Tell us about O'LaVi. What are your goals/purpose for your project?
O’LaVi was started as a way to satisfy my own need for delicious plant based cheeses. We are a vegan cheese and deli retailer, woman owned, and based here in Long Beach. So many people that I talk with tell me they could never go fully plant based because they love cheese too much. (I too used to be one of those people). The goal for O’LaVi is to provide the best artisanal plant based cheese and deli options and change people’s perceptions about what vegan cheese is. I am constantly researching new vegan cheese companies from around the world, and figuring out a way to get my hands on them to bring them to Long Beach. So far, I have curated a brand of my growing list of favorite vegan cheeses, and sell them to consumers at farmers markets and pop up events throughout Long Beach.
Food is my love language. Sharing a good meal or cooking for someone is the easiest way to fill my cup
Let's get to know you. How did you get started, and how has your vegan journey been so far?
Food is my love language. Sharing a good meal or cooking for someone is the easiest way to fill my cup. I had been vegetarian off and on since I was 15 before going vegan around 6 years ago. Being a vegetarian in high school, my diet consisted mostly of bean and cheese burritos, grilled cheeses, cheese pizza….you get where I’m going here — supplementing my lack of meat for dairy. I ended up getting pretty sick my senior year, so shortly after high school I started bringing meat back into my diet because I thought being vegetarian was what was making me sick.
When the documentary ‘What The Health,’ came out, that was it for me. It opened my eyes to how corrupt our food system is and all of the lies that we’re told growing up about what types of food are “healthy” for us. I realized then that being vegetarian years ago wasn’t what was making me sick, it was the food (*dairy*) that I was putting into my body. I never had any idea how horrible the dairy industry is, and once I went down that rabbit hole of learning what went into making that piece of cheese or pint of ice cream, I couldn’t go back.
Now that I know all that I know it all makes so much more sense. Everything holds energy, from the water we drink to the food we eat. Dairy is the source of life for a mother cow/goat/sheep to keep their baby alive, just as it is for a human. When we steal that baby from its mother, and use their milk for our own consumption, the trauma and negative energy that was put into to making that piece of cheese or gallon of milk far out ways the “vitamins and minerals” that are so “vital” to our health, especially when there are so many cruelty-free and plant based cheeses out there for us to consume!
Is there anything you would do differently if you could rewind time?
How does O'LaVi fit into the overall Long Beach scene?
What's next for you and your project?
Right now, I am focused on brand building and getting in front of as many people as possible within our community to try these products. I take part in Long Beach Meatless Monday’s at Trademark Brewing every week and am at the Bixby Knolls Farmers Market every Thursday. Starting in April, I will also be at the Marina Farmer’s Market every other Sunday. Once a month, I also host a natural wine and vegan cheese event with natural wine connoisseur, Byron Brno. We have the best time pairing the cheeses and wine, and bringing people together to mingle and taste the delicious pairings. The end all goal is for O’LaVi to have it’s own storefront — a vegan cheese shop with all of the nostalgia of your neighborhood deli, but 100% plant based. 🙂
Find O’Lavi on Instagram
