When Steven Skaff first spoke with Vegan Essentials founders Courtney Ernster and Ryan Wilson about buying their pioneering online vegan store back in 2018, they were ready to retire. “We talked for quite a while about buying it back then before they ended up selling it to somebody else,” Skaff told VegNews.
Emster and Wilson—who launched Vegan Essentials in 1997 as one of the world’s first online vegan shopping destinations—eventually sold the platform to Vejii, which then sold the business to PlantX. From there, Skaff watched the company he admired change in ways he didn’t always agree with. “In my opinion, it strayed a little bit from what its original mission was. Now, we’re trying to get it back to kind of honor its original form,” he says.
Vegan Essentials carries today’s most popular plant-based brands.
That opportunity came late last year, when Skaff and his wife Kim, co-owners of the website FakeMeats.com, bought VeganEssentials.com from PlantX. “We wanted to make sure that it stayed around,” he said.
Back to basics
For Skaff, these early days of ownership are about restoring reliability. “The site was just flooded with every product you can imagine, but unfortunately, almost everything was out of stock,” he says. “The first thing we did was pare down the product offering to the most popular items from its history and customer feedback—what the customers really want on Vegan Essentials. And we removed all the other products and made sure the products the customers want are actually in stock in our warehouse.”
That in-stock promise is now a cornerstone. “If you order a product and the website says that it’s in stock, it’s in stock,” he said. “That was our first step.”
Dairy-free peanut butter cups are always a customer favorite.
Equally important, he added, was making sure customers knew they could reach a real person. “We’re here for customer service, answering questions, and dealing with issues when they come up,” he said. “We’re back, we’re family-owned again, and we’re listening.”
To stay on-brand, Skaff still checks in with Wilson from time to time for advice. “Every once in a while, I just shoot Ryan an email and say, ‘Hey, what’s going on with this brand relationship or where do you think the site needs more focus?’ And he’s always happy to take a look and say, ‘You know, we used to sell a lot of dark chocolate bars. You guys should definitely have more of those.’”
Rebuilding relationships—and adding new ones
Even though most major supermarkets now offer a range of vegan options (the dairy-free milk sector actually outpaces conventional dairy’s growth, for example), hard-to-find vegan items are still in demand. Many of those products remain part of Vegan Essentials’ identity, and Skaff says those items are often the hardest to keep in stock. “Since our main focus initially was to have products we knew we could keep in stock, we haven’t been giving as many of the one-off oddball items.”
From gouda to brie to gruyere, Vegan Essentials plant-based cheese selection is superb..
Instead, Vegan Essentials is focused on deep manufacturer relationships. “Chunk Foods recently came onto the market as a consumer item late last year, and we worked really hard to get them on the site,” he says. “That was one of our first new product launches after we bought the company. We’re bringing in full frozen pallets of Chunk steak, and we’re supporting Chunk with shipping out samples and influencer packages. They support us by telling everyone Vegan Essentials is the e-commerce location to buy Chunk Foods.”
Another highlight: a plant-based imitation crab from Mori-Nu, best known for its silken tofu. “It was actually intended to be only for commercial kitchens, but we were able to work with them to get a consumer pack made so that Vegan Essentials customers can get small packages,” Skaff said. “It’s a really neat product.”
A broader feast: product range and specialty fun
Over the years, Vegan Essentials has grown its lineup, spanning pantry staples, sweets, baking essentials, beauty products, and rare finds.
From artisanal vegan brie from Rebel Cheese and gelatin-free Dandies marshmallows to Tofurky holiday roasts and condensed plant milks from Nature’s Charm, the store has products customers want most.
Get treats like Abe’s kid-friendly cupcakes delivered straight to your door.
Fans of sweet confections will find unique vegan chocolates and candies by brands like Hershey’s and its plant‑based offerings. Stewarts’ Cheesecakes come in flavors like strawberry shortcake, caramel pecan, and white chocolate raspberry.
