It Doesn’t Taste Vegan: The Meaty Success of Victor & Mika’s Bakery
In this season 3 episode of Back of the Napkin, Mika Altidor and Victor Munoz, owners of Victor & Mika’s Bakery, discuss owning and operating the first and only vegan establishment in Polk County, FL, and how they balance being partners in business and life. Plus, they explain why 98% of their customers aren’t even vegan. Read more
Dusty Weis:
Greetings innovators and welcome to Back of the Napkin, where we explore big journeys in the world of small business with the personalities who make it happen. And it's brought to you by SurePayroll, where small business is their business. I'm Dusty Weis, a small business owner from the Midwest.
Karen Stoychoff:
And I'm Karen Stoychoff from the SurePayroll team. Dusty, you're a meat and potato kind of guy, right? Meal bliss for you as a T-bone charred medium rare and a heaping mound of steak fries. Do vegetables besides those potatoes have a place on your plate?
Dusty:
Karen, have you been reading my diary? Yeah, no. You just basically described my dream meal. I do consider myself an enthusiastic omnivore. I will try anything once, and yes, I do keep my own garden in the backyard. Right now, my kale is going bananas, but I'm the first to admit that my dietary preferences probably more resemble those of Homer Simpson, and I'm pretty skeptical of the notion that I could live without regular helpings of meat and cheese. What about you?
Karen:
A New York Strip was my steak of choice back in the day. But my plate for the last several years has been Whole Foods Plant-Based … vegetables, fruit, nuts, seeds, grains, legumes, all that good stuff.
Dusty:
So, no meat, poultry, fish? No dairy?
Karen:
Nope. I made the change initially to see if a plant-based diet would help my cholesterol levels. We like to say in my family that we're genetically gifted when it comes to cholesterol. So when my bad, or LDL cholesterol, dropped considerably just after 30 days, I decided to stick with it. I found out I'm not alone. As many as 6% of U.S. Consumers say they're vegan; that's a 500% increase over the last several years. Also growing at double digits in the U.S. is sales of plant-based foods. Estimates suggest the U.S. plant-based meat market will reach more than $31 billion by 2026. Our guests today are at the forefront of that trend, operating a bakery and food truck south of Orlando that serves up delicious vegan treats and savory dishes to a dedicated growing customer base.
Dusty:
Well, Karen, it's certainly no secret in the consumer world that shoppers are increasingly interested in adding plant-based foods to their diets. And it seems from the small business perspective, it's a pretty smart move. There's an eager customer base out there.
Karen:
That's right. According to the Plant-Based Foods Association, the vegan retail food industry's worth grew by double last year. If you question the popularity of plant-based options, consider Kentucky Fried Chicken, Pizza Hut, Dairy Queen, McDonald's, California Pizza Kitchen, and even more, now feature plant-based menu options. And don't even think about forgetting Ben and Jerry's!
Dusty:
All right. Well, I admit, you've whetted my appetite, but before we serve up this episode, we would love it if you took a moment and followed Back of the Napkin in your favorite podcast app. New episodes are coming out every couple of weeks and we want them to pop up in the top of your podcast feed, but you've got to hit that subscribe button to make it happen. And if you enjoy the program, we would appreciate a five-star rating or even a review. We love hearing comments from our biggest fans.
Karen:
Let's meet our guests, Mika Altidor and Victor Munoz, owners of Victor and Mika's Bakery. Mika was an in-demand professional stylist and jewelry designer. Victor owned a popular produce market. They now own and operate the first and only vegan establishment in Polk County, Florida. The couple also serve vegan food to Orlando area homeless through the charitable organization Food Not Bombs.
Dusty:
Polk County, in case you weren't familiar, is home to Lakeland, Winter Haven, that area right around in there with a population of about 700,000. And that is a significant service area, especially if you're first in market. So Mika, you were recently named one of the 25 Black Entrepreneurs That You Should Be Watching From Polk County, and together you and Victor authored a popular vegan cookbook. Mika and Victor, thank you so much for joining us on Back of the Napkin.
Dusty:
I understand that you both left behind established businesses to start your vegan bakery. What inspired you to do that?
