Vegan turns passion into thriving business

MANILA, Philippines - After jumping out of the four walls of her university, 20-year-old Kristina Crespo decided to follow her ultimate dream of putting up her own business and maximizing the meat-free diet that she is enjoying.

Thus came Planted Seeds By Kristina, which offers peanut butter sourced from organic materials.

“Since I turned vegan, I became more aware of what I eat. I don’t like it when there’s too much ingredients. I always like it when the food I eat, even snacks, is whole and natural,” said Kristina, a Hotel and Restaurant Management graduate from the De La Salle University-Dasmarinas.

“I was tired of dieting. I skipped from no rice diet, to high protein diet, then I became a lacto-ovo vegetarian,ovo-vegetarian, and then vegan. I love experimenting with my body in terms of food. But I wanted something that I could stick with so I could be really healthier and for me, being vegan is it,” she added.

Thanks to Kristina’s mom who gave her initial capital in October last year, she used social media to gather feedbacks from people if she could push ahead with her idea.

“I posted on the Manila Vegans group a picture of the peanut butter. I asked if they would be interested then people started saying I should go for it. Even though I was worried if they would actually buy or support it, I still went for it,” Kristina said.

The Cavite-based bank service associate came out with her own peanut butter recipes--original, malunggay matcha, cacao and pumpkin spice--and eventually sold them through her Instagram and Facebook.

“Most of my first customers came from that Facebook group. Then my family and friends also shared it. That’s how it started and now I have a different mix of customers already,” she said.

While the start of any business venture is not a piece of cake as it entails a lot of process and hard work, Kristina lived by the mantra of “never knowing if you never try” and eventually decided to get that nut and makepeanut butter.

“Having little to no knowledge about doing business was scary. It was a leap of faith and that for me was the struggle. I was scared about what people wouldthink and if I decide to continue, will they like and buy it?” Kristina said.

“I think anxiety builds up when you’re starting. I remember people asking what my business was and I would shyly reply it’s peanut butter and they would just simply nod,” she added.

A few weeks after she started, Kristina took the risk and pushed herself to enter VegFest 2016, an annual event for vegetarians.

“It was a risk I’m glad I took. Planted Seeds got a lot of exposure. It was my first bazaar and it got sold out,” she said.

Kristina takes pride in the ingredients she uses particularly the nuts, which are now being heralded as super food for their nutritional benefits.

“With others, they add stuff like unhealthy refined sugars, salts, oils. With Planted Seeds, I don’t add any oil to the peanut butters. I also use coconut sugar to sweeten it up,” she said.

“For the flavored variants like with the cacao, I use raw cacao powder because it has more nutritional benefits and tastes better. Never will I add something that I don’t eat. I think that made Planted Seeds different from others, it’s healthier and it showcases a part of who I am,” Kristina added.

While Kristina immensely enjoys her business, she admitted that she finds it challenging sometimes being a “one-woman team.”

“I have a 9-5 job then I have my online business. Sometimes, I lose motivation to continue because I’m tired from work and there’s not much orders in a week. But it is during those times that you will really be challenged. Your willingness to learn and to grow,” she said.

Currently, Kristina receives 10 to 20 orders per week with about six bottles per order which she believes is a good start already.

“Since I’m just starting, it’s not too much but I’m already glad that it’s earning. As of now, I ship mostly around Manila but there are orders from Davao and someone also ordered from me then she shipped it for her sister to Qatar. And that is so exciting for me,” she said.

While the business is just turning one year old, Kristina is hopeful that Planted Seeds will be a staple in every home and reach a wider range of market.

“I hope it will be a staple to sweet occasions, events, even in cafes, and restaurants. I also hope it will be on the shelves of supermarket stores nationwide and hopefully in some parts of the world,” Kristina said.

“There’s still a lot to work on that’s for sure but from where I’ve started, I’m glad that slowly, people are hearing about it. I even got some celebrities to try it already. I am already grateful for where it is right now and already thankful for what is to come,” she added.