Vegetarian Awareness Month is the perfect time to try Vege Eats, a vegetarian specialty store in Queens that imports convincing varieties of plant-based “meats.”
The family-run business provides meat alternatives to area restaurants, but also sells vegetarian meat, fish and poultry of every imaginable type, including ham, sausage and seafood from the freezer cases of its storefront.
Though started in another location closer to Main Street in 1991 by Robert Tsai, the current store has been operating from 162 St. since 2000. There, you’ll also find his daughter Mary Tsai, who was brought up vegetarian for health and religious reasons, working alongside her father. She’s bringing up her young boys vegetarian, too.“It’s a healthy and compassionate way of life,” said Mary. “There’s no animal suffering and it’s better for your health with no cholesterol. Our mission is to help make the world a better place by providing a choice to replace animal protein with plant-based protein to our customers.”
According to Mary, “Some people decide to go vegetarian one day, while some are inspired by other vegetarians. These days, people are more health conscious.”
Next year, Vege Eats will be celebrating 25 years in business as a major importer from Asia. With about 80 percent of its business coming from wholesale orders, Vege Eats is one of the largest businesses of its kind. “We want to start with one meal at a time,” noted Mary. “Because of our success, both vegetarians and non-vegetarians have come to known the deliciousness of the modern vegetarian diet.”
Some of the most popular products include mock chicken patties and nuggets, veggie fish and ham as well as veggie drumsticks. “We have a lot of longtime customers,” remarked Mary. “They’re used to certain products and like to have them. A lot of people like to stick with the same products, but we’re always exploring new ones.”
Vege Eats is one of the most trusted and reputable distributors of imported vegetarian food products in the U.S. Products and ingredients are inspected when they arrive in the U.S. as well as at the store. The Tsais also select major manufacturing companies in Taiwan, Singapore and Malaysia that produce meat alternatives which are high in protein, low in fat, low in calories and have zero cholesterol.
The plant-based meats are made from soybeans, mushrooms and konjac flour, a Japanese potato flour.
Vege Eats goal: “As we look into the future, Vege Eats hopes everyone can experience a good nutritious plant-based diet and in turn, improve their health, alleviate animal suffering, help with climate change and make the world a better place.”
Vege Eats is located at 45-46 162 St., Flushing, NY 11358. For more information, call 718-353-5090 or visit www.vegeeats.com.
Click here to read our feature about Dr. Cow in Brooklyn, the first vegan cheese shop.
Click here to read about Long Island’s only vegan restaurant.
Click here for other vegetarian menus on Long Island.