Mika Altidor:
Well, there was a opportunity that landed in our laps with a distributor picking us up and it was an opportunity we could not refuse, so that's how the bakery started. At the same time, I always thought, ‘Okay, well, I'll put my business on pause for the moment.’ Well, that was four years ago and here we are, but we never intended on, ‘Oh, let's open a bakery and let's open a vegan bakery,’ at that time.
Dusty:
I understand that this was actually tied to some health concerns that you had earlier in your career.
Mika:
Yes, I had fibroids and I went vegan because eating foods like dairy and eggs and meat, all these things contributed to the growth of my fibroids and the pain, and it was hellacious. It really was. And I had to do what I could to make my life more comfortable and to have an alternative to an invasive surgery. I had to heal my body, so I turned to being vegan. And for some listeners that are wondering what is vegan, veganism is basically not consuming any animal products. So, I eat just like you. I'll have pancakes, I'll have waffles, I'll have breads, all of this stuff, but I have it without eggs or without dairy, without meat. So, I'll have a burger, it'd be a meatless burger. And it's just a lifestyle without using any animal products.
Mika:
So, when I went vegan, my tumors shrunk, the pain went away. The pain was almost endurable and then even that went away. And like you said, Dusty, in a county of over a population of 700,000 people – the largest county in Florida, larger than the county of Miami, larger than Jacksonville – and there is not a vegan establishment where someone can order a dairy-free cake for their daughter who's allergic to milk. They don't have to be vegan, but they're allergic to dairy or they're allergic to eggs, and we were the first to have that available for them where they could order a dairy-free or egg-free birthday cake.
Dusty:
When I hear a story like yours, and this is a bad habit of mine, as someone who, as Karen pointed out, is a big fan of meat, potatoes, and cheese. But when I hear a story like yours, my first impulse is to go, ‘Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry that you can't have meat and eggs and cheese. Those things are so wonderful.’ I was recently called out by a vegan friend who said, ‘No, you don't have to apologize for me. I love my diet. I can still have delicious things.’ And Victor, I imagine that that is your approach in running the bakery as well. Living a vegan lifestyle doesn't have to be something that you would get apologized to for.
Victor Munoz:
No, actually, we make possible for any vegan to keep enjoying all the pretty much the same thing, donuts or whatever is your favorite things is a bakery or even dishes because we have special dishes. We veganize pretty much anything, so we always paying attention to see what's around in the world. We see from any country or whatever, whatever we see as very popular, we veganize. And we always taste it, make sure they're going to be just same as good as the real deal. And my own, for example, I always try and bring some new things almost every time, that way we don't bring the same thing and the people get tired of trying the same all the time. So, we cover both sides like sweet and savory.
Victor:
In the beginning, we see a lot of people struggling, even in ourselves, we were struggling to try and find a good place to eat vegan things. You go to a restaurant and it's very hard to find some good stuff, like good dishes, or even a single burger, it's very hard. So, I guess it's one of the reasons how Victor and Mika's started, because we say like, ‘Well, if it's nothing around, I think it's a good chance to be very strong in this way, being vegan, vegan bakery.’
Karen:
Victor, you used to pack some of Mika's vegan banana bread when you would go to the produce market and customers started to eye your banana bread and started to ask if you were going to sell that. Was that also an inspiration for why you wanted to see if you could expand and grow this opportunity for the two of you?
Victor:
I feel like the real reason why we started the bakery was because my family, they been growing vegetables and fruits in the field for a long time, I want to say 40, 50 years and it was really good to make money, and then right now is difficult because it's a lot of competition, like big stores, which focus on produce, like fruits and vegetables, and then that affects the sales for us.
Victor:
And then I told Mika, I say, ‘Don't you think we should try to make banana bread? Because we have a lot of bananas.’ We were throwing a lot of bananas away every time. Bananas when... as soon as it got speckles or they little bruise or something, you can’t sell like normal because then anybody do that... I mean, any store, like as soon as it got a little speckles. And for me, it's actually the best way to eat it, when it got a little speckle it got a little different taste and it's …
Dusty:
The bananas turn in our house and they go right into the freezer and that's banana bread in a couple of months’ time.
