public in the months ahead.
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