Bestsellers: Te Awamutu baker finds sweet success with vegan treats

Wednesday, 24 June 2026

Katherine Snodgrass has combined her creative streak and passion for food in her vegan bakery.

What the Food, 4 Arawata St, Te Awamutu

A vegan food place might seem an unusual business for a small rural town, but Katherine Snodgrass’s sweet treats are proving popular.

Snodgrass had worked in the food industry for over 13 years when she decided to take the plunge into business ownership just over a year ago.

Since she was 14, when she got her first job at Bosco cafe in Te Kūiti, Snodgrass has been keen on baking. Pikelets were one of her baking staples as a kid, but she went on to work for food manufacturers developing new products for supermarkets.

Katherine Snodgrass makes a number of vegan treats that are also gluten, dairy and refined sugar free.

“I always liked food and the sciency background of it. I didn’t really want to work in a cafe for the rest of my life. It’s a cool skill to have, especially when you’re travelling, but I always liked the science side of it and being creative.

“My husband had started a business and was very successful and my son was about to start school. I thought it was a good time to get out of that tough baby stage and the job I was in had some redundancies, so I was like ‘now’s the right time’.”

Katherine Snodgrass has been focusing on growing the wholesale side of business since taking over.

She said the business had its ups and downs, especially with the recent fuel crisis putting a pause on her wholesale orders from several cafes, but overall there was good momentum.

The best seller was the caramel queen bar made with roasted cashews.

Since taking over the existing business, she had focused on growing the wholesale side of it and now supplied about 20 cafes with her slices. She also offers online orders as well as the store from Wednesday to Friday.

All of her slices are refined sugar free, replaced with maple syrup, gluten and dairy free as well as vegan. She also offers a small range of keto options too.

Both her son and husband were gluten and dairy free so she had some experience baking in this way, but it was still a new challenge for her. She enjoyed coming up with new recipes and of late had been getting inspiration from ice cream flavours like boysenberry ripple.

Tell us about the bestseller:

Katherine Snodgrass’s favourite slice was the raspberry and passion fruit slice.

It was the Caramel Queen, which had a chocolate and date base, a roasted cashew caramel filling and then was topped with chocolate ganache. She thought the roasted cashews are what gave it the rich caramelised flavour.

The slice was creamy and sweet, with that moreish chocolate edge that you’d find in a traditional slice. It was the kind of treat that is easy to overindulge in while kicked back on the couch.

Why is it so appealing?

“It’s a bit different and you don’t feel guilty eating it. Even though the calories are high, I get lots of feedback from customers saying that they don’t feel yucky and sluggish after eating it.”

Who buys it?

She estimated 95% of her customer base were women above the age of approximately 30 - although the occasional bloke stopped in.

How much?

One slice was $9 or online you could get five for $40.

What’s your favourite item?

She liked the raspberry passion slice with a cup of coffee because it was citrussy and fresh without being too sweet.