Victor:
Yeah, it's actually the best way to make banana bread. So, I see the big opportunity to make banana bread and make money from something that we were throwing away. I say, ‘Why we want to keep on doing this?’ So I talked to Mika and she agree, so she start to make, I think in the beginning was six or seven lofts of the banana bread, and then we were almost selling out every day, every day. And then eventually, we got to the point where we were selling 15, 20 a day.
Victor:
At the place where I was buying the products, it was this big company. So, I see they were selling banana bread and not only banana bread, but they were also selling zucchini, carrot, and a lot of different flavors. So, I pay attention to them and I say, ‘Well, we make banana bread.’ I told them. And she said, ‘You do?’ And she said, ‘I don't know why you don't bring me a sample and see if you can supply me, because actually we need more than that because we don't have enough.’ So, I bring a sample and they like it, but then we struggle a little bit with the size because they want a special size for the... there was a poundcake size. It had to be one pound, and so we struggled to find the right pan.
Mika:
So, when they signed us on, we didn't know what we were signing up for. We just thought, ‘Okay.’ And we saw... we thought, ‘Okay, well, 400 loaves.’ We were doing the math, we're like, ‘Oh, that sounds like really good money.’ But we did not have a commercial space as far as commercial equipment, mixer, everything was being done by hand.
Victor:
And ovens.
Mika:
So, we had to learn how to multiply our ingredients to create batches. So, we learned, we had to create a system for the recipes so that the loaves would taste identical and delicious. It was a big process, a lot of baking for a small oven and for two people. And that's what actually stopped us from going back into produce and my jewelry business, because it wasn't possible to do that. Literally it's impossible.
Dusty:
Yeah. The challenges of scaling are something that we've heard before from guests on this podcast. And particularly when you're dealing in food products, it can be really, really tough to go from small batches to big batches and maintain the level of quality that you expect. But what I really love about the story is as you scaled, as you got bigger and as you adapted and incorporated the vegan lifestyle into the products you made, you also incorporated your own backgrounds from a cultural standpoint. Mika, you weren't raised vegan, but you grew up in a traditional Haitian household and Victor, I know you grew up in a traditional Mexican household. So, Mika, how did the family recipes that you grew up with now influenced your vegan menu options?
Mika:
It's funny you asked. So at the moment I don't have any traditional family meals, anything traditionally that that I grew up on incorporated in the menu. But what I do have is a lot... is a major part of me, a major part of myself. So, I know what food tastes good, so I approach baking and cooking from a standpoint of taste and quality and tasting the seasonings and not over-seasoning, but letting the food speak for itself, breaking out the natural essence of whatever herbs, whether it's rosemary or cilantro, whatever it is, letting that speak in the recipe, in the food. And so I consider myself a greedy gluttonous person, and I think that is the person that you want baking your food or cooking your food. So, when they say don't trust a skinny chef, don't trust a chef that doesn't know... like, isn't greedy. They have to be greedy, and so that's what I bring into my recipes, our recipes. And for Victor, he brings a lot of his traditions into the bakery.
Victor:
I guess, for most Mexicans, not now, but back in the days, people were like vegan. Why? Because people didn’t have the money to buy beef or chicken, unless that you raise your own chickens or your own beef and things like that. A lot of the place that you see at these days in the restaurants or different places where they sell some amazing Mexican food, everything is loaded with the beef, with chicken, with cheese, but the real plate in the beginning was not, there was not like that. There was not with beef. There was not with chicken.
Victor:
All of them, they were pretty much based on the corn tortilla. There was the salsa, and there was not much, like three, four ingredients. And it was... it's delicious, of course, but there was the basic, there was beans, there was all these things.
Victor:
But the reality is like that, so I feel like when I was growing up, I grew up with my grandmom and I learned how she was cooking most of the dishes, like real dishes. I feel like that's one of the reasons I bring a lot of dishes, a lot different... for me it was very easy, bring a vegan bakery because there's a lot of bread, which is make already vegan. But people make, for example, their butter, it's not vegan these days, but you can use oils or you can use a lot of different things, which is still vegan, more natural.
