As a Brighton based, ethical supermarket, we have the pleasure of working with a network of passionate, unique and inspiring small businesses. Each one with their own triumphs, struggles and stories. We decided that those stories are worth hearing, so we reached out to a whole range of small suppliers to learn about the people behind the products. We are were so excited to have a chat with the one and only @jeanvonstoffee!
What motivated you to create your business?
We’ve been vegan over 30 years but look back nostalgically at the Rowntrees Mackintosh chewy confectionery we enjoyed growing up in the 1970s and 80s. Our son, life-vegan born 2000, had no idea of the products we talked about, such as Rolos, Toffos, Quality Street etc, so my husband, who sometimes used to make sweets of an afternoon as a bored teenager, decided to try to veganise some of them. With great success! So good that long time vegan friends wouldn’t have trusted they were vegan if they didn’t know we had made them. Their eyes rolled in to the back of their heads as they tasted our early creations, saying the taste took them straight back to pre-vegan years. Nothing like what we were making existed, and the results were too good just for us, so we had to share them with the world.
How long have you been running your business?
We started experimenting with recipes Spring 2015 and launched at VegFest Brighton in February 2016.
What moment in your journey sticks out to you most?
A couple of exciting trips to Italy to window shop for confectionery machinery and attend chocolate school in preparation for moving in to our first unit in February 2019.
What struggles did you face as a small business?
Finding appropriate help and funding, which we continue to struggle with. There’s lots of general samey business advice about sales, marketing, websites etc, and how to get investors or sell your business. But very little on setting up a factory from scratch, when you’ve never ever set foot in one! Or how to fund a business you intend to grow and keep as a family business, rather than give some away to investors or be bought out by bigger nastier companies.
Tell us a fun fact about yourself!
In 2012 we took part in a World Record attempt for the most people completing the Rubik’s Cube at the same time in half an hour. We won, with 1414 of us completing it, but the record has since been broken.
And I’ve appeared in a Madonna video for one second! (Celebration, fan version, at 1 min 12 secs)
(We're obsessed with this! - Kindly)
What do you do outside of work? Hobbies, passions?
Work takes up far more of our time than it should, so little else, as there’s always admin work that needs to and can be done on a laptop anywhere when away from the unit. But, though funds are still tight as we grow the business, we love going to gigs and never miss going to see people we like - as we want to support them financially and in person, and may never get the opportunity to again. Last year we saw two absolute legends - Lionel Richie and Diana Ross, who performed Commodores and Supremes songs, as well as their own.
What inspires you?
Compassionate people who work towards making the world a better place. Us, and the animals we want to protect, won’t be here as individuals in a hundred years, but our planet will be. It’s our duty to pay it forward and leave a legacy for a healthier planet and more peaceful life for those who come after us.
What are your goals for the future of your business?
What we’ve always aimed to be, The Vegan Rowntrees. To continue doing what we’re doing, but more efficiently on a larger scale with more equipment to improve our processes. To afford to employ a few people (while keeping our secret magic formulas secret). To increase our range - the possibility of variations we could create from our recipes are endless. And to have great financial success so we can be philanthropic. I don’t dream of luxury yachts or holidays, instead I’d want to buy wildlife rescue groups ambulances and help pay their costs.
What advice would you give to future business owners?
Stay true to yourself. Don’t think that business advisers know more about the path you should take than you do. They may know about textbook business, but they don’t know about you and your business. They may see the world very differently to how you do and have very different ideas of goals. We may be a business, and have an aim of making money, but we’re motivated by our ethics far more than profit. Try to find likeminded cos for solidarity, as it’s so useful to speak to, learn from, and have support from others you have synergy with. We’re very collaborative types of people - looking for help and offering help to other vegan businesses, with the intention of doing what’s best collectively for the growth in veganism.
Jeavons Toffee Links:
https://jeavonstoffee.com/
Facebook: Jeavons Toffee
Instagram: @jeavonstoffee
1 Comment
Love this! Inspiring people, and their products are amazing.
By Anthony Carpendale
Feb 03, 2026