Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
A pioneer of plantbased food
Kelly Swette and her husband founded Sweet Earth Enlightened Foods seven years ago because they felt the market needed vegetarian food that was more convenient, flavorful and sustainable.
As it turns out, they were at the leading edge of a booming trend. U.S. sales of plant-based meat alternatives jumped 47% over the last three years; sales of traditional meat rose 3% in the same period, according to Nielsen.
Sweet Earth makes more than 60 products, including wheat-based Benevolent Bacon and soy-based Mindful Chik’n. This month it launched the Awesome Burger, which is made from pea protein.
The Swettes were well qualified to lead their Moss Landing, California, company. Brian Swette is the former chief marketing officer of PepsiCo Inc. Kelly Swette, who is Sweet Earth’s CEO, trained as a packaging engineer and went on to executive sales and marketing positions at Pepsi and Calvin Klein.
Kelly Swette spoke with The Associated Press about plant-based foods.
How has the public’s interest in plant-based foods changed since you founded Sweet Earth?
I believe that millennials have changed the system. They became very proactive socially about health and wellness and used the internet to share information and do their own searching. The second piece is there has been an incredible rise in environmental and social consciousness. We were just beginning to talk about sustainability in 2002. Sustainability is like a buzzword now. And then I think this third trend which has continued to rise is transparency. Consumers want to know what’s in their food and who is making it and where’s it come from.
How do you make your products stand out in this crowded market?
There aren’t that many people talking about nutrient density, nutrient diversity and the sustainability piece. We’re very committed to sustainability as an important part of our platform. Also, we talk about flavors. We go after consumers who are curious about food. We have more complexity in terms of the sauces, in terms of the types of ingredients, and more authenticity than most of the food companies that are out there. Our flavor profiles are more edgy and they’re bolder.
What advice would you give someone trying to enter this market?
We had a purpose, a mission, and a food philosophy that I developed in 2011 that we have stayed true to. And I share it with all our employees. Everyone understands what we’re trying to do and why our quality needs to be higher, why our colors need to be more vibrant. You need to develop with purpose and stick to it. There are a lot of people out there who want to make a great bar or a great cookie or a great snack. But they’re just a thing. Our mission is bigger than the brand. And that was one of the things that really informed our decision to sell the company. Our mission could only be successful if we could become commercially successful.