Karen:
It's not just your family heritage traditions that you bring to your cooking though, Victor. I understand that Mika absolutely raves about your fried Italian savory donuts. How did you come about developing an Italian savory donut recipe?
Victor:
I guess when you are doing something, either if you’re a mechanic or if you are building houses or you doing something, I guess you always have something in mind to... I don't know, that can be to surprise you or to impress the customers. So, I never stay quiet in my mind, I was thinking what I can bring for this weekend, what I can do, what else I can present, where the people can feel like, ‘Oh my god, this is amazing.’ ‘Oh, this tastes really good.’ So I feel like that's one of the reasons why I always create something new, almost every... I don't want to say every week, but I try at least every two, three weeks bring something new.
Victor:
So, I say, everybody love cheese, so let me put some little seasons on it. So, I put garlic, I put oregano, I put a little olive oil, so and then I put a little touch of the jalapeno, just the juice, because I don't want to put the whole jalapeno on it because it may be too spicy and people don't want to eat it. Some people love spicy. We have a lot of customers there who eats spicy without problem, but I just put a little touch of the jalapeno taste on them.
Dusty:
So always trying to the customers, but also, as I understand it, trying to impress one another, because we kind of buried the lede here. But you guys, in addition to running a business together and being business partners are life partners as well.
Mika:
Yes.
Dusty:
That's a lot for a couple to do, to live personal and their professional lives together. So, what's your secret for making that work?
Mika:
So, Victor is a perfectionist, so he is the type of baker or chef that you want baking for you. He is meticulous, into details and presentations and in the preparation leading up to serving you whatever it is that you want. He's super clean. He's super neat, and so he, in a sense is as a leader, and I'm a leader also. For us, what works is where Victor has his own workspace and then I have my own workspace, and he is literally free to create anything that he feels passionate about and so am I, and that he does anything that needs yeast and rising from the croissants to the savory donuts, to anything that needs rising, the jalapeno cheddar breads, literally everything, so Victor does that.
Mika:
And then I am my own management person with anything that's pretty, so cakes and cupcakes and anniversary cakes and those things. And I ended up with the pleasure of decorating all of those donuts that Victor makes. And he is overseeing his own projects and I'm overseeing my own projects, and he allows me to be free in creating and designing and I do the same for him. So, we don't limit each other, and we don't supervise each other, and we also don't have that room... Sometimes when you're partners, people can critique and go, ‘Wow, why did you do it that way? Why did you do it...’ and so there's no room created for that. So, we have our space.
Dusty:
So, it sounds like play to your strengths, know that you complement one another, give the other one room to do their thing and divide and conquer.
Mika:
Yes.
Dusty:
And I would say that that is not just good business advice, that's good life partner advice.
Mika:
Yes.
Dusty:
So outstanding stuff there. We're going to continue this conversation with Mika Altidor and Victor Munoz from Victor and Mika's Bakery in just a minute. But first we're going to check in with Holly Wade, executive director of the National Federation of Independent Business with the SurePayroll Mainstreet Minute.
Karen:
Holly, thanks for joining us again. We've certainly tried to put a lot of things from 2020 behind us but getting your PPP loan forgiven is a great step toward that goal for business owners. What do we need to know?
Holly Wade:
Most small business owners who received a PPP loan in 2020 have already filed for loan forgiveness, but for those who received a second PPP in 2021, most are still using their funds on payroll and other eligible expenses. If you're still using your PPP loan proceeds or waiting to apply for forgiveness, just a few reminders that borrowers have 10 months from the last day of their covered period to apply for loan forgiveness before monthly loan payments begin. To qualify for full loan forgiveness, at least 60% of the funds need to be spent on payroll, leaving up to 40%, though, of the PPP loan funds available to pay for eligible non-payroll expenses. More information on the expanded list of eligible non-payroll expenses can be found at the Small Business Administration's website.
Holly:
The 60-40 rule on payroll and non-payroll expenses is particularly helpful if you also qualify for the employee retention tax credit. Small employers can take advantage of both programs, but not on the same wages. If you think you can take advantage of both programs, talk with an accountant or CPA about how best to allocate your PPP funds for forgiveness so you can also take full advantage of the employee retention tax credit.
