{"id":17861,"date":"2021-08-19T09:00:25","date_gmt":"2021-08-19T13:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/?p=17861"},"modified":"2021-07-28T10:21:39","modified_gmt":"2021-07-28T14:21:39","slug":"plantegas-collaboration-with-bodegas-and-activists-promoting-vegan-items-in-latino-grocery-stores","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/2021\/08\/19\/plantegas-collaboration-with-bodegas-and-activists-promoting-vegan-items-in-latino-grocery-stores\/","title":{"rendered":"Plantega\u2019s collaboration with bodegas and activists: Promoting vegan items in Latino Grocery Stores"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Sample menu item from Plantega<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

By Lucia Rivera, VRG Intern<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since Plantega launched, the plant-based\nprogram has been partnering with local New York City bodegas to offer their\ntarget audience accessible vegan food options. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

     \u201cWe\npartner with bodegas in New York City and empower them to sell plant-based\nfoods through our unique grill menu and retail installations. We provide them\nwith all the training, operational and marketing support, and equipment to do\nit successfully and seamlessly with little to no disruption to ongoing\noperations,\u201d Plantega lead Nil Zacharias said. \u201cWe also work with them to plan\nand execute special promotions, giveaways, community outreach efforts, and\nother marketing and promotional activities in and around their location.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

     Plantega\nexpanded to 10 locations over the course of the pandemic, with bodega store\nowners reaching out to the Plantega team through email (hello@eatplantega.com<\/a>)\nand through Instagram. Zacharias recommended for interested bodega owners to\ninquire about a partnership through the same methods, with more information\nalso available at the Plantega website. There, entrepreneurs, customers, and\nactivists alike can view the Plantega menu, which features a range of vegan\nfood items. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

     Although\nPlantega does provide stores with items from its standard menu, there is a\ncustomized marketing method implemented based on a specific bodega\u2019s community.\nAccording to Zacharias, \u201cwhat we do find we can customize and make unique is\nthe way in which we communicate what our menu items are all about.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

     Additionally,\nto better connect with Plantega\u2019s various bodegas, the company\u2019s Community\nAmbassador program allows respective community members to engage bodega owners\nand customers in relevant ways. \u201cFor example in this location [in East\nBrooklyn] where the majority of the customer base is Spanish-speaking,\nCommunity Ambassadors that visit that location speak Spanish. We hand out\nSpanish language flyers, plus we also find that, depending on the neighborhood,\nwe try to find different sandwich options that we promote outside the store\nthrough posters and other signage that we think would resonate more with the\nneighborhood.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     For\nNYC community members interested in promoting the plant-based movement in local\nstores, one can apply to be a Plantega Community Ambassador on the Plantega\nwebsite. There, they will find the application searching for \u201cteam members that\nshare our passions for health, yummy food, and community wellness.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     In\naddition to the help of Community Ambassadors, Zacharias also noted that \u201cin\nsome locations the store owners are sort of the trusted advisors of the\ncustomers.\u201d This dynamic leads to an inherently customized marketing strategy\nfor Plantega products. This community-integrated practice model, though, came\nwith specific intentions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     \u201cWe\nwant to be community powered and we want to empower the community. It comes to\nlife in two specific aspects of Plantega. Community powered because we want our\nteam to reflect the community; we want to make sure that the foods and\nmessaging and the branding feels natural and culturally relevant for the\ncommunities that we are serving,\u201d Zacharias stated. \u201cWe want them to be\nindependent stores and that kind of brings me to my second point. We are here\nto empower the community because the model we’ve chosen and how we want to\ndistribute our menu and our products is through independent bodegas. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

     \u201cWe\nwant to empower them to tap into the benefits of the plant based movement and\nthe growth in the plant based food industry. So instead of opening up a\nrestaurant that would compete with independent businesses in these\nneighborhoods, we intentionally build a model where each of these stores\nthemselves stand to profit and stand to become part of the plant-based movement\nrather than have it replace them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     Plantega\nworks with store owners by recognizing their needs and meeting them with\nspecific plant-based products and meals. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

     \u201cWe\nwant to make sure that they understand what the value proposition is for them,\nbecause we know that they get pitched a lot by a lot of food companies that\nusually don’t really engage with them, or care about them or get to know\nthem\u2014they’re just looking for another distribution point for one of their\nproducts. We want to make sure we do more than that. Frankly, they’re quite\nconfused in the beginning when we talk to them [and] tell them \u2018All you have to\ndo is agree to buy products from us, and we will, you know, train your cooks,\nand then you don’t have to worry about anything. We handle all of it. We will\ndo all the signage; we will do marketing. If the press wants to film the\nlocation we will bring them in, we will do social media, we will do free\ngiveaways,\u2019\u201d Zacharias said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

     Local\nNew Yorkers may have encountered one of Plantega\u2019s free giveaways recently,\nsuch as their vegan Ben & Jerry\u2019s ice cream distribution that was\ndocumented on their Instagram. Efforts like these help Plantega achieve the\nmission of making plant-based food \u201caccessible to everyone, everyday\u201d through\nindividual bodegas. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

     \u201cWhen\nwe do those special things, the bodegas notice that we are truly invested and\ncommitted to their success, and their success will then equal our success. And\nI find that trust building takes time but once it’s done and we’ve established\nthose relationships, we are really able to get them to cooperate with us, to\nplan promotions, and do all kinds of things in their stores,\u201d Zacharias\nexplained. \u201cThey see the money at the end of the day and that is truly what\nthey value, which I totally understand, and of course they value serving their\ncommunity, which they are also able to do. [\u2026] And of course the customers in\nthose locations are just happy to have some better options on the menu, even if\nthey’re not vegan or vegetarian. They’re just happy that someone’s doing\nsomething for their local bodega and that I think in itself is worth all the\neffort.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     For\nNYC customers who want to \u201cget Plantega at a bodega near\u201d them, the company\nalso recommends them to send an email to hello@eatplantega.com<\/a>. One can learn more\nabout Plantega at eatplantega.com<\/a>  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The contents of this posting, our website, and\nour other publications, including Vegetarian Journal, are not intended to\nprovide personal medical advice. Medical advice should be obtained from a\nqualified health professional. We often depend on product and ingredient\ninformation from company statements. It is impossible to be 100% sure about a\nstatement, info can change, people have different views, and mistakes can be\nmade. Please use your best judgment about whether a product is suitable for\nyou. To be sure, do further research or confirmation on your own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For vegan information in Spanish, see vrg.org\/nutshell\/information_in_Spanish.htm<\/a>\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Lucia Rivera, VRG Intern Since Plantega launched, the plant-based program has been partnering with local New York City bodegas to offer their target audience accessible vegan food options.      \u201cWe partner with bodegas in New York City and empower them to sell plant-based foods through our unique grill menu and retail installations. We provide […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17861","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17861","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17861"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17861\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17863,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17861\/revisions\/17863"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17861"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17861"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17861"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}