I have a special treat for you today! Like I mentioned on Twitter, we have a special guest. Susan from Go Max Go kindly agreed to be interviewed by yours truly, the Epicurious Vegan. I guess I’m living up to my name, because I really have been curious about Go Max Go. They started appearing on shelves earlier this year, and I was lucky enough to try them a few months ago. Intrigued, I wanted to know more about this cool new vegan company.
From the website:
“We set out to create extraordinarily delicious candy bars. We craved candy bars that were chocolatey, nougaty, caramely, peanutty, almondy, coconutty crazy indulgences! We wanted a variety of bars that popped with all the luscious flavor of the traditional treats. What we didn’t want in our candy bars was dairy, eggs, hydrogenated oils, trans fats, artificial ingredients, or cholesterol. We had a hunch your sweet tooth might be feeling the same way, and so we went to work on the concept. Happily, our efforts paid off and now even your inner angel (you know, the one who reminds you it’s gotta be vegan, or you’re dairy intolerant, or you need to kick those hydrogenated oils to the curb, etc.) can enjoy real candy bars again.”
VEGAN candy bars?! A rice milk chocolate coating?! Now we vegans can enjoy friendly and animal-free versions of Snickers, Three Musketeers, Milky Way, and Almond Joy?! Sign me up. Seriously.
We’ve got the Buccaneer with chocolaty nougat and rice-milk chocolate coating:
The Jokerz with caramel, peanuts, nougat, and rice-milk chocolate coating:
The Mahalo with coconuts, almonds, and rice-milk chocolate coating:
And Twilight with caramel, chocolaty nougat and rice-milk chocolate coating:
If you haven’t tried one of these delicious morsels yet, the Go Max Go website kindly has a handy-dandy store locator. You will definitely be able to find them at Back to Eden, so you can light two candles with one match when you stop in to see me. (Shameless plug: Back to Eden opens next Tuesday, September 22nd.)
Q. Your company is named after your beloved dog, Max. Do you have a story about him you’d like my readers to hear? Do you have a picture of him you’d like to show?
A. That’s a tough question. After spending 16 ½ years with Max, I can’t think of a story I wouldn’t want to tell! Okay, here’s a Max story that always makes me laugh:
He was quite the tennis ball collector. I think we had about 400 tennis balls laying around the house, the car, the garage, the yard…he’d find them at the park and bring ‘em home.
Anyway, the minute you sat down anywhere, you were a target. Like magic, Max would appear with a tennis ball in his mouth and wait for you to throw it. One time I sat down to eat and watch some TV and within minutes, here’s Max with a tennis ball and the ol’ “Come on let’s do this!” look. I just kept eating and said “Later”.
A couple of minutes go by and he comes back with two tennis balls in his mouth and that same look on his face. I laughed but stuck to my guns and said, “Not now”. He disappears for about 10 minutes and comes back with three tennis balls in his mouth…lined up vertically…how he did this I have no idea. The weird thing is he still had the original “Come on let’s do this” look, like it was no big deal that his mouth was opened to twice its size.
I did a double take and started cracking up. Needless to say, I put down my plate and called game on…took me a minute to dislodge the tennis balls; they were wedged in really tight.
To this day, I think he would have went back to see if he could fit four tennis balls into his mouth, just to make a stronger case for “play ball”.
Max was the gentlest dog when it came to kids, very polite (he also knew a good thing when he saw it…kids would play ball with him for hours)….Max watched the Teletubbies …Max yodeled when the car would pull up at home, no barking, no howling; it was yodeling. And he was pretty damn good at it.
Okay, if I don’t stop now I never will. As for a picture of Max, we recently put one up at the site on the “about us” page. It’s one of my favorite pictures of him. That’s another thing…he
actually posed for pictures…bring out a camera and he worked it like a rock star! (Editor’s Note: it’s an adorable picture! Here’s the link.)
What a great story! I love how your company is named after your dog. I noticed your product boxes don’t have your company name anywhere on them. Is there a reason behind that decision?
We had to get a lot of information on very little space. We wanted to highlight the products by their individual names and flavors, and it was important to make prominent the fact that the bars are vegan, dairy free, with no hydrogenated oils, no trans fats, and no artificial ingredients. That’s a lot to say, and since our company name is on the label we felt people would connect the dots and start cross referencing Go Max Go with a Jokerz or Twilight, Mahalo or Buccaneer. We wanted to be very clear that our products are candy bars. And with a company name like Go Max Go, some people could interpret that as the name of a power or nutrition bar. As we become more familiar in the marketplace, the name of the company may show up on the box. As it is, we get a lot of emails from people saying “I just had a Jokerz bar and I love Go Max Go!” so I guess we did the right thing.
You’re definitely getting out there! Go Max Go candy bars are in 32 different states. Where do you see the company going from here?
We really don’t have an outline. I think once you start to define a goal too strenuously you may unwittingly create limits. This is our baby and we want our baby to get big and healthy and keep growing. We love bringing vegan candy into the mainstream and we applaud all the wonderful companies who are creating vegan products and becoming a force in the market place. Retailers are open to new products to offer their vegan/dairy intolerant/natural foods customers and that is a very positive change in the societal mindset. We have always had a vision for this company and that is to be of service. As the company grows, so will our involvement with making this world a kinder place.
Your website says you’re a vegan family-owned business. Who makes up Go Max Go?
My partner and I manage the majority of the day to day operation. Just to be clear,
I don’t spend my days making candy in the kitchen (I do spend a lot of time eating candy in the kitchen though). We use a manufacturing facility to produce the bars. Vegan friends (whom we consider family) and family members have worked in various capacities such as web design, customer service and sales.
