In the latest episode of Plant Based On Fire, Bryan sat down with Tanya Flink, Sales and Marketing Coordinator at Abbott’s—a wellness company known for crafting versatile plant-rich protein products from real, whole-food ingredients. With over a decade of experience in the plant-based industry, Tanya shares her journey and passion for clean, sustainable plant-based nutrition, as well as her role in helping grow Abbott’s into a trusted brand nationwide.
From Passion to Profession: How Abbott’s Got Started
Founded in 2017 by Carrie Song, Abbott’s was born out of personal necessity. Carrie, a longtime vegan, was diagnosed with a debilitating autoimmune disorder and found herself dependent on medication with unpleasant side effects.
“She started looking into her diet and realized that the processed plant-based meats she was eating weren’t really food—they were making her feel worse,”
Tanya explained during the interview. This led Carrie to develop her own recipes from whole, natural ingredients, which not only improved her health but also sparked the creation of Abbott’s.
Today, Abbott’s plant proteins are sold nationwide, offering clean, simple, and allergen-free alternatives for health-conscious consumers. As Tanya proudly stated,
“We want people to feel good after eating our products, not weighed down or compromised.”
Tanya’s Journey: From Media to Marketing
Before joining Abbott’s, Tanya worked in the media and nonprofit sectors, writing for well-known plant-based outlets like VegNews and LiveKindly. She discovered Abbott’s by chance while working at a community event and immediately connected with the brand’s mission.
“I had a sandwich from the Abbott’s booth and fell in love,” she shared.
Soon after, Tanya began helping with store demos and later transitioned into her current role as Sales and Marketing Coordinator, helping Abbott’s grow its presence in grocery stores across the country.
Her experience in both journalism and marketing has given her a unique perspective on consumer engagement.
“It’s not just about selling a product; it’s about educating people on why clean ingredients matter,” Tanya emphasized.
Insights You'll Gain From This Episode
The Power of Whole Food Ingredients: Abbott’s plant proteins are made with simple, real ingredients—no fillers or unnatural additives. Discover why this makes a difference in both health and taste.
Consumer Engagement in Plant-Based Marketing: Tanya shares her approach to engaging consumers by educating them on ingredient quality and the benefits of plant-based eating.
Navigating Challenges in the Plant-Based Industry: Learn how Abbott’s is carving out its niche in a competitive market by targeting flexitarians and health-conscious omnivores, not just vegans.
Building Community Around a Brand: Tanya offers insight into the importance of word-of-mouth marketing and creating a positive, engaged community around plant-based products.
Sustainability and Packaging: Abbott’s commitment to sustainability goes beyond ingredients, as they actively work to reduce packaging waste and recover plastic through partnerships with companies like Replenish.
Building Consumer Trust Through Clean, Transparent Products
One of the biggest challenges Abbott’s faces, according to Tanya, is re-educating consumers on what plant-based proteins can be.
“There’s a lot of skepticism about plant-based meats, especially with ingredients like soy, gluten, and seed oils in many of the leading brands,” she said.
Abbott’s sets itself apart by being allergen-free and using only olive oil or avocado oil, with no seed oils or fillers.
“We’re not just plant-based, we’re plant-rich,” Tanya added.
To build awareness and trust, Abbott’s focuses on grassroots efforts like store demos and social media engagement.
“I love our community,” Tanya said with a smile. “Hearing from people who’ve made everything from tacos to traditional Polish dishes with our products is really rewarding.”
Sustainability in Action
While Abbott’s is constantly innovating, sustainability remains a core value. The company is committed to using minimal packaging while ensuring product safety, and they partner with Replenish to recover 100% of the plastic they introduce to the market.
“We’re not perfect, but we’re always looking for ways to improve,”
Tanya said, highlighting Abbott’s ongoing efforts to balance environmental responsibility with consumer needs.
A Brand on the Rise
As Abbott’s continues to expand its reach with exciting new product launches (like their high-protein veggie burger now available at Whole Foods and Sprouts), Tanya’s role in guiding the brand’s growth has never been more vital. For entrepreneurs in the plant-based space, her advice is simple but crucial:
“Know your customer, meet them where they are, and over-deliver on what you promise.”
