Greetings Everyday Vegans! 💚 

Last evening, we were privileged to spend an evening with Kresho, the innovator behind the delicious Kresho Bar, and his lovely partner. What started as a casual meet-up transformed into an exciting, night-long conversation that was as insightful as it was inspiring.

Kresho's company, the 'Desert Island Confectionary,' and its tagline: 'making nice things in a less violent world,' mirrors his personality perfectly. His sense of humor and boundless positivity was refreshingly infectious, especially considering the challenging spheres we navigate.

We swapped tales about family, travel, the unique challenges of running an ethical business, and much more. We shared notes on the burgeoning vegan scenes in both Singapore and Australia, and found ourselves unified in a common goal: driving towards the changes we want to see in our world.

A flashback to 2019 and Kresho Bar's debut at a vegan market in Singapore will refresh your memory.

However, our relationship with the Kresho Bar dates back to 2018, at the Melbourne Vegan Festival. It was there that we first tasted the bar, an experience that triggered a flood of childhood nostalgia and served as a reminder of how a simple treat can illustrate the feasibility of a vegan lifestyle.

The photo above of my haul from the Vegan Festival!

Kresho's passion was tangible as he relayed his journey to creating a vegan 'candy' bar for the masses. His journey, spanning two intensive years of research and development (2016-2018), saw him tinkering with nougat, experimenting with almonds, and taste-testing relentlessly. All this took place during a time when vegan alternatives to popular chocolate brands like Kitkat or Cadbury were almost non-existent. This R&D paid off, because till today, i have yet to taste a better candy bar!

It was impressive to see Kresho's commitment to ethical sourcing. He chose to procure his cacao from fair-trade certified sources, notably from suppliers in South America, where child labor is far less prevalent than in other cocoa-producing regions.

One fascinating point he shared was about his product not being labeled as 'free from'. His fair-trade certified chocolate, he explained, may contain minute traces of milk from the the supplier's processing plant. He explained that this was typical as the same processing plants would process both milk and dark chocolates on the same machinery. The need to add the 'trace amounts' label on his packaging was a disappointment to him, yet he assured us that these amounts were truly minimal.

After perfecting his recipe, Kresho invested a year into building his Clean Room facility to manage the entire manufacturing process. The facility is entirely powered by renewable energy, and the factory is fully vegan. His attention to detail, particularly when speaking about the chocolate-making process and packaging machinery, reflected his engineering background and love for tinkering with technology.

As we delved into the evolution of veganism in Australia, it was remarkable to see its growth from a small group of committed individuals to a mass movement that attracts thousands to festivals and fills supermarkets like Woolworths and Coles with vegan options. We left the conversation hoping to witness a similar surge in veganism in Singapore, envisioning our country becoming a vegan hub for Asia.

One question that slipped my mind in our whirlwind discussion was the reason behind Kresho naming the bar after himself. It's definitely a question for our next meet-up!

The positivity radiating from Kresho was palpable. Given the opportunity, we would have happily continued our conversation till the break of dawn, if it hadn't been for his early flight the next morning.

Before we sign off, we have an exciting appeal for our community. Let's come together to reach our $50k target for our Crowdfunding Campaign! With the Everyday Vegan Discount Club, we aim to partner with ethical producers like Kresho and nurture a thriving vegan business ecosystem.

Here's a sweet deal! If we can hit the halfway mark by the end of this week, we'll host an exceptional backer's gathering with free cheese tasting, delectable food, and great company! Together, we can build an inclusive vegan community and make vegan living an easy choice for everyone!