How long have you been vegan, and can you tell us a little bit about you and your family’s journey?
I’ve been vegan for over 13 years and my partner’s almost there (it’ll be 12 years for him in October). Pretty much all the vegans we know (including us) have followed the same path. One day you looked at your dog or cat, then you looked at a cow and somewhere in your mind you started to feel uncomfortable about eating a burger, so first off the menu was red meat. You started to read about hatcheries and now that chicken taco was giving you the creeps, so the next to go was fish and fowl. In short order the compassion switch is flipped and the light bulb goes on and the realization hits that the use of any animal byproduct (for food or clothing) is a
cause of suffering to animals. Now there’s only one way to go, and that’s vegan. The vegans we are and the vegans we have the most in common with have all adopted a vegan lifestyle because they feel the inter-connectedness of all beings. We are all animal lovers and we believe all the creatures on this planet have an inherent right to live feeling loved and respected. Although a vegan diet is healthier than an omni diet, we think veganism encompasses more than food. Living vegan… it’s soulful, it’s ethical, and it’s lovingly joyfully, guilt free. I can’t think of a better way to live then that!
I’d like to add that I never condemn anyone for not being vegan. I wasn’t vegan my entire life and it is a process of growth through knowledge and consciousness. I believe anyone interested in expanding their awareness will eventually become vegan and when they do, Go Max Go will be the first one to say “Good job! And welcome home!”
That’s awesome. You are so inspiring. You’re on twitter (@GoMaxGofoods). What’s your favorite thing about Twitter? Your least favorite?
Ah twitter…how do I love (and hate) you….let me count the ways. I love to laugh and I do a lot when I’m reading some tweets. I also think it’s very cool to converse with people from all over the planet….very cool. If you can’t tell by now, I’m not terribly adept at condensing my speech, so 140 characters can be a little crazy making when I’m trying to compose a tweet. That’s why you’ll see a lot of “you rock” and “sending out some love” when I’m tweeting. I have all these great things to say, but try as I do, I can’t get it all out in 140 characters so there you go. You rock!
Oh, another thing I love about twitter is that it creates a network for people to glean information and learn how they can take action. Someone posts a link to a story and its RT’d (Editor’s Note: RT means “Re-tweet”, or reposted) and before you know it hundreds or thousands of people have an opportunity to make a phone call or a donation to help a cause. Yeah, that does rock.
Yes it does! I love Twitter. It’s such a great opportunity to champion the causes you believe in, highlight some of your favorite businesses, or show support to your local restaurants. As a Portlander, what are some of your favorite vegan-friendly restaurants?
Love, love, love Bête Lukas! Best Ethiopian I’ve had. Hungry Tiger Too! Yes! Can’t beat $1 anything; let alone $1 vegan corn dogs. HH2 also has a great reuben and vegan
Caesar salad, plus their mac and cheese is divine. Vegi Thai gets 2 yums up. Dig the comfort food at Papa G’s. A new place called The Green Wok has a great vegan lunch buffet that we visit once a week. Pizza: Can you say “It’s a Beautiful Pizza”? That’s my pizza place; my partner likes Rocco’s (by Powell’s downtown); they have vegan slices. I want to marry Los Gorditos 2, I love them so much. Vita tempeh reubens rock my world and my partner hearts the mock fishwich. Pancakes at paradox? Yes please! To any vegan friendly dining place I’ve not mentioned, I’m sorry, I’m sure I love you too there are just so many to remember…and that’s a good thing.
Yes it is! We’re so lucky to live in Portland.
Do you have any more flavors in development? Anything my readers can get a sneak peak at?
Currently we’re working really hard to place the existing line. When everything settles down and we can get back to development, we have a list as long as my arm to go through to see what we can make happen. I can tell you the number one request is Butterfingers, followed by Twix and peanut butter cups. (Editor’s note: Twix please!)
I’d like to do something with marshmallow (hello Dandies!). We’ve talked about doing limited edition flavors as some retailers don’t have enough space for a ton of bars, so that may be on the horizon. Also, fun size bars have been requested and I wish we already had them. How great would that be for this Halloween?
Fun-size bars would be super! Alright, so which one so far is your favorite flavor right now?
Jokerz for me and my partner is on a Buccaneer binge at the moment. Don’t tell Mahalo and Twilight we said this. Actually, I’m an ex-snickers person so jokerz is numero uno, but I love ‘em all.
Are any of your bars gluten-free? If not, do you plan on making any?
Actually none of our bars are gluten free and we want to change that by adding something like a crunch bar. We’ve had emails from people looking for gluten free bars and we really feel bad that we have nothing to offer. It’s important to us to include the gluten free community when making a decision for our next bars, so we’ll be sifting through possibilities and come up with something spectacular for the GF peeps.
Go Max Go is sending you some big love! (twitter hangover?)
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I don’t know about you, but I love Go Max Go even more now. That story about Max and the tennis balls is so freaking cute.
omigosh, Twix!!! Do Twix!!!!
the last flight i was on a little kid was eating a Twix bar and i was so jealous!
Fantastic interview Janessa! I love Go Max Go bars and can't wait to try them on top of some vegan soft serve at Back to Eden Bakery Boutique next week(another shameless plug;). Thanks for taking us inside this inspirational company!
Yum… I cannot wait to try some
Great interview Janessa! I am really happy to be doing business with Go Max Go and now feel like I know them a little better! Dog lovers making yummy vegan candy bars better than the originals?? What's not to love?? Look forward to promoting them in the store! Thanks for the good work!
WOW!!!!!!Susan sounds so cool and I love her thoughts about the world and veganism and her love of animals is right on…..people like her and her partner deserve success for their truly inspiring lives…..She's funny,too!!!!!