When Greek-Australian Anastasia Lavrentiadis, a vegan diet influencer, decided in 2017 to conjure up her own version of a meatless plant-based gyros, she never anticipated that in just two years, she would see her start-up mobile food truck business be included amongst the best vegan businesses in the world.

Anastasia grew up in a traditional Greek family and was brought up eating mostly traditional Greek food.

“I actually enjoyed nothing more than a juicy lamb gyros, but my whole attitude shifted as I started looking into the slaughtering industry and realised the cruelty that takes place against the animals. From that point onward, I decided to combine my love for Greek food with my love for animals and tried to come up with scrumptious plant-based recipes so that I could still feed people without harming the animals,” Anastasia says.

The 42-year-old vegan, together with husband Roger, spent a year refining the recipe of her (not-) lamb gyros, which uses traditional Greek flavours and a TVP – or textured vegetable protein – in place of meat prior to launching her business Staazi & Co at a Vegan Festival in Adelaide.

The all-vegan Staazi menu currently revolves around a plant-based lamb gyros, loaded fries, hot chips and baklava, but the couple are planning to broaden the menu at their new funky establishment which is opening up in the Adelaide CBD in order to keep up with the demand.

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“Our commitment is to care for the welfare of all animals and the environment. All our meals are made without the use of any animal products, inclusive of meat, milk, cheese, butter, cream and eggs. Our ingredients are 100 per cent plant based,” says Anastasia who within months of launching her business, found a starkly underserved local audience looking for plant-based food options in the Adelaide food truck scene.

She says her customer base has only grown since with people asking her to grow her recipe menu.

“Not everyone wants to eat the plant-based meats, for whatever reason.

“We will do more traditional Greek dishes – not just street food, but also wholefoods, beans and potatoes and chickpeas.

“I’m not here to offend people –I just want to plant seeds and open doors for people to start doing their own exploration. I am here to show people that you can still have a greasy gyros, if you’re hanging out for one,’” says the Greek businesswoman whose family originates from Kozani and the Peloponnese.

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“I’m at the seed-planting stage but my goal is to contribute to the conversation around food consumption. And let’s face it, it’s the Greek in me. I feel like I need to feed these people.

“They’re hungry and they want what I’m providing,’ and that’s an honour for me,” concludes Anastasia.

“Growing up in a Greek traditional family, I actually enjoyed nothing more than a juicy lamb gyros, but my whole attitude shifted as I started looking into the slaughtering industry and realised the cruelty that takes place against the animals. From that point onwards, I decided to combine my love for Greek food with my love for the animals,” says Anastasia Lavrentiadis.