Vejii, which launched its online business approximately four months ago in the US, and in Canada last week, carries over 3,000 SKUs of often hard-to-find plant-based products. Its target audience is flexitarian consumers who may still eat meat but are looking to incorporate more plant-based foods into their diet, says the company.
Vejii Express items – the site’s most popular SKUs – are shipped from Vejii’s warehouse in Austin and arrive in a single shipment within two-business-days, while all other items in a single order can come from multiple warehouses through its partners and may arrive in separate shipments.
“Based on consumption habits we have seen in the US, we believe that over time US plant-based products sales could grow to in excess of a US$20bn total addressable market opportunity,” said Darren Gill, Vejii president.
Operating since 1997, Vegan Essentials has a well-established reputation among vegan consumers — its core audience — in the US, said Zelickson (Vegan Essentials’ unaudited 2020 revenue was C$3.57m, mainly driven through organic search traffic, with a gross profit of approximately C$785,000).
“In terms of direct competition, there’s only about three competitors in the US right now,” Zelickson told FoodNavigator-USA, who clarified he’s referring to online retailers that only sell plant-based products (i.e. excluding companies such as Amazon, Instacart, and Thrive Market which sell animal-based products as well).
