Healthy never tasted so good

Unexpected business award provides an injection of confidence for sole business owner

What started almost three decades ago as a way of improving her own health and well being grew into a successful business for Leah Franklin. It started as the ultimate case of word of mouth as people tasted her vegan food, often not knowing it was, indeed, vegan, and asking her to prepare meals.

It has seen her business, Just Frank, evolve over the years – it was established in 2016 – and the next chapter in that evolution is being written as we speak with her latest project receiving a welcome boost last month when her vegan food operation was awarded the 2023 Business Growth and Resilience Award for a Micros Business.

The Just Frank chapter being written now is Leah putting together some of her popular vegan recipes in kit form with her new products well into the test phase – checking how a cross section of people can recreate her dishes by following the packet directions.

Having what she has already achieved honoured at the recent business awards, injecting confidence into the Just Frank founder as she branches out with her new line.

“It is always good to have that affirmation that you are on the right track,” Leah said. “Being vegan is still such a fringe thing, I still feel that, even though it is better than it was. To be recognised on a bigger stage means that more and more it is becoming mainstream. Being a vegan business and winning this award is a big deal.”

Just Frank was basically created out of necessity. When Leah made the decision to go vegan, a decision that has been life changing for her own health, there were not a lot of delicious options. It was even hard to find vegan recipes.

“I had to go to the city to even find a vegan recipe book and even then, there was about one vegan recipe to every 10 vegetarian one. It was like looking for a needle in a haystack.”

“I know people think you’re weird if you’re vegan and that you only eat lettuce and tomatoes,” Leah said. “I wanted to break down those misconceptions by showing people what kind of food you really can eat.” And Leah had a number of test audiences as she started creating what is now an extensive vegan menu. “It started with me providing morning tea for a couple of businesses,” she said. “I took it to them for free and didn’t tell them it was vegan food straight away, I waited a couple of weeks.”

The positive response from that small market test combined with the feedback she was getting on her blog encouraged Leah she was doing exactly what she had set out to achieve – making delicious vegan food.

It was never about morphing her personal diet choices into a viable business – that came the old fashioned away, through demand. “I was putting menu ideas up on my blog and people just started emailing me orders,” Leah said. “Before I knew it, I was delivering my meals to people’s work or home.”

Demand only escalated and it became clear to Leah that she was embarking on a small business venture. Step one was an ordering system on her blog. Then came interest from local business owners, including She’s Apple that approached her to stock her meals.

Another critical chapter in the evolution of her business was catering for vegans at a wedding. “Toni (Vorenas), from Metro, needed to provide vegan sweets and rather than getting her chefs to come up with something she contacted me to make something,” Leah said.

The response was again amazing and so Metro became another local business to forge a relationship with Just Frank, Leah’s vegan catering business. “It was not just about catering for vegans,” Leah said. “Having those options is also great for people with dairy or egg allergies.”

And the bottom line was, for a kitchen and bakehouse like Metro, ensuring products are, particularly egg free, is too difficult – leaving that to someone with a guaranteed egg-free kitchen was the safest and best option. Leah’s decision to become vegan was all about her health. “I was quite unwell,” she said. “But the more changes I made with my diet the better I felt.” It was a gradual progression, starting as a vegetarian, before reading up on ethical veganism.

“And now, it is a lifestyle choice for my health and because I do have strong beliefs in that area.” Interestingly, her clientele are not really disciples. The biggest joy for me is that eighty percent of my clients aren’t vegan – they just love the food.”

Given how word of mouth kickstarted Just Frank, it was also helped by her appearing at the library farmers market where again, it was as much about people enjoying her food and being interested in the health benefits of her products as it was about food allergies or wanting to be vegan.

And given the dearth of existing recipes, most of Just Frank’s cuisine were original Leah creations. “I had to learn how to do it,” she said. “It’s been lots of experimenting. I had a huge collection of mum and grandma’s recipes and I wanted to still be able to enjoy them. I’ve had lots of failures along the way.” She spent hours working out the best substitutes in some of those classic recipes.

Her home kitchen was her cooking base and still is, although she now has a dedicated separate kitchen for Just Frank, completed in 2019.

In the early days, Just Frank saw Leah pending up to 18 hour days, preparing the food and delivering it to her vast array of clients. “There wouldn’t be a day when my stove or oven isn’t on,” she said. But she also has to admit that was the way she liked it. “I just love feeding other people,” Leah said. “It’s like my clients are my children now that my girls aren’t at home. I really missed cooking for other people and this has been great for me. I like that I’ve found a place where I’m needed.”

But while she has learnt plenty about running a successful business and creating delicious vegan food, she has also learnt about balancing the demands of her business and the need for down time and spending time with family and friends. That has seen the business move more towards supplying her stockists, mainly cafes and She’s Apples, and reducing her private catering, leaving more time to be a daughter, mother, partner, grandmother and friend.

“I just knew I had to narrow my focus,” Leah said. “I had opportunities to expand away from Mount Gambier and some big things but I am passionate about my community and there is still so much to be done here. “The opportunities to expand my business would have required employing several staff, but I have continued to trust what my heart tells me, and I am incredibly proud to be still at the helm of this bustling ‘one woman show.’”

And it was those opportunities presenting themselves that gave Leah a chance to seriously reflect on where her business should head. “Whilst exploring opportunities for future growth within my business, I have spent a lot of time considering how this growth would impact on my quest for a life of finding the best balance possible between my beloved ‘just frank’, and the multitude of other experiences that also make my soul sing,” she said.

“This list is endless but right at the top of it is how precious it is that I still can still spend time with my ageing parents, both in their 80s, with my children, my partner, and now my three grandchildren.”

Leah swears by her vegan lifestyle but never pushes her beliefs or eating habits on anyone else. “I don’t profess it is a treatment for anything – I’m not a doctor – all I can tell people about is my 20-plus years of experience.” That experience includes as many organic products as possible and she grows most of her own vegies at home. “All my life I have grown my own vegies,” Leah said. “My parents developed a vegie garden so it has always been a part of my life.”

Keep up to date with Leah’s latest projects by following her on Just Frank’s social media platforms.