Creating Sustainable Food Culture with Plant-based Baked Goods
Commitment to Creating a Sustainable Food Culture
Specializing in baked goods like cookies and muffins, ovgo Baker has four stores located in Nihonbashi, Harajuku, Nishi-Kanda, and Toranomon, which are commercial districts of central Tokyo. We visited its first store in Nihonbashi, which opened in June 2021. The store is inspired by cafes in Manhattan and Brooklyn, New York, and features cute American-style baked goods.
The name ovgo is an acronym of "organic, vegan, gluten-free as options." True to their name, ovgo Baker offers a selection of baked goods produced from plant-based ingredients. They also strive to promote a sustainable food culture by using organic ingredients that are grown naturally without chemical fertilizers or pesticides and by procuring domestic ingredients that reduce CO2 emissions due to the shorter transportation distance.
The mission of ovgo Baker is to create opportunities for people to think about environmental issues without forcing them, and to reduce environmental impact. However, they do not emphasize the fact that ovgo's products are vegan because they believe that if people think the products are not tasty, they will neither become popular nor be sustainable. Co-founder Takagi Lisa explains: "We use only plant-based ingredients, and many people think that vegan cookies are bland and lacking. That's why, from the very start of our business, we have been striving to create an experience where 'the delicious cookie you ate turned out to be vegan.'"
The founding members of ovgo Baker spent a year experimenting and perfecting their baked goods in an apartment before selling them. Even now, they thoroughly examine ingredients and have key staff members taste test each new item multiple times for uncompromising quality. "If we continue to produce high-quality products, more people will become fans of ovgo Baker. This might be an obvious thing to say, but we believe it's important to continue making delicious baked goods in order to create a sustainable food culture that's not just a passing fad," Takagi says.
The delicious pastries of ovgo Baker were a hit, and it quickly became a popular shop. Many of the fans are of Generation Z who were born between the mid-1990s and the early 2000s. "The target audience for ovgo Baker is Gen Z, who are likely to use new ideas to create and spread culture. We wanted to create products that were fashionable, cute, and not too formal so that Gen Z would pick them up and post them on their social media. Also, they are naturally very aware of environmental issues."
People in their teens and 20s are particularly good at discovering and spreading the word about new things online so there is a constant stream of customers who find out about ovgo Baker through social media. The store maintains an intimate relationship with its customers, many of whom send DMs to the shop to share their thoughts. Additionally, many staff members started off as fans of ovgo Baker.
The Harajuku branch is particularly popular with foreign visitors. On some weekdays, foreign tourists make up half of the store's visitors. Some find the store by chance, while others come looking for vegan food. American customers say that they "never expected to be able to taste food from home in Japan."
Japan's First Food Business to Become Certified B Corporation
The company that operates the stores, ovgo Inc., is committed to solving environmental problems. In 2022, it became a B Corporation, a global certification for companies that demonstrate high social and environmental performance. It was the 16th company and the first food business to receive this certification in Japan.
The certification process is rigorous. It took one year to establish in-house systems to prepare for the application. After applying, it took about two years to complete the certification process including several interviews with an analyst. "We had to submit detailed data such as the amount of waste, the amount of electricity used, and the distance from the ingredient suppliers. Data evaluation is taken seriously, of course, but they also focus on if the company is committed to the public interest."
Takagi says that the diversity of Tokyo is a big contributing factor in addressing the issue of food and the environment while simultaneously producing delicious baked goods.
"I think the appeal of Tokyo's food culture is its variety and high quality. Maybe it's because the Japanese are so good at concentrating on a specialization, but vegan restaurants in Tokyo are becoming innovative and delicious. I believe Tokyo has been able to deliver world-class quality foods because it is a place where diverse food cultures influence and inspire each other."
When asked about future plans for ovgo Inc., Takagi said, "We would love to spread the ovgo Baker experience to as many people as possible." Guided by this aspiration, each item they bake with the environment and sustainability in mind has the potential to change people's perception of food and become a catalyst for major change.
Takagi Lisa
