Carmel Magazine

038-066 Shortcuts_SU05 Carmel Magazine 4/26/13 10:38 AM Page 9 SHORTCUTS BUSINESS Photo: Kelli Uldall Living the Sweet Life, Vegan Style Kelly Swette co-owns the vegan food company that started in a Pacific Grove kitchen more than 30 years ago. Vegetable-dense, award-winning burritos, fruit pies, and energy bars can be found in many local stores. he ongoing quest for healthier foods is leading many people to try T vegetarian meals. Luckily, Sweet Earth Natural Foods has been spe- cializing in them for years. vegetable-dense, and we use seitan, an environmentally clean protein derived from wheat, as a meat alternative. "Not only is our food naturally delicious and nutritious, we have really The company started in a Pacific Grove kitchen in 1978 and recently improved our packaging by including photos of the beautiful food inside, husband Brian bought Sweet Earth in 2010, following business and mar- For the future, Swette hopes to expand Sweet Earth's breakfast foods, expanded to a larger facility in Moss Landing. Owner Kelly Swette and her shot by local photographer Patrick Tregenza," says Swette. keting careers at PepsiCola, Calvin Klein and Jamba Juice, among others. encouraging people to eat their veggies even in the morning. As its web- in food service sales. 'Sweet vibes. Rolling surf. Pure sunshine.' " Caren Hicks, one of Sweet Earth's founders, still works for the company "We are lifelong foodies," says Kelly Swette. "Sweet Earth has lines of all- site says, "the most important ingredients are the ones we don't list... Many Sweet Earth products, including burritos, fruit pies, soups and natural, vegetarian and vegan foods, and they are really delicious! Our bur- energy bars are available at Cornucopia in Carmel and Whole Foods in At last year's Expo West (the largest natural food expo in the U.S.) held turing the energy bars. "We are getting a lot of community support and ritos are made from world-inspired recipes, using ancient grains like quinoa." in Anaheim, the company won a "Nexty" Award for its industry leader- ship, and the "Best New Vegan Food" award for its Curry Tiger burrito.The Big Sur breakfast burrito also got rave reviews. "Everyone loves these burritos," Swette says. "We try to make them 52 C ARMEL MAGAZINE•SPRING/SUMMER 2013 Monterey. Swette is also proud that Pebble Beach Golf Links will be feainterest," Swette says. For more information, visit www.sweetearthfoods.com. —Catrina Coyle

• Cover