Posted: 06/14/2022

Gurnee Mayor Hood Visits New Plant Basics Vegan Food Production Facility

Last Friday, Fake Meats welcomed Mayor Tom Hood from the Village of Gurnee, Maggie with IL State Representative Joyce Mason, Quin O’Brien Trustee for the Village of Gurnee Board, and two members from the Gurnee Economic Development Department, Ellen and Jodi, for some delish vegan tacos made with Plant Basics pea protein Crumbles.

We moved our headquarters to Gurnee last year and were honored to receive a call from the Mayor’s office to be a part of “Tom’s Tours,” where the Mayor tours growing Gurnee businesses.

The goal of the visit was to see the newly completed Plant Basics food production facility (and obviously to try vegan tacos). As we toured, we chatted about what it means to be vegan and the history behind our Plant Basics brand. Our dream was to take out all the extra ingredients we sometimes see in meat substitutes and go back to the basics. Our textured vegetable protein line comes in three traditional textures made with soy and one made with peas.

We were pleasantly surprised that, although nobody was vegan, almost everyone had someone they knew that was vegan. Our guests shared stories of cooking for their vegan family members, friends and coworkers, and were excited to hear about ingredients, recipe packs and gift subscriptions offered on FakeMeats.com. We loved hearing about all the ways veganism is touching their lives!

Thank you again for spending the afternoon with us! We can’t wait to have everyone back for another round as Mayor Tom Hood left saying that, “he likes to see us successful.” We promise there is more to come Mr. Mayor!

• Group Photo

  Plant Basics tour posing for a picture with Fake Meats employees. A wonderful group of visitors.

• Sampling Vegan Tacos

  Gurnee Mayor Tom Hood, Gurnee Economic Development Director Ellen Dean, getting ready to try Plant Basics Vegan Tacos.

• Quin O'Brien and Ellen Dean

  Gurnee Economic Development Director Ellen Dean and Quin O'Brien, Trustee for the Village of Gurnee Board, watching the Plant Basics cooking demo.

• Checking Out the Machinery

  Steven Skaff, owner and president of Fake Meats, showing Plant Basics machinery to Gurnee Mayor Tom Hood. Steven customized several components on the equipment.

• Cooking Demo

  Kim Skaff cooking vegan taco samples using Plant Basics pea protein Crumbles.

• Dressed for the Occasion

  Lab coats adorned with Plant Basics buttons ready for today's tour group.

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