Business Spotlight: Focus on Flavor

Kevin Sanders wasn’t always about that vegan life.

Now the owner of Veggie Haven Catering and Fitness LLC, Sanders says he was a different person when he went on a yoga retreat in 2019. He was overweight, and he was contending with high blood pressure and early kidney failure. Mostly, though, he just didn’t feel good.

“That was the point where I decided that I needed to kind of change my own lifestyle, you know? I needed to change my own eating habits,” he says.

So, he did.

During the retreat, Sanders was served vegan meals, but to him, it was just remarkably good, flavorful food.

“It didn’t taste like cardboard,” he says.

When Sanders got home, he kept up the yoga, and he also began trying to recreate the kinds of foods he had enjoyed on the retreat.

“I would post pictures on Instagram and Facebook just of my own meals, and I had somebody contact me out of the blue and say, ‘Hey, we saw your pictures – would you want to cater our event?’” he recalls.

He gave it a try, and the food was a hit.

It was the start of a whole new business for Sanders, who registered his catering and fitness training company in March 2022.

In that time, he was both eating and cooking plant-based, organic food, and he was reaping the health benefits of conscience food consumption. Meanwhile, he also became a certified yoga instructor, nutritionist and personal trainer, and he works out twice a day.

In all, Sanders has shed over 115 pounds and has kept the weight off for more than three years – but his catering business has bulked up.

“I’m actually catering a wedding party next weekend of 100 people,” he says. “That’s my biggest job so far.”

Solo operation
Sanders is the sole proprietor and employee of his home food operation, which focuses mainly on vegan catering and meal preparation, though he also has a handful of personal training clients.

The business is a little over 15 months old, but Sanders said he brought in $10,000 in revenue last year, a mark he is already outpacing. He says he has a dream of one day owning a vegan food truck.

Meanwhile, Sanders works full time as human resources manager at Springfield Sign and Graphics Inc., where Springfield Business Journal caught up with him. He had brought an array of baked goods and sauces for a photo – spicy plantain chips, a basket of fluffy croissants and muffins, and three iced cakes.

Sanders acknowledges the surprise some feel when they realize the food he serves is vegan. He said for the upcoming catered wedding, the bride said that unless someone asked, she didn’t plan to tell guests the food was vegan.

“I catered a party last Christmas for a company and provided all of the bakery items, and nobody had any idea that they were vegan, and wow – they were piling it up and taking it home,” he says.

Likewise, his colleagues at Springfield Sign love to see him arrive with food, Sanders says, noting he had to close the blinds in his office on the day of his interview with SBJ to keep from tempting them.

Mariah Taff is one of Sanders’ co-workers. She’s not vegan, but she tried many of Sanders’ creations and says they tasted good.

“I’ve never been a picky eater, and I’m always willing to try new things, so I have placed a few orders,” she says. “Not only is his food good; it’s affordable, too.”

Taff, who grew up on a farm, says she eats what she enjoys. Whether it contains animal products is not a consideration.

“What he makes tastes like the actual food,” she says. “As an example, his lasagna and burgers taste just like lasagna and burgers.”

The menu
Sanders says his focus is on flavor, and he experiments in the kitchen to get his recipes exactly right. He makes the sauces from scratch and enjoys finding unusual ingredients.

Through Veggie Haven, Sanders offers catering for events, and he also delivers prepared meals to customers’ homes. He offers gluten-free and nut-free options, and he also meets special dietary needs, such as keto, with unusual options, like noodles made from kelp or hearts of palm.

Sanders says he sources his ingredients from local small businesses – Leslie’s Mexican Supermarket is a favorite – as well as farmers markets. Some of the ingredients are shipped in from other countries, including India and Costa Rica.

One option Sanders offers is a meal plan, with 30 different meals and free delivery within Springfield city limits. For $12 apiece, customers can order meals like a hamburger on a brioche bun with yucca fries, tofu pad Thai noodles with vegetables or jackfruit barbecue on a ciabatta bun with sweet potato fries. Many of the meals are low-fat or low-calorie selections, and Sanders offers a free consultation regarding food plans, likes and dislikes, and allergies.

Aside from the meal plans, the menu has an array of breads, including biscuits, brioche buns, ciabatta rolls, cornbread and uncooked pizza dough. Prices start at $5 for a loaf of bread. Four crescent rolls cost $8.

Sanders’ entrees reflect the travels he has taken around the world to explore cuisines and cooking methods. Many of his recipes are from India, including a samosa platter of eight for $12 and a quart of lentils, various types of curry, eggplant Punjab or mushroom masala for $10.

There are plenty of baked goods as well, including a triple layer cake with coconut vanilla frosting ($25-$27), a dozen cinnamon rolls ($20), a dozen decorated cupcakes ($22-$26) and a fruit pie ($15-$25).

Rounding out his menu are more familiar comfort foods, like a pan of butternut lasagna for $35 or a pan of tacos for $8-$25, as well as seasonings, sauces, nut butters and even his own freshly ground cacao bean hot chocolate.

Sanders says he worked as an emergency department nurse in the past, but his weight made that kind of work challenging. So, he turned to nurse recruiting, a more sedentary job, and from there it was a natural progression to HR.

Now, Sanders reports that he has plenty of strength and energy, and when he gets off work, it’s not unusual for him to be cooking into the wee hours of the morning.

One thing that has remained constant, he says, is his compassion for people.

Recently, one of his customers messaged him to say she had lost 6 pounds in her first week with meal planning.

“When I worked as a nurse, one of the biggest rewards was helping patients heal and get better,” Sanders says. “I love that I can still offer healing, but now it’s through food and nutrition.”