When Bethlehem, PA native Danielle Konya went vegan 15 years ago because of her passion for animal rights, she realized that she had limited her ability to eat her favorite sweets. So, after years of experimenting and concocting original recipes to satisfy her overactive and overachieving sweet tooth, she founded VEGAN TREATS a decade ago, her independent and fully vegan bakery. Currently, she distributes throughout Philadelphia, Baltimore, New York City, and select shops in New Jersey, Virginia and Washington, DC. Her bakery’s incredible growth in the last decade has prompted her plans of moving her current retail store located in Bethlehem, PA to a larger location, as well as opening a wholesale and manufacturing facility so she can better serve the growing demand throughout the greater Northeast. In addition, she has just launched her new website http://www.vegantreats.com to help spread the gospel of Vegan Treats.
While a majority of her customers are everyday people who indulge in her desserts in almost a hundred cafés, restaurants and shoppes across States to which Vegan Treats deliver, an ever-increasing demographic that seem to devour and support her alternative treats are rockers, movie stars and political figures, including Alicia Silverstone, Daryl Hannah, Joan Jett, Rory Freedman, and even Presidential Candidate, Dennis Kucinich. Among the musicians that can’t get enough are The Beastie Boys, Moby, AFI, Bayside, Kathleen Hannah (Bikini Kill, Le Tigre), and H20. Derek Grant of Alkaline Trio is such a fan of her desserts that he even composed a jingle specifically for Danielle. Alternative Press Online debuted the jingle today and it can be found here: www.altpress.com/features/vegantreats.htm
World-renowned at this point for her vegan takes on whipped cream and confectionaries that no one else has seemed to be able to capture, Danielle is an ethical vegan with a “do it yourself” ethic that is only rivaled by her sweet tooth. Her modus operandi is to set out to make a vegan cake that didn’t just taste good, but actually tasted better than any other cake, vegan or otherwise.
While a vegan lifestyle that heralds the rights of animals and a cruelty-free lifestyle is at the forefront of the minds of a lot of vegan treats customers, there are also health benefits to eating vegan whether you eat meat or not: ALL of the desserts are cholesterol-free, trans fat-free, and contain 1/3 less fat and calories than traditional desserts. Her desserts have also earned her a PETA Proggy Award for “Best Bakery” and a coveted “Guest Chef” spot at Google. Perhaps most telling is an award she won in PBS’s Feast of Sweets. Here, she not only won “Best Overall,” but did so competing against over fifty non-vegan bakers. Take that, dairy!
Vegan Treats has already been featured on CBS News, Time Out New York, NY Post, The Onion, Washington Post, Venus, Veg News, Daily Candy and many more. Yet, despite all the accolades, Danielle’s main motivation lies not in accumulating awards, but in helping the other animals that inhabit our Earth. Vegan Treats goes the cruelty-free route and satisfies both the palate and the conscience, inextricably linking the business of dessert with the ethics of caring about animals. After all, how many other bakers actively support animal advocacy groups like Farm Sanctuary, The American Anti-Vivisection Society and the Humane Society of the United States? And how many other bakers carefully choose their ingredients with taste and the well-being of the Earth and animals in mind?
Baking as Activism? Who would’ve thunk it? Yet, in a small but meaningful way, with each bite, Danielle’s Vegan Treats help create a more compassionate world.
Luckily for us, compassion has never tasted so delicious.
Can't Stop The Rock 