Check out the full interview with Tanya Flink on the Plant Based On Fire podcast, and learn more about Abbott’s commitment to clean, whole-food nutrition at abbots.com.
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Episode’s Transcript
Please understand that a transcription service provided the transcript below. It undoubtedly contains errors that invariably take place in voice transcriptions.
Bryan (00:01)
Hello everybody. Welcome to Plant Based on Fire, where we talk about plant based businesses and their inspiring stories to thrive in our industry. I'm your host Bryan. And joining us today is Tanya Flink. She is the sales and marketing coordinator at Abbott's, a wellness company, crafting delicious and versatile plant rich protein products from real whole food ingredients. Welcome to the show, Tanya. Thanks for being here.
Tanya (00:26)
Thanks for having me.
Bryan (00:28)
Really appreciate it. I'm excited to dive into this. Talk to me like just about the history of Abbott's and the journey and how it sort of got started and just catch us up to speed with the past.
Tanya (00:42)
Yeah, happy to. So again, just to make this clear, I'm not the founder, but I know the founder story well. Started in 2017, our founder's name is Carrie Song. She was diagnosed with a really debilitating autoimmune disorder and she was vegan, still is vegan. And she just got put on all these medications and had all these awful side effects. And she just like, she's like, I can't live like this, right? Like, I can't live the rest of my life like this. So.
Bryan (00:49)
Mm
Tanya (01:10)
She eventually did her own research and realized that what she ate really affected how she felt, right? In a good way and a bad way. So she finally started looking at what she was eating. She was eating the plant -based meats at the time, it was like methylcellulose and natural flavors. And she's like, wait, this isn't food, and it's also making me feel bad. So it was not an overnight thing, but she finally realized what ingredients, quote unquote ingredients, triggered her and made her feel bad.
and eliminated that and eventually got off medication and is, you know, pretty much been in remission since and she really cleaned up her diet. And that kind of led her to believe like, well, if I'm suffering through this, like I'm sure a lot of other people are. So she developed the Abbott's and she still to this day, she still developed all the recipes for our products and her home kitchen. Granted we scale, she's not making everything in her own kitchen, but.
Bryan (01:48)
Mm
Tanya (02:09)
every all the recipes because she vets every ingredient so much because she wants to make sure that it's helping people, it's healing people and it's not harming them. We want you to feel good after eating any of our Abbott's plant proteins. So that was 2017. Started in farmers markets in Southern California and just kind of grew the business and now we are in retailers nationwide and in some food service accounts. Yeah, so seems right.
Bryan (02:36)
That is awesome.
Tanya (02:39)
Yeah, so it seems fast, but you know, we're still small and scrappy. Trying to keep it that way and just doing the best we can with the best ingredients.
Bryan (02:48)
Great. That's, that's the name of the game. Like it is just that persistence and continue to drive it forward. time. And I did a little bit of research on you and stuff like what you were in the journalism side of things a little bit. And I believe in jumped from live kindly and veg news overt overt to Abbott. So tell us a little bit about your story and journey that brought you to Abbott's.
Tanya (03:12)
Sure. Well, when I originally discovered Abbott's, it was at Beacon Street Fair in LA, and I was actually working for the County of Orange for a supervisor's office. So was in politics, which is what I actually studied in college way back when. Had a sandwich from the Abbott's booth and fell in love and was like, how can I work for you? At that time, she was a one woman show.
Bryan (03:26)
Okay.
us.
Tanya (03:35)
But she did say, hey, we're doing store demos. So I was that person in Mother's Market with like a big crock pot of beef chili, serving up Abbott's and did that for a little bit, just for the weekend, just for the fun of it. And then we kind of like, know, lives got busy. So I stopped doing that. then, back in like 2021, 22, Carrie reached out to me because by that time I...
I moved on, did do some journal, I worked for Liv Kindly. I've always worked at Veg News, that's always been my side hustle. And then I was working for a vegan nonprofit called Switch for Good. So I started writing blogs for Carrie, for Abbott's, and then really wanted to make the switch from nonprofit to for -profit. I just thought that might be more impactful. I asked if she was hiring, she said, yeah, we're hiring for marketing coordinator. And I started.
Bryan (04:25)
Yeah.
Tanya (04:31)
very soon after that. yeah, so I've been with the brand for two and half years now.
Bryan (04:33)
Very cool.
That's awesome. It's, and it's that thing, like, you know, when we, when we find our passion in this space in some fashion, like that's what draws people to it is like, we figured out like, we have to eat better. We have to exercise. have to do these things to take care of ourselves. And then it draws you in and like, I just encourage people to go out and make some friends in this space. And you just never know where your career is going to pivot and go towards.
Tanya (04:52)
Mm
Bryan (05:04)
Talk to me a little bit about the consumer engagement side of things. Like how do you, how does Abbott's engage with consumers to educate them about the benefits that you were just telling us about?
Tanya (05:16)
Sure, you know, we have, we don't have it down 100%, right? Like I wish we had a formula or a manual on how to do this, right? But yeah, you know, from our perspective and what we continually discuss in the office is how do we, yes, we technically are a plant -based meat, but how do we reframe that in consumer's minds? Because a lot of people see like,
Bryan (05:22)
Nobody does. Nobody does. Yeah.
Tanya (05:42)
the leading plant -based meat brands and they associate them. they have gluten, have soy, they have junk in them. You know, I don't like plant -based meat, just cart blanche. We're like, no, no, no, we're different. Like come, come, we're different. So we're trying to pivot to more like we're a plant protein, we're a plant rich instead of plant based because even that word is kind of getting stigmatized. a lot will do, you know, there's social media avenues there.
Bryan (05:50)
Mm
Tanya (06:08)
focusing more on lifestyle and ingredient education. Last year I did a ton of field marketing. Granted, I'm one person and I can only cover so much ground in Southern California. But really, really hitting on, we're allergen free. What do mean you're plant -based and you're allergen free? we don't use seed oils. That is really, really surprising and pleasantly so to some people. So a lot of word of mouth, a lot of social media.
Bryan (06:32)
Mm -hmm.
Tanya (06:37)
Not too many podcasts should get in on this, but and then, you know, in the industry side, just like trade shows, just trying to the word out that way.
Bryan (06:47)
It's very, very cool because there's a million vegan sub camps, And the Whole Food No Oil group is a big one that wants to avoid some of that stuff. So I'm glad you're finding those little niches to plug into.
Tanya (06:53)
Mm
Yeah, we do have oil with, yeah, we have, we use extra virgin olive oil or avocado oil, but we just don't use seed oils. Yeah.
Bryan (07:07)
Okay. Okay. Yeah. And there's so many different allergens out there as well. so I guess what, what do you see as some of the bigger challenges and just marketing plant based proteins? know you sort of touched on how you differentiate, but like, like I, I still struggle with the fact that we subsidize so much of the meat market. So we can't even get the people to come over and try the plant based proteins.
Tanya (07:15)
Anyway.
Yeah.
Bryan (07:34)
whether they're healthy or not for you. I'm just curious, how are you talking about that problem and unpacking it at Abbott's?
Tanya (07:42)
Yeah, we have found that we are just trying to, so we're really trying to go toward the quote unquote flexitarian. Because if we just go after the vegans, it's, we're loud, but we're still pretty small. So we need to get that flexitarian omnivore audience to come over and give us a try and maybe do a meatless Monday or, you know, either chorizo with eggs or just, you know, incorporate a little bit more cleaner plant protein into their diet.
Bryan (07:50)
Mm
That's right.
Mm
Tanya (08:11)
One thing is like we need to get people to the set. So Abbott's, are mostly in the refrigerated set at the vast majority of grocery stores. Sprouts, we've just launched our new veggie burger into the frozen. So that's relatively new as of this recording. But people, if they're not gonna buy tofu or pickles, they just kind of like, they just don't go there. So they don't even have the chance to see, to look at the packaging.
Bryan (08:23)
Mm
Cool.
Tanya (08:36)
So we're trying to think creatively, maybe partner with other brands and just move people that way. When you are in the field, you can say, you like the tiny taco? Find us in the fridge. just trying to move them, just to look at the set in general. But we are, and again, I'll go.
Bryan (08:51)
Yeah.
No, it's interesting because like, you know, I say like shop the outside of the grocery store and thankfully, at least in my grocery store, the tofu and the alternative meat section in the, in in the refrigerated section is right next to my salad. So I kind of just still shop the outside and I can see that there, but I know most people just avoid that little section because like, that's just where the plant stuff is. So how do we, how do we get them to see that? I agree completely. It's the struggle for sure.
Tanya (09:02)
Mm
Mm -hmm.
Mm -hmm.
Bryan (09:28)
What, talk to us about the other sides of this a little bit, the sustainability side. What does Abbott's incorporate for the sustainability into its, its packaging, its methodologies, and even, you know, getting the awareness out about that too.
Tanya (09:43)
Yeah, so that is mostly on the op side and they've, I am so glad I don't have their job. are great at what they do. If there's an issue in ops and I know about it, that means it's really bad because like they're just like the secret little elves that come in at night and take care of everything. But so they're the ones who deal with packaging. They're looking at like, how thick is our cardboard? Can we go from a plastic pouch to like a plastic?
Bryan (10:01)
That's right.
Tanya (10:10)
like or a bowl to a pouch, et cetera. Like, can we cut back just a little bit on that? I will say, yes, we still use a plastic pouch. One for cost efficiencies. We don't pass that on to the consumer because we are a premium product. We are already pretty highly priced. We want to be accessible to everyone. But yeah, we are always looking at packaging. I know the ops team doesn't just say, OK, we got this plastic pouch like
Bryan (10:14)
Mm
Tanya (10:38)
let's call it a day, we're good forever. No, they're always looking at alternatives, but it also comes down to product safety, right? If it's a compostable thing, we need to make sure that it'll stay on shelf and it won't leak and it won't grow mold. So I'm not trying to make excuse. I just know that they are dealing with so many variables that I don't even know about and they're working on it. What I can tell you is that we do partner, there's a brand called Replenish.
Bryan (10:59)
Mm
Mm
Tanya (11:08)
And they basically take plastic that has been put in landfills and recover it and then recycle it properly. So we work with them to recover 100 % of the amount of plastic we put into the market and they recover it from the landfills and actually recycle it. So, I mean, they're not like going out and specifically picking out Abbott's plastic. It could be a water bottle or something like that. But that's what we try and do to offset, you know, the materials we did.
Bryan (11:29)
Right, right, Yeah.
Tanya (11:37)
we do put out there. So we're not perfect, we're working on it.
Bryan (11:39)
Yeah, that's, I don't, I don't think any company really is on that front where we all have our challenges, but I think there's going to be huge innovations in the plastic and the packaging space in the years to come with some, some ones that can give that plastic resilience to it, but still biodegrade in a year or two kind of a thing. So I see some innovations there and I like the loop recycling and replenish and those kinds of things, because they're at least trying to keep a closed loop on that. So.
Tanya (11:52)
here.
Mm
Bryan (12:07)
It's good to hear you're, you're taking that, to heart and trying to, to trying to do that. I think the other thing that I find companies, trying to do more and more is really build that sense of community around brands and products. how, how are you trying to do that with habits?
Tanya (12:26)
Yeah, so I love our community. Like my favorite thing is telling other people about my favorite thing and AVIDS is one of those. So I mean, that's where I work for the brand, right? I tried the sandwich and I like, can I work for you? Can I tell more people about it? So as part of my marketing role, I manage our social media. So I get to engage every single day with people who are posting about products and how much, you know, they made tacos, they made this traditional Polish dish I've never heard of with our beef, you know.
Bryan (12:34)
Right.
Mm
Tanya (12:55)
It's really exciting to see that. And even, you know, I also manage our inbox as well. And just to like lift people up, I had a point and the thought might be bleeding right now. yeah.
Bryan (13:09)
I mean, it's so important because community is everything in today's day and age, I think.
Tanya (13:13)
Yeah, another positive thing that I've seen and again, I've been looking at our socials for at least two years is that we don't have any trolls. Right? Like, I mean, we're not huge. But for us for a company our size and a following of our size, I would expect some trolls. But every I mean, 99 .999 % of the people have just wonderful and positive things to say. We Yeah, yeah.
Bryan (13:39)
That's awesome.
Tanya (13:42)
So it's really fun. We also like to surprise and delight.
Bryan (13:43)
I mean, you're teasing them now on the podcast. But at the same time, if you have, yeah, exactly. yeah, mean, even this podcast has a few here and there, but it is interesting when you're trying to change the world, do have to make a few ripples here and there. But I'm glad to hear it's such a positive community that you're building on that front. I'm curious if you can give us a peek into the
Tanya (13:50)
bring it on. It's fine.
Bryan (14:12)
curtain a little bit with regards to some of the tools that you use, like social media tools and stuff like that. This is the podcast to help other entrepreneurs be more successful in this space.
Bryan (00:00)
It's a perfect little segue. We will stick a little commercial in there or something. So I was going to ask you, back from our technical hiccup there, but have you seen, how have you seen the plant based industry evolved since you started? And I'm guess, where do you see it going towards the future here?
Tanya (00:04)
Awesome.
Yeah, so I've been vegan since 2011. And there was no Beyond, there was no vegan non -dairy Ben & Jerry's. Like we had Oreos back in my day. So I've seen it go from like, you know, the tofu tempeh, tofu -dee to the Beyond's Impossible, right? Like, let's make it really realistic and let's make it bleed. And then, know, cell -based meat was kind of like, hey, we're here too. Still.
Bryan (00:33)
That's right.
Tanya (00:49)
I know there's like, that's going on right now and a lot of hurdles to conquer there. But then within the last few years and where Abbott's has gotten involved is that like, people are looking around the package and being like, what is this? Is it even healthier? So I think people are really wanting cleaner ingredient, things that they recognize, not necessarily, they don't want to eat tofu. They still want that like flavor. They want that like satisfactory bite out of their proteins.
but they want to feel good and they want to feel good after, right? So I do see more brands leaning into the cleaner ingredient. You know, you'll even see, you know, beyond added avocado oil, right? So even the big, the heavy hitters are, are leaning more into what consumers want. And that's what they can pronounce and what they feel good about feeding to themselves and their families.
Bryan (01:42)
That is exactly right. Yeah. And I love like, there's so many different allergies out there and everything else under the sun. So I like to see so many different players be tackling certain niches. I, I find that a lot of places put the tapioca in and I don't, I'm not a big fan of tapioca. can, I can pick up on that to a degree. So some people have crushed that one and some people are going all in on tapioca, but everybody has their little niche on some of those things. A couple more questions like,
Tanya (02:00)
Yeah.
Bryan (02:12)
What, what about collaborations and partnerships? How is Abbott's, you know, connecting with others and building that presence and how important are those?
Tanya (02:21)
Yeah, so as far as like brand partnerships or is that where you're going?
Bryan (02:26)
Everything. think people, the entrepreneurs that are looking to follow in your footsteps with whatever they're creating in this plant -based world need to understand it takes a village to bring a company to life. You just jumped in and saw them at the farmer's market, like you said. I'm just curious about some of the partnerships throughout all parts of it that Abbott's has leaned on to get where they are today.
Tanya (02:49)
Sure, well, can't speak. know Carrie is, you know, she's very, she's in conversation with lot of other CEOs and brands in this space. Again, those are her conversations I can't speak and nor would I want to speak as to, you know, who she's involved with or what she's talked about. But I do know like she did not just like fly to the top. Like a lot of people helped her she's helping a lot of other brands up as well. As far as like brand partnerships go, like.
Bryan (02:59)
Hmm.
Sure.
Tanya (03:18)
Sometimes it's kind of hard because we're very strict about our ingredients. So it's like, it's great, but they have natural flavors. but they have gluten. So it's like, but no, we have brands that we would love to partner with that are super clean, that go really well with their products. just like, they're pretty big and I think we're still pretty small. And we're like, hey, like kind of flirting with them to try and partner. We're not quite there yet.
Bryan (03:23)
Mm -hmm.
Great.
Mm -hmm.
Tanya (03:46)
But as far as like on the food service side, you we just we launched to Kaya, which is a very well known word that's small. It's in Southern California, mostly L .A. But they're known for having a lot of organic ingredients for really vetting all of their ingredients and they carry our chicken. And so as far as like on the food service side, to be associated with those like better for you brands where people go for a healthy lunch or to feel good after dinner like.
That's another partnership angle that we're really trying to work.
Bryan (04:18)
Very cool. Well, we hope to see more of those. I feel like more plant -based proteins should really go and partner with the lettuce companies for the lettuce wraps and all those kinds of things. I wish there was more vegetable combos going on there, but just my crazy partnership thoughts for you. I'm curious if you can tell us about any products or initiatives that Abbott's particularly excited about coming out soon.
Tanya (04:28)
There we go.
That was smart.
Yeah. So what's out right now. we, the most recent launch was our veggie burger, high protein veggie burger, 22 grams of protein per patty. Again, same clean ingredients. So that's in Whole Foods and we just launched a frozen version and sprouts like this month in August. So that's super exciting. We do have some innovation in the pipeline, but you probably won't see it until early next year. And I cannot say what it is, but we were testing, taste testing last week and I can tell you it's delicious. And I am very, very excited about it.
Bryan (05:14)
Very cool. I hope you can come sneak back on the show with us when you're launching that one and tell us all about it. I'm curious as a marketer in this plant -based food industry, what advice would you give other marketers and tips and tricks for them?
Tanya (05:29)
I mean, what we always say and how this is like, really know your customer, like, even if you are so in love with this product, like if the customer doesn't love it, then like you're not gonna have a product for much longer. So really, really know your customer and cater to that customer. And I would say just like over promise and over correct like if something happens.
like, you know, send them the VIP cube. But I'm not saying like, please don't write it into me and being like, this was wrong with the product and expect to get habits for life. That's not gonna happen. But really like be and meeting the customer where we're at. That's where we did all those field marketing things. That's why I was demoing on the side of a track because we thought people who like running or into healthy food and there I was serving out mini chorizo tacos, right? So getting creative, getting scrappy, you don't just have to throw money at something.
Bryan (06:21)
Mm -hmm.
Tanya (06:21)
but just meeting the customer where they're at. And yeah, just thinking the world of them.
Bryan (06:25)
I, I agree. Customer discovery is so, key in the beginning before you spend a ton of money, go and do some customer research as much as you possibly can. So, Tonya, it's been so much fun talking to you and getting to learn more about Abbott's and what you've got going on. What can we do as a community listening to this podcast do to help you and what are the best ways to get in touch?
Tanya (06:49)
Sure. So a few things. One, please buy a box or several of Abbott's at your local retailer, Whole Foods, Sprouts, Target, Publix. Another thing, word of mouth. So once you buy that box of your Abbott's Grondy for chopped chicken, share it with people, share it with your family. You don't have to say, don't trick them into saying this is like pork chorizo and be like, gotcha. Don't do that. Just tell them it's plant -based chorizo and it's from Abbott's. Word of mouth is so helpful.
It really, really helps when it's coming from someone you trust and they might be incentivized to buy it. And then also on the food service side, I am trying to get Abbott's in a more restaurant. if you want to just DM, it's at live Abbott's on Instagram, say, hey, I love this deli in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I wish they carried your burger or just send me restaurants where you would love to see our products and I would happily get in touch with them, try and get us on the menu.
Bryan (07:47)
Very cool. And it's Abbott's a B B O T is it S .com? Yes. ABBOTS .com.
Tanya (07:52)
S.
abbott .com, libabbott .com,
Bryan (07:59)
Very cool. I, so I grew up in Rochester, New York and Abbott's ice cream is all over the place. So was thinking of the other way to spell that. But, they need to get her non dairy stuff on their menu at their ice cream shop, but check out abbots .com. I think you're going to love it. It's a beautiful looking website. I have not gotten a chance to taste these myself yet, but I am definitely going to place an order next time I am on my shopping app for that. I really appreciate you being here, Tanya. That is all the time we have for this episode of plant based on fire.
Tanya (08:05)
gosh. Yeah.
Bryan (08:29)
Thank you for joining us and sharing your insights and experiences with our community. Check out abbots .com and until next time everybody, keep the fire burning.
Tanya (08:38)
Thanks for the opportunity.