Gastronomy & Food Service

Vegan Apron – the Only Female-Founded Delivery Service in a Male Dominated Category

Maxine Duncan owns and runs recipe box service Vegan Apron, which she describes as the only brand of its kind which is aimed at families in a category which is almost entirely owned and operated by men and aimed towards fast-paced business types. As such, Maxine believes Vegan Apron to be totally unique in the market.

Maxine spoke with us  about her experience of entering the plant-based economy: “It’s been not a case of riding the plant-based boom, it’s been about competing with all the other major recipe box brands that now offer vegan options, low prices (low-quality ingredients) and have huge teams. But all these boxes aim at the single and couples market, usually with a millennial focus.”
Other recipe box brands are marketed towards career-minded people, Maxine tells us, and do not have families as their core values, “Whereas we aim at busy parents that want an honest meal and want do something about climate change!”
Vegan Apron
©Vegan Apron

Maxine self-funded her startup and is currently seeking a partner, unsurprisingly since she is also a full-time mother of a young toddler and a 6-month baby. The family have all been vegan since her first pregnancy, and it is her young children that inspired her to target vegan families athrough her passion about families having a decent meal together.

Vegan Apron
©Vegan Apron

Maxine noticed that other recipe box brands are usually led by male CEO’s who are not presenting as family orientated, which is where Vegan Apron finds its niche. She is proud to be the only female recipe box entrepreneur distributing in the UK. Most of her customers are female and busy in their careers and she likes to think her customers feel a connection with her story.

Vegan Apron also has a strong focus on sustainability, “We want to be the box that gives the tools and information on fighting the climate crisis with our food choices. None of the other recipe boxes are doing this”. The meals can be batch cooked and all packaging is recyclable or compostable.

“We love to help families transition or help people who want to eat more plant-based food, but just don’t have the time to go shopping or cook a decent meal,” she explained, adding, “World peace starts in the kitchen and family peace starts around the table.”

Bookmark
See all bookmarks

Share