In today’s episode of In With the New, Avril Tomlin-Hood sits down with Emily Wilson, Co-founder and CEO of Living Tree Foods, to discuss her company’s plant-based food products.
20 minutes | Feb. 14, 2023
Emily Wilson is the Co-founder and CEO of Living Tree Foods, an emerging plant-based food company that aims to remove the barriers to eating a plant-based diet by making accessible vegan versions of traditional animal products. Living Tree Foods is the culmination of Emily’s passion for animal rights and sustainability and her love of food. Before co-founding Living Tree Foods, she was a Summer Law Student at Animal Justice Canada and volunteered at Mercy for Animals and the Good Food Institute.
There is growing evidence in support of adopting a plant-based diet, for both health benefits and the benefit of our planet. But some plant-based food companies have faced challenges in attracting omnivore consumers, who complain that the flavors and textures of plant-based foods are not comparable to the animal-based foods they’ve come to know and love. Living Tree Foods is working to overcome those barriers by creating sustainable, plant-based foods as delicious as their non-vegan counterparts.
Emily Wilson says emerging companies with innovative products must be driven by a distinct mission, and states that her life’s mission is to help animals and reduce their suffering in any way possible. As an advocate for animal welfare and environmental sustainability – with a passion for plant-based foods – Emily launched Living Tree foods with her first creation: delicious cashew-based cheese spreads. The product line has since grown to include plant-based yogurts, smoked salmon, and ravioli. To overcome the challenges of launching a new product in retail and food service, she targeted new audiences by offering samples and educating consumers on the health benefits of her products.