Wrap It Up

HOW THIS ENTREPRENEUR LANDED HIS GRAB-AND-GO VEGAN FOOD IN 187 GROCERY STORES

- Kandia Johnson

LAFORCE BAKER IS THE FOUNDER AND EXECUTIVE chef at Moon Meals Inc., a company providing plant-based meals including vegan meats, cheeses, and sauces to major retailers and food service operators. When BLACK ENTERPRISE interviewed Baker in 2014, he discussed his vision to expand to other markets, to make healthy, tasty options accessible to other time-starved, urban professionals. Four years later, his vision for Moon Meals has come to life. Thanks to the Fiesta Wrap, the company’s new vegan grab-and-go concept, the bootstrapped entrepreneur who overcame poverty is launching in all 187 Jewel supermarket locations in the Midwest.

The Fiesta Wrap includes Moon Meals vegan taco meat, vegan nacho cheese sauce, organic cooked black beans, organic cooked short grain rice, organic cooked sweet corn kernels and chopped jalapeno peppers, all contained in a spinach wrap.

We caught up with Baker to get some insight into how he positioned his brand and the most valuable lessons he’s learned since starting his company.

We interviewed you in 2014. Since then, what are the top three lessons you learned in business that have helped you launch in 187 stores?

I have learned to go with what performs instead of what just feels good. I also learned that becoming a larger company means that you have to give up some control because you need to partner to reach more people. Lastly, I learned that no one else will believe in you until you believe in yourself.

Why do you believe the plant-based grab-and-go concept is so important right now?