Eat The Change
Seth and Spike met back in 2017 at a food policy panel at George Washington University. The always eager salesman/entrepreneur, Seth brought along a cooler of Honest Tea and Beyond Burgers and snuck it under Spike’s chair. Though initially skeptical of veggie burgers, Spike cooked up some Beyond burgers at home for his family, including his wife who is vegan, and was hooked!
From then on the two started collaborating on food innovation concepts guided by Seth's track record for mission-based entrepreneurship and Spike's expertise in creating indulgent dining experiences.
Their first collaboration was PLNT Burger, a plant-based, quick-service restaurant that opened in September 2019. The menu, featuring Beyond burgers and sausage, as well as fries, soft-serve, and more, was recognized by DCEater as the #1 vegan restaurant in the area.
While sourcing ingredients for PLNT, Seth and Spike paid a visit to a fourth-generation organic mushroom farm based in Kennett Square, PA. There they learned about the production of yellow oyster mushrooms, and how their fruiting bodies, which are normally composted, can serve as a great substitute for a chicken filet. This discovery sparked the creation of a PLNT menu fan favorite: THE CRISPY CHIK N’ FUNGUY, a delicious sandwich made from this upcycled ingredient.
With their eyes opened to the possibilities of mushrooms as a blank canvas for amazing flavor combinations, they started to explore what other delicious foods they could create. They also realized they had a great brand name embedded inside of one of PLNT Burger's marketing slogans: "Eat the change you wish to see in the world."
