Yingjie was inspired by the range of vegan and vegetarian restaurants she encountered on trips to Australia. So much so, that she has teamed up with her co-conspirer and cooking enthusiast, Silvia, to start a vegan-based restaurant in the heart of Wellington. From plant-based power bowls to epic mylkshakes, Aroha is set to please. Yingjie gives us some insight into the Aroha campaign.
Why do you think this campaign important?
Eating plant-based food is a lifestyle people choose to be healthier, as well as being environmentally and animal friendly. The opening of Aroha in central Wellington will definitely change the landscape of vegan eating. The food offered at Aroha will also cater for people who are non-vegans, we want to inspire non-vegans to try plant-based food.
Lunch at Aroha will provide a variety of options on grains, plant-based protein; plant-based meat, cooked and raw vegetables and vegan sauce to enhance flavour. Aroha will offer interesting vegetables like Wakame seaweed salad, Shiitake mushroom stripes, Wood Ear mushroom salad – foods that Mother Earth offers in bounty, waiting for us to explore!
This campaign is important because, with the support of our crowd, we can open Aroha and get off to a flying start in our mission to rally enthusiasm about vegan food in Wellington.
What motivated you to reach out to your crowd?
We appeal to the crowd to pledge anything from $5 towards our goal.
We have already invested over $240k to set up the business from scratch, after paying the design company, the equipment supplier, the trades people, we still need $20k to allow smooth cash flow running to the opening date on 20 February.
I have just resigned from my professional job in IT to fully dedicate my time to Aroha. This is not only because I want to follow my passion for plant-based food, but also for the positive impact on sustainability and animal welfare.
Together, we can make the world a better place. We believe our community will thrive when we help each other. That’s why we are offering our (delicious) food as rewards for your help.
What do you have planned for the rest of the campaign – anything for us to look forward to?
The construction work at Aroha will be completed on 5 February. We will then start our trial cooking to ensure everything works. We will publish some photos of Aroha then. Join our journey – check our pledgeme page, facebook page or our website for updates.
We will also have a stall at the Vegan Vault Night Market this Saturday 3rd February at 171 Victoria Street. Please come along to taste our food!
Anything you would like to shout out to your crowd?
We want to send our love and appreciation to everyone who had already pledged. For the people who are planning on pledging, we send you a huge pre-thank you!
We want to let our crowd know that we are committed to do our best to provide people in Wellington with delicious plant-based food!
Tummy grumbling at the sound of delicious plant-based food? Give Aroha some aroha here!
