New Vegan Scrapple Purveyor Debuts at Artisan Exchange Market in West Chester

My friend Paul (a food scientist that knows scary things about food that I don’t even want to think about) messaged me on Facebook today, telling me that his friend was going to be selling vegan scrapple at Saturday’s Artisan Exchange Market in West Chester. This, of course, certainly got my attention.

Vegan scrapple—isn’t that sort of an oxymoron? I thought scrapple was one of those foods that converted meat eaters into vegans. Do vegans want something that tastes like scrapple?

After processing those thoughts, I did some quick research, and was soon on the phone with the man behind this madness. Will Ternay, chef and owner of the newly developed Long Cove Foods, LLC told me that his vegan scrapple is the first of many soon-to-come vegan products as part of his new side business.

“I’m dipping my toe into the water to see how hot it is,” said Ternay. “I have a full-time job, but this is something I’m passionate about. I’ve been a chef my whole life, I’m a graduate of the CIA and since I was 16, I’ve been immersed in the culinary world.”

But is he a vegan?

“No, I’m a flexitarian. As I’m getting older, my body has (obviously) been getting older and my digestion system has been talking to me a lot lately and it’s telling me that meat (red meat in particular) is not something that it likes. I still eat meat, but I limit how much I consume. You’ll mostly see me eating fish, vegetables, beans and I try to stay away from chicken, pork and red meat.”

Why vegan scrapple?

“I kind of fell upon it. I was thinking about making a scrapple with chicken and as I explored that a little further, I realized that if I took the chicken out of it it was really a product that still tasted like scrapple. I grew up on scrapple, so I’m familiar with the taste and texture of it and I kind of messed around with the mushroom-based recipe while using friends and family as guinea pigs. After a while people were saying, ‘this is pretty amazing,’ and then they starting saying, ‘you should sell this.’ I thought about it for two years and then an opportunity at Artisan Exchange presented itself and I just went for it! Tomorrow [September 21] is my first day selling it vegan scrapple!”

Will went on to tell me that his new vegan food company will launch a variety of tempting options like certified organic, non-GMO and locally-sourced (when possible) ketchups, chutneys, jellies, syrups, herb-flavored syrups and more. He eventually plans to sell them wholesale, but is starting with local market sales. Future plans also include a cookbook that highlights ways to use his signature scrapple, including recipes for appetizers and pizza.

“I’m stoked. I really am. I have a lot of good support behind me and from the word of mouth so far, there seems to be a lot of great expressions about it. I’m excited for tomorrow!”

He’s currently perfecting his recipe for what he’s calling Aztec Scrapple made with black beans, smoked peppers, cilantro and lime zest.

“I think that scrapple will not be just for breakfast anymore.”

Vegan scrapple will retail for $10 for about a pound and he is hoping to be on-site every Saturday, 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. at Artisan Exchange.

Long Cove Foods, LLC’s mission is to provide customers with healthy and creative vegan foods that are responsibly grown and prepared. All efforts are made to source local, organically grown and/or non-GMO ingredients.

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