Industry

Businesses in Nepal fulfil almost every demand and need of the locals. From cosmetics to clothes and food – everything is available just a drive or walk away. 

In the food sector, some profit from selling meat and meat products. But others are ramping up their outreach in the market by selling non-meat food options. Who are they? Vegan businesses. 

Vegan, a word coined by Donald Watson, are people who abstain from using and consuming animal products and their by-products like eggs, dairy, leather, silk, honey and cosmetics.  

In Nepal, veganism took off less than ten years ago. 

Many vegans recognized a need in the market and sought to fill it by starting businesses that made life simpler for them and other vegans. The intriguing thing is that, while these firms have a vegan clientele, they gain the most from non-vegans who enjoy their products.

Here is a list of four vegan Nepali businesses doing their bit to educate the market on this lifestyle. 

Vegan Dairy Nepal

Kajol Sethia switched to veganism back when she was a student in Singapore. In 2018, she returned to Nepal for vacation and realised that she had it easy, as all vegan products were cooked at home. 

She started a small project, distributing such products to her friends and acquaintances. An overwhelming response soon led to a sharp rise in demand, and she took a call: to stay back and establish Vegan Dairy Nepal. 

Vegan Dairy Nepal is a one-stop shop for all vegan products, including milk, cheese, yoghurt, butter and supplements.  

Claiming to be a pioneer, the business was slow for the first two years. But the pandemic lockdown was a blessing in disguise.

“We started adding more options to the vegan category like supplements and vegan meat,” Sethia told NepalMinute. 

Sethia has since noticed that her target customers are turning increasingly health conscious. 

“People are not 100 per cent vegan. Maybe they will go 10 or 20 per cent vegan by having one or two vegan meals,” she said. 

A growing business demands a lot of patience to survive even in a small market, she realised. “There is a future, though. You just need to keep working hard and not get demotivated.” 

ShoeBar and Accessories

ShoeBar and Accessories started as a multi-brand imported footwear company in 2017. However, during the third pandemic lockdown, they also decided to import 100 per cent vegan and cruelty-free sandals.

“The first thing that attracted me to this particular brand was the unique design itself,” company owner Pasang Sherpa told NepalMinute. The vegan part of the footwear was a plus point for the brand. 

The footwear is manufactured using vegan leather – a material that looks and feels like leather but is made out of plant-based or artificial materials. It is typically created using two different polymers called polyurethane (PU) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC), according to PETA. 

Sherpa has noticed that people buy these sandals for the design rather than the vegan leather. 

“If we sell it as a vegan product, then probably I'll get 5 per cent customers interested in it,” she added. 

However, the company plans to introduce another vegan brand in the spring of 2023. 

Nourish by Avata

Avata Wellness opened its doors to provide a holistic wellness experience to customers. But the owner realized that people should also have a place to eat healthy food. 

“Whenever you talk about the healthy lifestyle, healthy food pops into your mind,” said Dr Shovita Shrestha (Dhakal), a microbiologist and owner of the centre. 

Thus, she started Nourish – a café inside the wellness centre that serves both vegetarian and vegan food options. 

But it was not all plain sailing. The initial months were challenging for the café as it was a new product in the market. “Our friends and well-wishers were against us because they were asking why we were investing so much,” she said. 

Besides, Shrestha faced another challenge: hiring waiters and servers for the café was more difficult than she had thought. After interviewing candidates, they refuse to turn up to work at the premises. 

“They think vegetarian and vegan restaurants would not make a lot of money because the food is cheaper,” she said, referring to their reasons for walking out on the job. 

But the café gradually started to attract more footfalls, and then some. “Nowadays I see people coming in to try our food and they are asking for the vegan food specifically,” she added. 

Sa.Ra Bakes Vegan

Anish Tuladhar and Saraswati Rashmi Shakya have been vegans for more than five years. However, finding vegan cakes that satisfied their sweet tooth was very difficult.

“There were some bakeries that offer vegan cakes. But the people who made the cakes weren't vegan and, thus, didn’t put an effort into making the cake,” Tuladhar told NepalMinute. 

After a futile exercise of finding one for their palate, the duo decided to try their hand. They launched Sa.Ra Bakes Vegan in 2017 as an exclusive vegan cake baking business. 

Vegan cakes are available in a wide variety of flavours. They do not use any dairy products and replace them with soy or almond milk. Flaxseeds are used instead of eggs to create fluffiness. 

Sa.Ra Bakes now has a diverse customer base, as their cakes have won over non-vegans alike. 

“There are quite a few non-vegetarians who are regular,” added Tuladhar, who remains positive and confident about the company's growth prospects. “As the population grows, so will the number of vegans."