Hi friends. You may have seen that I have been teasing the need for a major shift, and I want to share more about that with you. For the first time, I am asking the greater community around us for help so we can close production. But first, some context:

For twelve years, PlantBase has been a mix of dinner club, manufacturer, protest snack provider, caterer, events planner and supporter, farmer’s market vendor, silly songs-singer and terrible jokes-teller.

The core of this business has always been production of compassionate foods like vegan meats and cheeses. Though it's been consistently challenging and has demanded the sacrifice of nearly everything outside of PlantBase itself, it has been rewarding, and a true honour to serve you. I’m very proud of us remaining locally focussed, knowing our clients, providing value, and giving back. We always felt that compassionate foods should not be the monetized domain of venture capital players speculating with funds from various caring communities. We just wanted to feed people stuff and support them, and we do that.

 Around the start of the pandemic, we were planning and beginning to invest in a direction that was going to help us grow, while avoiding all of the supposed get-rich-quick schemes that were being pitched at anything “plant-based.”.The pandemic continued longer than expected, we had a difficult facility move that disrupted a critical time of production--and we continued to pivot away from that original plan, in order to remain operating. We did launch an online store and kept plugging away. We had another tough year with the loss of a key person and co-owner of PlantBase, Drew--who mourned three immediate family members passing within a short time and understandably needed to take time for mourning and healing.

Add to all of this the increasing cost of goods and fuel, and we collectively chose to downsize our size and scope of production to find stability. This made a positive difference and took us away from utter, sudden ruin, but still left us mostly unable to fully address “original plan” debt. Then more recently, an accident totalled our delivery vehicle. A smattering of unfortunately timed events and some existing struggles along with seeming downturn in the industry has brought us to where we are today.

While PlantBase itself isn’t going away, we are currently planning to stop day-to-day production at the end of February. We do not want to ask for help in any demanding, over the top way, but we could use help to be able to put PlantBase into hiatus. This campaign provides a way for me to feel okay enough with asking you for anything at all by creating some parting gifts, artifacts, records of process and recipes, and fun keepsakes of this era of PlantBase. These things are mostly not food items, so they have a predictable margin and can truly help us end things on an even footing. 

Our fundraising goal is $45,000. This is enough to make sure we meet all our obligations as we wind down.

(We're investigating all the options to make sure that our most loved products still have a home, by asking other producers to acquire our products and processes. Hopefully an update soon!)

There are three main ways we are asking for help:

SUPPORT: Take a look at the fundraiser order form, and make selections from the menu of awesome offerings and help us chip away! We have gift items, a few tasty surprises, a book (!), and some special opportunities for catered meals featuring our great products and more.

SHARE: We are only interested in a grassroots campaign led by the collective efforts of anyone who wishes to help. Another important contribution you can make is to share the campaign with folks and help us find everyone who might want to participate!

STOCKPILE: We are half kidding on this one, but stocking up by visiting us at farmer’s markets, pop ups, and shopping online is certainly not discouraged.

Here are some ways you can support us in this process:

SOCIAL MEDIA OPTIONS

1. INSTAGRAM/FACEBOOK MENTION: Group post thanking you in comments! Suggested contribution $20; write in the amount you would like to contribute below.
2. INDIVIDUAL MENTION: Your name plus a reference, promotion, photo, or in-joke of your choosing (so long as it passes the “nothing shitty” vibe check); we'll contact you to get pix or other media to include, $50 
3. I WANT TO TIP BIG for a song directed at me: One-minute video of a popular song with fun new lyrics created for you by David. $150, more if you get to choose the song, lol! :D 
4. Contribution of your choice: Just fill in an amount and we will thank you and remember you fondly.
   

How about keepsakes, useful products, proprietary flavours, and some informative how-tos?

