SPONSORED: Plant-Based Meal Service Brings Kosher Food to Your Door

The following post is a sponsored advertisement for Veestro.

Six years ago, Los Angeles locals Monica Klausner and her brother Mark Fachler decided to create a food delivery service that was not only efficient but delivered plant-based meals right to consumers’ doors. Since Mark was an investment banker and had a busy schedule, he wanted fresh food, not packed with preservatives, and required little prep time. Together they created Veestro, the online vegan bistro which ships pre-cooked vegan, gluten-free, organic, soy-free, nut-free and now Kosher recipes to homes nationwide.  

Klausner said Veestro’s mission is to help everyone “eat more plants in a really easy and convenient way that becomes almost a no brainer.” 

The Journal sat down with Klausner to discuss Veestro and how to ease into a plant-based food lifestyle.  

Jewish Journal: In Costa Rica, how did you get involved in the kitchen and how did that influence the meals that come out of Veestro? 

Monica Klausner: Well I think this may come as a surprise but I don’t like to cook. My mom did most of the cooking in Costa Rica and my sister got that amazing gene that she could open the fridge and look in and find 16 things to make. I can open a fridge full of produce and close it and go ‘there’s nothing to eat.’ Thankfully, we decided to do this business the right way and hire a vegan chef. He grew up in Bolivia and his cultural background is similar to ours and we just fell in love with his cooking. He comes up with all the amazing recipes that you can find on our menu.

JJ: There are so many food delivery plans, but those require you to prepare the food. Is this what makes Veestro stand out?

MK: When we started the business, my brother ordered [a home food delivery service] …He called me and said, ‘This isn’t convenient. They sent me a box of ingredients, it took me two hours to chop it and prep it and cook it and I still had a whole bunch of pots to clean up.’ So we decided to make it convenient, we needed to provide a solution, not an experience. So what’s the solution? It’s a meal that’s already prepared and all you have to do is heat it up and eat it.

JJ: Why did you decide to make everything certified Kosher? 

MK: Both Mark and I are Jewish and it was really important for us that people who keep Kosher know that not only is our food vegan, but cleaned the right way, doesn’t have any bugs and all the other little nuances that come with the Kosher certification that [don’t] necessarily come with a regular vegan diet.

JJ: What was it like growing up Jewish in Costa Rica? 

MK: It was pretty cool. Back then there was a pretty small Jewish community. My grandparents and their generation founded the community. It was a really small shtetl-like community where everyone knew your business and everyone helped you out. It was a very Jewish upbringing I’ll tell you that. We all lived within a certain couple-mile radius from my friend’s house. All my Jewish friends lived in my neighborhood.

JJ: How are the Veestro meal plans set up if they are already pre-made? 

MK: There are a couple of ways you can order. You can order a la carte, so that’s 10 meals, 20 meals or 30 meals. You can order one time, or you can order every week or every two weeks or every month. We don’t ask for a commitment you can cancel any time. Or you can order our weight loss program which is three meals a day for five days or seven days and that’s weekly. 

JJ: What advice do you have for those who want to make the switch to eating a plant-based diet?

MK: The best advice I can give to people is to start slow. Maybe start changing out a few of the ingredients like dairy for the dairy alternative or stop eating meat. It’s hard to stop cold turkey but it is easy to fall off that wagon than it is to start baby steps. The way that I did it, I first got rid of the dairy and slowly replaced all of the other ingredients until I was fully comfortable. It also helps get more comfortable with what you are making and you get to experience certain ingredients that perhaps you’ve never cooked with. But that’s if you like to cook. If you don’t like to cook the easiest way to go vegan is by ordering Veestro, of course. 

JJ: You’re currently based in Los Angeles, how and where can people get your products?

MK: We ship nationwide so the best way to get our products is to go online to our website. We make everything fresh and we ship it frozen straight to your door. The reason we ship it frozen is we want you to keep it in your freezer for when your week gets busy. If you didn’t get a chance to eat it this week, we don’t want you to have to worry or have to throw it away. With us Jews, throwing food away is the biggest sin ever. We wanted to make sure people wouldn’t have to throw food away. We don’t use any added preservatives in our food so you can keep it in the freezer for up to 8-10 weeks. 

Get 25% off any Veestro purchase by using the promo code KOSHER. 

Erin Ben-Moche is a staff writer at the Jewish Journal.