NBSV 159: Next Level Burger CEO Matt de Gruyter on founding America’s first plant-based burger joint

Explicit content warning

10/17/23 • 53 min

When we discuss the realms of veganism and plant-based eating, we can all come to the table around a common thread: food. Food builds relationships, connection, and community.

Case in point: Matt de Gruyter. Matt is the co-founder and CEO of Next Level Burger, America’s first 100 percent plant-based burger joint that serves up vegan burgers for a better world in 10 locations coast to coast. Since its start in 2014, Next Level Burger has become a plant-based phenomenon.

Matt and his wife and co-founder, Cierra de Gruyter, lead the large-scale national expansion of the brand, adding more cities and more stores every year without losing sight of their passion for serving healthy, sustainably sourced food that drives their commitment to nourishing the people and nurturing the planet.

We discuss his business journey, surprising trends in the sector, and what a [near shocking] 52.8% represents.

When we discuss the realms of veganism and plant-based eating, we can all come to the table around a common thread: food. Food builds relationships, connection, and community.

We discuss his business journey, surprising trends in the sector, and what a [near shocking] 52.8% represents.

Previous Episode

NBSV 158: Nancy Wehnert on how her approach to leadership coaching connects with veganism

As an ethical stance, we’re familiar with veganism, its tenets, and how it translates to our daily lives. Outside of that, you’d be surprised to learn about the many points with which veganism intersects, and today we’re exploring one: the relationship between veganism, and leadership.

Leadership coach Nancy Wehnert is on the show to discuss her approach to leadership, and how that connects to veganism. Nancy is a leadership coach who works with leaders and their teams. After running her own company for 15 years and seeing her team members struggling with how to perform at their best, she became passionate about leadership and building cohesive, high-performing teams.

We speak about her method in doing that, and how the glories of plant-based life supported the process [and beyond].

Next Episode

NBSV 160: Chef Karen McAthy discusses fear of and misinformation about “processed” and novel foods

Black-and-white thinking is rampant in the fitness and nutrition industries. Within the vegan community, it often centres around ethical vs. unethical, or healthy vs. unhealthy. This prevents more nuanced discussion. There seems to be growing pushback against some plant-based product innovations around being “too processed” or “too unhealthy”, and there’s a lot of fear-mongering around certain ingredients (including seed oils).

In this episode, I discuss the above sentiments [and much more] with Chef Karen McAthy, as we dive into some serious myth debunking and unpacking of where these thought processes came from.

Karen, a life-long resident of BC’s west coast, is an innovator in dairy-free, vegan, plant-based cultured cheese, and plant-based cuisine. Co-founder of former cpg brand Blue Heron and parent company Lumi Foods, Karen’s focus on innovation in plant-based food is linked to understanding the complex systems of food from growing to finished goods. Currently, Karen is developing starter and adjunct cultures for commercial use in the cultured vegan cheese and dairy-alternative sector.