Founders to Watch in 2026
Written by The VEGPRENEUR Team
As the plant-based industry continues to evolve, these founders are setting the pace in 2026 with bold ideas, innovative products, and purpose-driven leadership.
Brett Christoffel (All Y’alls Foods)
Brett Christoffel is the founder and CEO of All Y’alls Foods, a Texas-based plant-based snack company turning bold, savory vegan proteins into craveable everyday foods. Launched in 2018 after a personal journey to plant-based living, Brett built All Y’alls on the idea that delicious snacks can be both compassionate and satisfying, from its flagship It’s Jerky Y’all in several Texas-inspired flavors to the Amazon-top-selling Big Crunchy Bacony Bits Y’all, all crafted from whole non-GMO soy with a focus on taste and nutrition.
Diana Gonzalez (Cactus Foods)
Diana Gonzalez is the founder and CEO of Cactus Foods, a woman-owned brand turning nutrient-rich cactus into innovative plant-based snacks. Inspired by her own health journey and a family history of colon cancer, Diana set out to create flavorful, sustainable options rooted in the benefits of nopal. With nearly two decades of sales and marketing experience, she is pioneering cactus as a mainstream ingredient that supports wellness, biodiversity, and global culinary inspiration, making Cactus Foods a brand to watch in 2026.
Mac Villarreal (I Eat My Greens)
Mac Villarreal is the founder of I Eat My Greens, a brand making vegetable-packed eating easy for busy, modern lives. A former Olympic sailor, Mac saw firsthand how nutrition fuels well-being and later, as a father of three, recognized how hard it is to find truly healthy convenience foods. He created crazy-tasty, whole-food soups inspired by homemade meals, offering clean, nourishing options without mystery ingredients, positioning I Eat My Greens as a brand to watch in 2026.
Dixie Grace Jackson (Dixie Grace’s Boiled Peanuts)
Dixie Grace Jackson is the founder of Dixie Grace’s Boiled Peanuts, a brand bringing a beloved Southern tradition into the modern plant-based market. Inspired by a chance discovery and guided by purpose, she created vegan, gluten-free, non-GMO boiled peanuts in convenient grab-and-go packaging. Blending her engineering background with cultural storytelling, Dixie is reimagining heritage food with innovation and heart, making her a founder to watch in 2026.
Image from Yelp
Anwaar Spence (A’SMORE)
Anwaar Spence is the founder of A’SMORE, a brand redefining indulgence through elevated, plant-based macarons. After a decade of living vegan, Anwaar set out not to replicate traditional desserts, but to reimagine them, proving that a pure plant foundation can deliver vibrant flavor and exceptional texture without heavy ingredients or dyes. With a focus on craftsmanship and connection, A’SMORE is turning skeptics into converts and setting a new standard for conscious luxury treats, making Anwaar a founder to watch in 2026.
Katie Lefkowitz (Harken Sweets)
Katie Lefkowitz is the founder of Harken Sweets, a brand reinventing nostalgic candy with gut-friendly, plant-based ingredients. After a colon cancer scare forced her to rethink her lifelong love of sweets, Katie set out to create indulgent candy bars that nourish instead of compromise, powered by real foods like superfood dates and 14g of prebiotic fiber. Blending childhood joy with modern nutrition, Harken Sweets delivers “old school candy, all new ingredients,”making Katie a founder to watch in 2026.
Julian Tcherassi (Magiktea)
Julian Tcherassi is the founder and CEO of Magiktea, the brand introducing the remarkable blue Palo Azul tea to the U.S. through sustainably sourced, organic offerings that are caffeine-free and rich in antioxidants. After discovering this unique tea’s vibrant color and health benefits, having seen its positive effects on his own family, Julian made it his mission to share its magic with the world, growing Magiktea into hundreds of retail doors and showcasing its benefits at major wellness events. His blend of curiosity, purpose, and commitment to sustainability positions him as a founder to watch in 2026.
Doron Petersan (Baked By Sticky)
Doron Petersan, known as “Sticky,” is the founder of Baked By Sticky and the pioneering bakery Sticky Fingers Sweets & Eats, one of the nation’s first all-vegan bakeries. Since opening in 2002, long before vegan desserts were mainstream, Doron has been proving that plant-based treats can be just as indulgent as the classics, without the heavy ingredients. A two-time winner of Food Network’s Cupcake Wars and author of Sticky Fingers’ Sweets, she has helped shape the modern vegan dessert movement, bringing high-quality, compassionate baking from her DC kitchen to grocery shelves nationwide, making her a founder to watch in 2026.
Ofek Ron (Oshi)
Ofek Ron is the co-founder and CEO of Oshi, a food tech brand on a mission to eliminate overfishing and ocean pollution by crafting the world’s first premium whole-cut, 100% plant-based salmon fillets that look, cook, and flake like the real thing. Under his leadership, Oshi has expanded its presence from restaurants into direct consumer sales and national foodservice distribution, bringing sustainable, omega-rich seafood alternatives to kitchens everywhere. Ron’s visionary approach to plant-based seafood innovation makes him one to watch in 2026.
Oshi is also a 2025 VEGPRNEUR Awards Winner!
Dr. Rachel Lamarche-Beauchesne (Les Plantes)
Dr. Rachel Lamarche-Beauchesne is the founder of Les Plantes, an Australian vegan womenswear brand rooted in circular design and ethical fashion. As a senior lecturer and researcher in fashion marketing, Rachel brings academic rigor and deep commitment to sustainability to her brand, creating stylish, animal-derived-material-free clothing that reflects her decade-long vegan philosophy and values of respect for people and the planet. Launched with a mission to empower changemakers through conscious design, Les Plantes is poised as a standout innovator in the vegan fashion landscape and a founder to watch in 2026.
Les Plantes is also a 2025 VEGPRNEUR Awards Winner!
Want to discover even more founders shaping the vegan community?
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