Building Your Brand: Vegan Means Business
Tuesday, September 16, 2025
2 pm - 3 pm Eastern via Zoom
Panelists:
Dame Lillian Cumic, chef, culinary instructor, and cookbook author
Dame Kristen Hartke, food journalist and cookbook author
Dame Ellen Kanner, food journalist, cookbook author, and culinary instructor
Plant-based dining isn’t just a trend—it’s a powerful business opportunity you can’t afford to ignore. Join three award-winning plant-based pros for a dynamic, flavor-packed session that goes beyond the plate.
What’s on the menu:
• Live cooking demos
• Delicious vegan recipes + bonus takeaways
But the most valuable ingredient? Insight on how plant-based strategies can boost your brand and bottom line.
You’ll learn:
• Who’s driving demand—and why it matters to you
• How plant-based offerings can cut costs
• Marketing & messaging that actually works
• Real-world wins (and lessons learned) from the field
Whether you're a curious carnivore or already in the game, this session will leave you inspired—and ready to lead.
Lillian Cumic (Hawaii chapter) is an award-winning Hawaii-based vegan chef, columnist, cooking instructor, and author of three acclaimed cookbooks: Hawai‘i A Vegan Paradise, Tasting Hawai‘i Vegan Style, and Hawai‘i Washoku. Originally from Sydney, she spent 30 years in Sendai, Japan, working in the culinary industry before moving to Hawaii in 2018. In 2024, Lillian earned second place in Taste of Home’s Favorite Chef competition, standing out among over 95,000 contestants and contributing to raising more than $4.7 million for the James Beard Foundation. She currently resides in Honolulu.
@lillian.cumic
Kristen Hartke (Washington D.C. chapter) is an award-winning food journalist, recipe developer, and photographer living in New York City, with a specialty in plant-based foods. She writes regularly for the Washington Post, NPR, Better Homes & Gardens, Eating Well, Food and Wine, and other national publications, as well as teaching food journalism at American University in Washington, DC. Kristen works with many chefs and cookbook authors on recipe testing and development, including on Joe Yonan’s Cool Beans (2020) and Mastering the Art of Plant Based Cooking (2024) and Sapna Punjabi’s Dal Chawal (2025).
@kristenhartke
Ellen Kanner (Washington D.C. chapter) is the author of Miami Vegan: Plant-Based Recipes from the Tropics to Your Table and the award-winning book Feeding the Hungry Ghost: Life, Faith and What to Eat for Dinner. She writes about the intersection of food, culture, community, wellness, and sustainability for outlets including HuffPo, VegNews, and Edible South Florida. She’s a vegan advocate and culinary instructor, recipe developer for major brands, and the creator of the Substack newsletter Broccoli Rising https://ellenkanner.substack.com/. A fifth generation Miami native, she lives with her husband in — where else? — Miami.
@ellenkanner
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