Beyond these fan favorites, Vegan Essentials has delighted customers with other specialty products over the years—think limited‑edition desserts, seasonal surprises, retro vegan candies, and cult favorites that pop up at just the right time (holiday re‑releases, nostalgic treats)—items that big chain retailers usually overlook.
Why independent matters: more than just stock
Shopping with a small, independent business like Vegan Essentials supports the values behind the cart. Unlike big‑box or Amazon‑driven marketplaces, Vegan Essentials maintains on‑site inventory, ensuring what’s listed is genuinely available—not a distant, drop‑shipped mystery. Skaff emphasizes the difference: it’s about trust and immediacy.
Impressively, Vegan Essentials has earned recognition from VegNews Veggie Awards an astounding 19 times for “Best Online Vegan Grocery Store”. That’s a nod to its product excellence as well as its meaningful service and brand integrity that resonates with the plant-based community.
Vegan Essentials is vegan-owned and tests every product they carry.
Furthermore, Vegan Essentials acts as a curated gateway for veg-curious and flexitarian shoppers. Skaff notes that when people search for vegan food, the goal is to make sure the site is always one of the top recommendations to pop up when you’re asking veg-curious-type things. “Not only are we where to go for products, but we’re also a great place to go for information.”
Standing out in a changed market
Competing in a grocery e-commerce space dominated by Amazon and Instacart means offering something different. For Skaff, that means inventory on-hand—not scattered across drop-ship partners alongside a unique range of offerings. That approach also appeals to the growing number of flexitarian customers, Skaff said. “People may be curious about vegan food, and they’re searching online,” he noted. “We make sure the site is always one of the top recommendations to pop up when you’re asking veg-curious-type things. Not only are we where to go for products, but we’re also a great place to go for information.”
Love plant-based meats? Vegan Essentials has a wide range of options..
He’s keeping a close watch on shifting trends—protein-enriched snacks are rising, even as meat substitute sales cool. “You’re seeing protein popcorn and protein pretzels,” he said. “A lot of them are using whey protein, but we’re always keeping an eye out for plant-based protein products. With the decline of meat substitutes in stores, we still want to make sure customers can get them online.”
The next few years will be about capacity building—new freezers, better shipping rates for cold products, and deeper brand partnerships. But the goal, Skaff says, is unchanged from day one: “We’re just trying to return Vegan Essentials to what it was. We want people to know it’s a small family business now, and we’re doing our best to restore the brand.”
What does the future look like for vegan retail?
If the last two decades have been about proving vegan food could stand on its own, the next era is about scale and staying power. Skaff sees a future where online platforms like Vegan Essentials continue to play a pivotal role, even as plant-based options show up in big-box retailers. The difference, he says, will be in curation and consistency.
The next generation of customers is looking for animal-free products as much as transparency around sourcing, packaging, and environmental impact. That means vegan retail has to evolve in lockstep with larger sustainability conversations—moving beyond simply “meatless” or “dairy-free” to products that address carbon footprints, food justice, and wellness trends.
Chocolate is one of the best-selling categories at Vegan Essentials.
For Vegan Essentials, that future is being built in real time. Skaff is investing in infrastructure so the store can keep pace with consumer demand. At the same time, the company’s independence gives it the flexibility to champion small, emerging labels that might not yet have the volume to appear in mainstream grocery chains.
The future of vegan retail, Skaff says, will depend on how well businesses balance familiarity with innovation. For every plant-based steak or crab substitute, there’s also a nostalgic candy bar or classic baking ingredient that connects customers back to why they went vegan in the first place. It’s that combination of novelty and trust that Vegan Essentials is betting on—and one reason why the beloved online market remains a touchstone for the community after nearly 30 years.”Being vegan and family-owned and having great customer service is really what customers are looking for,” Skaff says. “So that’s what we’re focused on.”
Thank you to Vegan Essentials for partnering with VegNews on this story.
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