Dusty:
All Right. Well, good advice as always. Thank you, Holly. That's Holly Wade, executive director of the National Federation of Independent Business with the SurePayroll Mainstreet Minute.
Karen:
This is the SurePayroll Back of the Napkin podcast, where entrepreneurs share their stories of big journeys and small business. I'm Karen Stoychoff.
Dusty:
And I'm Dusty Weis, and we're talking to Mika Altidor and Victor Munoz from Victor and Mika's Bakery in Polk County, Florida. So, Mika and Victor, had to ask about this as a non-vegan, because interestingly enough, 90% of your customers are not vegan. What do you think that that says about what's on your menu?
Mika:
Well, actually 98% of our customers are not vegan. The presentation of our foods, the way our food looks, it looks just like regular delicious food, delicious croissants, delicious cheddar loaf, delicious banana nut breads. When you see our foods, it just looks like darn good food that you're like, ‘Oh, wow, that looks good. I want to pick that up. I want to take that home to my family. I want to take that for Sunday dinner or something to have for the week and just freeze it and I can share it with my family for the week.’ So, we cater to all and Victor's meticulous about... he's a craftsman, he's a baker, craftsman and when you see his stuff, you would think a team of 16 people in a bakery produced those items, but it was really one man.
Karen:
Mika, you went vegan and made other lifestyle choices to help heal your ailing body and mind. Yet, there is absolutely nothing easy about running a small business. How do you maintain balance?
Mika:
I recently learned how to maintain balance. We went from working our first year, as you and your listeners now know, 120 hours a week with the distributor, 400 loaves of bread, two people, one hours of sleep a day, falling asleep behind the wheel of the car while delivering at 4 o’clock in the morning to the distributor who was about 40 miles from where we were and falling asleep on the way back, sometimes pulling over the high on the side of the highway after dropping off our loaf to get maybe a 10-minute or a 30-minute nap, whatever we could to safely make it back. That was our life for about nine months before we ended distributing. So, 120 hours to now, we're working 60 hours a week, our fourth year into running Victor and Mika's Bakery, so we just celebrated four years.
Mika:
We know a thing or two now about balance. I highly recommend anyone that's in small business and you're thinking about having a small business, rest is seriously critical, taking care of your mental state of being, taking care of your relationships, going out with your partner. All those things are critical and having a balance so that you can have a fulfilling life, a whole life, not just part of a life. Sacrifice what you need for your business, but don't sacrifice yourself because you are the business and when you're not at 100%, when you're operating at 20%, you cannot survive. You will not survive.
Dusty:
I'm definitely glad to hear that you guys found that balance. Victor, I've got to say this. I've spent most of my professional life behind a microphone and if you ask my mom, she'll tell you that when I was a little kid, I was running around talking, talking, talking, talking pretending to be a news reporter and interviewing people and so they weren't surprised. But I understand that when you spent time with your moms, your aunts, your grandmas in the kitchen, that wasn't something that you enjoyed as a kid. What changed did you ever imagine as a kid that you'd be making a living by baking up delicious treats for folks?
Victor:
No, actually I guess it was the last thing on my mind. Every time I was thinking about it, I would say, ‘Oh no, that's too much work. Very boring.’ In some point in my life, I feel passionate for do something. I don't know what it was. I asked God to direct me, and I feel like he hear my prayer and so I finished baking, and when I was baking, I find myself enjoying it. Some things, some process of the bakery, they relax you, so I feel like that's one of the parts that I love about baking, not washing sheets or nothing like that. I guess washing dishes, washing sheets, that's something that I guess nobody want to do, but... and the other side with the baking, while you’re working with the dough, while you doing something, when you shaping something, I enjoy it.
Dusty:
You found your calling and something that used to drive you crazy. And that is one of the coolest things about it to me, but whenever you take in turn a passion into a business model, one of the harshest surprises I've realized is the financial kind. You said you weren't aware, Mika, that there was a cost to follow your passion. How have you found a return on your investment?
Mika:
The return for me is the appreciation that the customers give us. We're probably in the 10% in the whole country, where you're able to get something vegan and gluten free as far as... and it tastes like a regular item. For example, we have donuts that are not cake donuts, they're like regular yeast donuts that are gluten free.
