Time Magazine’s 200 best inventions of 2023 feature a series of innovations that have the potential to change society. The list highlights advances in artificial intelligence, accessibility, virtual reality, climate technology, among numerous other advances that could forever alter the way we live.
Also on the list? Vegan salami.
It’s a stunning rise for Bay-Area based Alex Volkov, the founder of Green Wolf Foods, an innovative company creating and distributing vegan products, and looking to alter the meat-substitute paradigm.
We talked to Volkov about that success, the challenges of running a small business, and where he sees the plant-based market moving next.
Q: How did you get started in the vegan food industry? What’s your origin story?
A: My background is actually in software development; I worked at a tech startup here in the Bay Area. But at some point I was asking myself, “What will I do next? What is it that I want to do more in my life?”
And being vegan for many years, I felt like I really wanted to align my professional career more with my personal values. One of those things that I enjoy doing in my free time is cooking, and I cook dinners for my family and my friends, usually barbecue.
But when I turned vegan in 2017, a lot of options that I had for barbecue were not available to me. So I have to be creative and make stuff. Those experiments gave birth to the product that eventually became Green Wolf.
And here we are a year later with a couple of nominations for vegan food and now this Time Magazine’s list of 200 best inventions.
Q: That’s a pretty meteoric rise. Were there stumbles along the way, or moments you doubted it would catch on?
A: I still have doubts every day. Sometimes things work out. You get these small nuggets of fate bringing you something really valuable, and you kind of see the fruits of your labor.
But most of the time, it’s just grinding work, sitting at night, and figuring out what the hell you’re doing next.
Q: We’ve witnessed a lot of changes in the plant-based food industry over the past 10 years, and a lot of that has revolved around food that imitates meat products. But you’ve gone the other way with your products, trying to make the food as nutritious and healthy as possible as opposed to actively initiating the texture or look of meat. What led you to that decision?
A: For me, I’m an athletic guy, I go to the gym, I play soccer, tennis, football. So for me, it was important to have good nutrition, right? So that’s where I started.
Then the realization that I had during the process of inventing this product, is that when you try to imitate something with vegetables, and you really focus on trying to make that exact meat product, usually nutritional value suffers the most.
By experimentation, I figured out that if I’m trying to make a product that looks exactly like, for example, a salami, it has to be eight times more fatty, or have half the protein amount, and you have to add all of these emulsifiers and other ingredients.
That was my biggest criticism of the products that I was already seeing. So when I set those boundaries for myself, the development of the product was a lot more natural. I just substituted some things out that didn’t make sense to me and it actually worked.
Q: Your product that has received so much recognition is your vegan salami. So even you are leaning into that meat comparison to some extent.
A: Salami is more of a reference point for plant-curious consumers to understand what the product is, and what the suggested way of consuming the product can be.
It’s meant to be consumed like a cold cut. One-third of the recipe is vegetables, one-third is wheat gluten, which is the protein from wheat, and avocado oil and spices is the last third of the recipe.
Q: Where does the inspiration for the food come from? Is there any sort of personal, or cultural connection?
A: Yeah, it’s a deep connection to family and culture, you know how the human brain works, and how our emotions work are very much tied to those experiences that we have as little kids growing up sharing, you know, family time sharing the food around people.
I’m from the USSR, and Eastern European culture is very deeply about cured and smoked meats. Polish, Slovakian, Russian, Ukrainian cultures all have a big tradition of cured and smoked meats.
Q: Was that a challenging thing for you to let go when you became vegan?
A: For me, it was always a battle. I didn’t win it overnight. It wasn’t like a switch and I was happy-go-lucky. There were times when I would argue with my family or my friends about whether what I was doing was correct or right.
It was literally a mental battle, where my mind wasn’t comfortable with the decision, even though in my heart I had already made the switch. So there were anxieties, going to the restaurant with friends or family or going to someone’s party, and not having options to nourish your body. There were challenges in all directions – mental, physical, social.
Q: Now you’ve had this wonderful success with your company, and you’re looking to scale up and at some point start distributing to retailers nationally. At this point, it’s a job. But does it still feel satisfying in the way that you were expecting when you left software?
A: Yes, but like everything else, it’s a moment of satisfaction, and gratitude and appreciation followed by uncertainty, stress and anxiety. It all comes in cycles.
When a customer says, “Oh my God, I’ve never seen anything like this”, you get that uplift. And then there’s this recognition from Time magazine. So that’s a moment of joy and satisfaction.
But after you close your notebook and you go into work, and you start to talk to investors and find funding or talking to partners, all of those problems come back. You have to leave those moments of satisfaction behind, and you only come back to them when you’re really feeling the need to bring yourself up.
Q: There’s sometimes a perception that veganism or plant-based diets can be associated with wealth of privilege. Do you think that’s changing?
A: It’s a myth. Besides all the health benefits that you gain, usually eating a whole foods plant-based diet is extremely cheap, way cheaper than eating any meat diet.
If you are talking about niche and technologically saturated products like Beyond or Impossible meat, yes, they’re a little bit higher price points, because of the fact that they take a lot of resources to manufacture.
You know, when we talk about being vegan, and the diet and the price and the health benefits, the point that needs to be highlighted the most is: if you want to focus on your health, then the whole food plant-based diet is the option for you. The more of it you do, the healthier you are.
Meat products are still cheaper, because we have invested so much of our resources over the years to support them. If we can invest even a third of that over the next 10 years into plant-based products, we’re going to have such drastic, different results, and they’re going to be so much better for us, for our future, for our kids, and for their surroundings.
Profile
Name: Alexander A Volkov
Title: CEO and Co-founder at Green Wolf Foods Inc.
Residence: Campbell CA
Age: 44
Education: High school diploma, some college
5 facts:
1. Has been drawn to music since childhood, but quit because of the rigidity of his music instructors at the age of 7.
2. After immigrating to the United States at 18, Volkov bought his first drum set. Since then, he has recorded and performed with many artists.
3. Loves to camp in the California wilderness, which he says helps clear his mind and rebuild focus.
4. After many failed attempts, he finally learned to toast marshmallows to perfection this year. He says the marshmallow must be toasted over moderate coals, lightly browned, and not allowed to catch on fire.
5. Believes in the importance of natural disaster preparedness, and keeps a 75-pound emergency backpack and a large stack of food, supplies, and water.
