ENGLEWOOD — LaForce Baker is on a mission to give people healthy food options that are both tasty and affordable.
Moon Meals Inc. is a catering and wholesale company that provides tasty, healthy and mostly organic “grab and go” Amish-farmed meat and vegan options, he said.
Baker, a Hyde Park resident and Washington Heights native, founded his company in 2012. At the end of the month his Fiesta Wrap, similar to a vegan burrito, will be in the Englewood Whole Foods market.
Baker’s product already is in 19 stores, and by the end of the month he’ll be in 21. The 27-year-old said he’s excited about the expansion, and his goal is to be regional in five years and national in 10.
“We’re excited to be in Englewood next,” he said.
Educating people is very important for the entrepreneur.
“We do a lot of education in stores that are in communities like Englewood because a lot of people don’t know what a vegan is, or they’re scared of it,” he said, adding that he has found some think vegan food is unaffordable and unappetizing.
Equipping people with the facts and giving them healthy food options is important, Baker said. He plans to do a lot of in-store demos. On opening day at Whole Foods on Sept. 28, he will give out 2,000 free samples.
He caters to each community’s needs, he said.
“I think about neighborhoods that we’re already in, like the Gold Coast or North Side neighborhoods like Lakeview, and we don’t have to invest as heavily in our in-store demos because people are a little more familiar with vegan options, and people kind of seek it out already,” he said.
Expanding into Englewood will give him the opportunity to educate some of those who aren’t already familiar with vegan options.
Even though Baker is an advocate for healthy living and eating, that wasn't always the case, he said.
“I was a fat kid and wanted to lose weight,” he said.
He started helping his grandmother cook traditional soul food dishes as early as 6 years old. By the time he was 18, he wanted something different. Baker began training for marathons. With the new lifestyle, he also needed to change his eating habits. He said he found that a lot of healthy foods were expensive, and many weren’t that tasty.
After graduating from college, Baker landed a job marketing for major food companies like Kraft, Conagra and Nestle.
He wasn’t happy, though, so he started saving money to launch his own catering company.
“I wanted to make healthy foods that taste good and are more acceptable to people,” he said. “I wanted to incorporate the flavor of the type of food I would make but at the same time make it healthy.”
Getting to where he is today wasn’t an easy journey, Baker said. He had to “pinch pennies” to save up the $100,000 he used to found his company.
“I missed maybe three or four of my friends’ weddings, baby showers, over last four years,” he said. “I missed a lot of stuff with family and friends. I sacrificed to get where we are today, but now we’re starting to see the fruits of the labor.”
He said this time last year Moon Meals was only in one store, but he’ll be in 21 by the end of the month. Sales are going very well, Baker said.
The Fiesta Wrap can be found in the “grab and go” deli area of select Jewel-Oscos, Mariano’s and Whole Foods Markets.
To learn more about Moon Meals, check out its Facebook page here.
For more neighborhood news, listen to DNAinfo Radio here:
