For the last five years, 29-year-old Sean Young of The Muffin Mob has been making vegan baked goods. He still remembers where he was when he became a vegan.
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It was January 13, 2015. He saw animal rights activist James Aspey speak on TV after a year of total silence.
"Aspey did a tour around Australia in his van without speaking a word. I happened to watch TV before work one morning, he spoke his first words to Kochie on Sunrise," Young says.
Prior to that Young spent some time living on a miniature cattle farm with his puppy and ex-partner. He fed the cows and got to know them. Because of Aspey, Young began to make the connection that cows were just like giant puppy dogs.
He'd never baked before, but he decided to start. The Muffin Mob manifested.
"I just noticed the business opportunity with my ex-partner. We did lots of research and development. We did lots of trial and error. I was giving samples out to Klosters (his employer at the time). I didn't tell anyone they were vegan muffins, just to get feedback," he says.
He started with a rental gas oven. He did the Cruelty Free Festival in Sydney where he made 600 Texas-sized muffins.
"That's the busiest day I've ever worked in my life, days of baking," he says.
Then he started selling at the Rotary markets in Adamstown just to see how the products would go. He sold out five weekends in a row.
It remained a hobby for him until September of 2015. He decided the next year he would make it his full-time job. He resigned from Klosters just in time for the Christmas party.
He perfected his recipes and bought a bigger oven. He makes four types of muffins: blueberry vanilla and white chocolate; raspberry coconut; apple crumble and banana date walnut.
He wouldn't call them healthy, but they're healthier than regular muffins.
He's also a NSW candidate for the Animal Justice Party. He's vegan for the animals, health and the environment. Most of his clients are not vegan, but he tries to have a positive influence on them, particularly when he chats with them at markets.
"Trick is to make a good buttercream with plant-based milk and apple cider mix. There's a binding agent as well," he says.
Since the pandemic, his banana breads have doubled in sales as they can be frozen and last longer when refrigerated. When the markets are on again, he'll offer giant salted chocolate chip cookies and chocolate fudge walnut slices as well.
Each morning he gets up at 3am to make his orders, and he bakes the banana bread in the evening.
Currently he supplies products to Estabar, Suspension, Barista Miss, Side Pocket Espresso, The George in Georgetown and the newly opened vegan coffee shop in Dudley, The Folium.
Animal interests
He's also a NSW candidate for the Animal Justice Party. He's vegan for the animals, health and the environment. Most of his clients are not vegan, but he tries to have a positive influence on them, particularly when he chats with them at markets.
Young also donates a portion of his profits to Where Pigs Fly, a 100-acre animal sanctuary in Laguna that takes in pigs, horses, cows and more, where he also volunteers.
"It's big. They might have 300 animals. Jeremy and Ange, they invited me for an open day one day and I've been going back ever since," he says.
With politics and activism stirred in, Young's muffin business appears to be about much more than making bread.