A kinder, gentler snack food

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This article was published 17/08/2024 (774 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

With an increased demand for plant-based products and interest in making choices that fall under the categories of cruelty-free and vegan, consumers are on the lookout for healthy foods that don’t have a long list of unrecognizable ingredients.

Tyler Paterson first discovered a product called Plant Power Jerky at a local vendor market back in 2019, the first year it was available for sale.

“I had my first sample then and was hooked,” said the longtime vegan. “Healthy snack foods, plant-based or vegan, were harder to find five years ago and I don’t remember having a vegan jerky option back then, either.

“I remember seeking out their booth at future markets to stock up whenever I had the chance. It’s been wonderful to witness the business grow from small markets onto grocery store shelves. I highly recommend their product to anyone looking for a tasty high-protein snack. It’s so addictive. I literally polished off a bag of Southwest Jerky earlier today,” Paterson said, adding that he appreciates the flavours, healthier ingredients and supporting a local company.

The Plant Power Jerky team would normally be preparing for the annual Winnipeg VegFest (a celebration of love and compassion for animals, for the planet and for our health) at this time of year, but the volunteer organizers of the event are taking a break after seven years.

Instead, founder and owner Darci Dhaliwal (formerly Geigher) is focusing on her family and on expanding her business so that others can experience what Paterson described.

When Dhaliwal was six years old, she saw a disturbing television news story that would change her life. After seeing local slaughterhouse footage, she decided she would never eat meat again.

“There were pigs, very loud noises, there was a lot of blood and squealing; they were terrified,” she recalled, adding that she grew up with all kinds of pets and always felt a deep connection to animals. “It was traumatic. After that I told my mom I didn’t want to eat meat anymore, and I haven’t eaten meat since.”

Although the rest of her family continued eating meat, Dhaliwal — the youngest — encouraged them to stop. She donated to animal-rights and environmental causes, and became interested in wanting to do something to contribute to a kinder world.

In 2000, she transitioned from vegetarian to vegan while developing her cooking skills and discovering new plant-based alternatives.

“I always loved cooking since I was really little,” she said. “I’ve been a bit of a wizard with tofu, and different tofu marinades. It was always hard to find stuff that didn’t have to be refrigerated. Jerky was something.”

That was the beginning of the product at the centre of Plant Power Foods. Now in her sixth year as founder and owner of the company, Dhaliwal, 38, remembers her student days, taking her homemade creations to campus.

“Going to university, people were trying it. They always wanted to see what I was eating. People were blown away by it,” she said.

With continued positive feedback from people trying her increasingly popular, meatless protein product, she decided it was time to launch her new business. She began with a downtown farmers market in 2019.

“I sold out on the first day. I ended up building quite a customer base,” she said.

Since then, Dhaliwal has been a fixture at local farmers markets and events to get her wares in front of people. She continues to invest more time and money into the product and the business.

Using healthier ingredients that have a minimal impact on the planet and animals is important to Dhaliwal, who said she’s grateful that the jerky is popular with meat-eaters, too.

“I like doing in-person events, getting to the people who are skeptical. When they see it and try it, a lot of people have become regular customers, even hunters,” she said.

“Those are always really fun to get on board — when you are reaching people who are eating meat — and now they’ve tried plant-based and they actually really like it, that’s the biggest win for me.

“Some plant-based products have a bad rap. Ours doesn’t have the laundry list of ingredients. It’s non-GMO, cholesterol-free, gluten-free and has no preservatives. It’s pure soy protein.”

She recently obtained a distributor’s licence and is in the process of getting into other provinces. She has a long-term vision in which Plant Power Jerky is sold and enjoyed worldwide.

“There’s a lot more people who are environmentally conscious, who want to reduce meat consumption, and avoid nitrates (and) regular jerky is really high in nitrates,” she said.

”People are a lot more open to trying plant-based foods now. With environmental stuff and health-related stuff, people are more conscious about it, wanting to do something.”

Plant Power Jerky, available in several different flavours, is sold at many grocery and health-food stores in the city and is also available online.

With the help of her sister, husband and niece, Dhaliwal looks forward to featuring her products at the upcoming vegan market in Wolseley at the end of September, and at the Third and Bird Market in November.