Mika:
When customers are like, ‘Thank you. I can't find this anywhere. I can't get something. I'm allergic to this or I'm allergic to that, and I can't get something that's going to accommodate my allergies and I'm able to get something that I can eat.’ So anyway, this couple had an anniversary yesterday and they're both gluten free and she was so grateful. We have so many customers that say, ‘Sincerely, thank you. Thank you for being here. Thank you for doing what you do. Thank you for making things that I can eat.’ We get this over and over and over and that is our return.
Karen:
You do another thing that I imagine makes you feel very, very good and that's your involvement with the charitable organization Food Not Bombs. Can you tell us, Mika, a little bit more about your involvement with that organization?
Mika:
Yes, Karen. So, Food Not Bombs is a nonprofit organization that feeds the homeless and feeds people who are not able to financially support themselves. So, we got involved with them and it's been... it's another part of our life where we get rewarded tenfold. The pandemic slowed us down from being involved because there was... everything stopped, but being there, and actually we bring items, everyone brings things that contribute to almost like a potluck, and we're feeding lines of homeless people in front of City Hall in Downtown Orlando. That is so rewarding, and people are so grateful. They don't know that they're eating vegan from us, which is a bonus. And it's made us feel so good being there, even when we're tired, even when it's our day off and we want to rest but being there with the group is... words can't explain. I
Dusty:
Well, it's really cool to hear because, ultimately, at the end of the day, making money is only part of your mission as a small business and being a part of your community, and playing a role and making that community a better, more vibrant place, I've found is a worthy part of that mission as well and it sounds like you guys have that part nailed down, so that's great to hear. But you sell your items at the area farmer's market, even special events, there are pop up events, retail specialty shops, you've got a food truck, but what's coming next for Victor and Mika's Bakery?
Mika:
There's a lot coming up. So, one of the things for us is COVID slowed us down last year with our attempts with our... We have a property, so we're in process of renovating it so that it would be our brick and mortar. So COVID slowed us down a little bit, but that is a next endeavor that we have is completing our renovation and maybe having another storefront in Lakeland, which is another big city in Polk County.
Victor:
It's very important for Victor and Mika's bakery, the next going to be our place, our own place where the people can come and buy. And I don't know, in the beginning if people can sit down and eat there, but it's on our mind to do... make a place where people can come and order pick up and maybe two, three tables in the beginning to receive some customers who want to eat there. In the beginning, of course, we want to stay with the Mexican dishes, but the which already been presented to some customers, but we open to veganize nice, a lot of different things, Italian, any country, whichever is popular.
Mika:
Also, one of the girls that we plan on doing our next moves is basically opening more to wholesalers and to markets and restaurants, so that is one of the other moves that's what's next for Victor and Mika's Bakery.
Dusty:
Well, Victor, I've got to say, you guys have a plan for growth. You've got unlimited potential at this point, and we are so excited to see what comes for you next at Victor and Mika's Bakery. Mika Altidor and Victor Munoz, thank you so much for joining us on this episode of Back of the Napkin.
Dusty:
And there's more exciting news for Victor and Mika as well, Karen. They recently learned that Veg News has selected their donuts as among the top three in the country, so kudos to them for that as well. But that is all we have time for on this episode of Back of the Napkin, where we explore big journeys in the world of small business, with the personalities who make it happen.
Karen:
Please make sure you're following us on your favorite podcast app and make sure you leave us a five-star rating or drop a review.
Dusty:
Back of the Napkin is brought to you by SurePayroll, from easy online payroll to 401k support and award-winning customer service, SurePayroll has been serving the payroll and business needs of small businesses for more than 20 years. Thanks to my cohost and our executive producer, Karen Stoychoff.
Karen:
And thanks to the head of SurePayroll marketing, Jenna Shklyar, as well as our production partners, PodCamp Media.
Dusty:
Where we provide branded podcast production services for businesses. Our editor and producer is Larry Kilgore III. So thanks for tuning into Back of the Napkin. I'm Dusty Weis.
Karen:
And I'm Karen Stoychoff.
