Josh Huskin
Cara Pitts' Southern Roots Vegan Bakery ships plant-based sweets to all 50 United States.
Owner of Southern Roots Vegan Bakery
“We need to get more plant-based options out there in the universe.”
Although Cara Pitts and her husband Marcus make a living selling vegan food, she didn’t cut animal products from her diet cold turkey.
Although inspired to shed meat, dairy and eggs from her diet by a documentary about vegan diets, she did so gradually. Along the way she developed a passion for finding ways to make great-tasting baked goods without animal products. She opened Southern Roots Vegan Bakery in San Antonio in 2018.
The learning curve was steep but with help from culinary accelerator Launch SA’s Break Fast & Launch — a program jointly run by the city and small-business lender LiftFund — she and her husband soon had their goods in area farmers markets.
They found fans quickly. At a vegan market in Killeen, they sold out in the first hour of the six-hour event. As a food vendor at San Antonio’s massive MLK march, they did well even though they were sandwiched between vendors selling turkey legs and fried catfish.
At the start of 2020, Southern Roots turned to online orders to satisfy sweet tooths all over the country, and by the time pandemic lockdown started that March, the business had made the leap to selling almost completely online.
“We need to get more plant-based options out there in the universe,” Pitts said.
Over the past three years, the company has fielded orders from all 50 states, with Texas, California, New York and Florida in the lead. Its mixed box of cake donuts is the best seller, featuring flavors including “OG glazed,” red velvet and lemon drop.
Pitts said her grandmother — the original taste tester for the red velvet donuts and the inspiration for many of Southern Roots’ creations — couldn’t believe that the sweets were vegan. The Mary Lee Lemon Cake, another popular item, is named after her.
Southern Roots is still struggling to get picked up by major food service companies, but Pitts said she is forging relationships with hotels, colleges and other institutions looking to offer vegan baked goods to diners.
To that end, the business launched a Dorms & Donuts college ambassador program that tasks students with bringing the goods to college events to create both awareness and new business. Pitts said college kids are a natural resource when it comes to spreading the word about her brand.
But the expansion doesn’t end there. Cara and Marcus Pitts recently acquired the Boerne-based vegan ice cream company Cielo Scoops, a brand they hope to expand by delivering throughout the country. Cielo offers a baker’s dozen of flavor options but Sea Salt Caramel tops them all, she said.