1. AMAZING Foraged Horse Chestnut Laundry Detergent and How-To Process, $20
   Natalia and David urban foraged a huge amount of Horse Chestnut. Then they spent a whole darn day and a half slicing, grinding, and drying so you could try it out and have awesome natural detergent. We also include access to the file that tells you how to use your product and also how to easily repeat the good goodness of our process and forage your own laundry soap each year around the end of September/Start of October.  Bonus is that everyone will rush up to you and say, “YOU CAN’T EAT THESE YOU KNOW.” :)
   *This item is available immediately, can be picked up at the space, at a market, or can be shipped for an extra charge. There are 110 of this offer available.
   
2. Summer Squash Relish, $20
   Wanna add a bit of extra contribution to some delicious relish? We appreciate that. We promise there is $25 worth of FLAVOUR. This is a preserve, refrigerate after opening.
   *This item is available immediately, can be picked up at the space, at a market, or can be shipped for an extra charge. There are 100 of this offer available. 
3. Our Selection: Custom Specialty Spice Mix/Infused Salt Pack, $25
   Using the high-quality spices we have in stock in January, we will make something incredible from it, and give you at least two generous packets of specialty spice mix and enhanced salt that will be an awesome addition to your spice drawer or pantry.
   *This item is available January  to the end of February, can be picked up at the space, at a market, or can be shipped for an extra charge. There are approximately 50 of this offer available.
4. (Staff favourite) PLANTBASE GENERAL VEGAN KNOW-HOW ZINE $100 Yes, there's going to be a book! While it will not be a comprehensive, all-encompassing history of everything we know and do, we will amalgamate some general thoughts on ingredients, notes on home processes, a big selection of recipes that we really like, probably dumb puns, and meandering narrative voices as we all toss a mishmash of ideas into it. A few tips and tricks for seitan and other things we see people not knowing all the time, and you should! *This item is available in MARCH , and a digital copy will be sent upon completion to all who order it.
5. THE WHOLE PACKAGE, $150 
   You get items 1 through 4! *Available in phases, or in mid-march. other details apply, this is just a little discount for getting all the neat and silly things. Availability will be limited to stock levels at time of order. We will remove this option if an item sells out.

IN-PERSON EXPERIENCES! 

We'll go back in time a bit and offer these select events that could take place in your home or another venue we select, even David’s home--whatever vibe you want it to have, we can give it a shot.

1. GRAZE TABLE PARTY for 8, $650 (or smaller groups $85/per person)

It’s at David’s house, an okay-enough East Van basement suite, so it’s just like how we started with EatClub. We have to book this fun lil 4-hr event to happen between mid-January and mid-March ON A WEEKNIGHT. We will assemble a big frickin’ table of assorted locally made delicacies along with our own handmade foods, and offer you some activities such as playing a vintage Funhouse Pinball machine and a collection of old video games, or we can discuss a fun theme or activity you and your guests may want. We are open to food requests, but we are able to make a lovely eclectic meal that includes great value and a built in contribution to this campaign, so we plan to curate the items on the table to assist in that endeavour. Thank you for considering this wonky unorthodox but fun and delicious event. You can buy this as a block and handle your own invites, or you can request to join another random grouping by paying for single spots. There are 5 total blocks of 8 slot events available to start.

2. DAVID AND TEAM help you develop or perfect a product! Custom pricing, please inquire

Did you know behind the scenes we have helped develop and direct a number of other products? Are you a restaurant seeking a proper vegan option? Are you a vegan establishment looking for a special, new idea, using stuff you have? Are you a small business with a hurdle around your dream product that you want help solving? Hit us up! We can help immeasurably with your food item! We know how to make so darn many things, and we have a ton of collective experience that we want to lend to the benefit of compassionate eating. We plan to continue offering this important work to other folks, so this is starting it off.  Clarity: we only consult on products made entirely of plants, of course. Your establishment doesn’t have to be a vegan one, but it would be pretty cool if you did go that way. ;)

Thanks so kindly for your participation. We appreciate you so very much.