When moving from California back to St. Louis, business owners Jay Davis and Erica Garcia didn’t know how their west-coast gluten-free and vegan products would be received in the industrial midwestern city.
But now with their products available at various coffee shops around the city, they said they are spreading the message of mindful eating and wholesome living through their brand, EZ Treats.
“It’s really about health and the intention of what you’re putting into your body and being conscious of what you’re consuming and how it affects your everyday life and your everyday health,” Davis said.
Garcia was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease when she was 24 years old. As a result of the disease, she was left looking for gluten-free options in desserts, which she found difficult, even in California.
“I just got in the kitchen and started experimenting and came up with some really great recipes and continue to,” Garcia said. “Then I was like, ‘You know what?’ I need to share these because I know that there are other people in the world who struggle with the same sort of issue.”
Garcia said the trouble with working with gluten-free ingredients is that baking is a science. Every ingredient that is used in her recipes, she had to experiment with.
“There’s so many different gluten free flours, oats, rice, we use like a rice blend flour that seems to be really good for us, but I think just research and time really and trying it out,” Garcia said. “There are a lot of different recipes that you can kind of gloss off on the internet, but you got to get in there and try it yourself.”
After the couple perfected their recipes and opened their business back in 2022, they moved back to St. Louis to care for Davis’ parents. They decided to keep the business running under the same model they had in California. The pair take online orders on their website and sell their baked goods at coffee shops such as Mountain House Café located on Macklind Avenue.
But breaking down the stigma behind the gluten-free and vegan lifestyle remains a challenge for the couple.
“A lot of people are like, ‘Oh, this is just, you know, the trend.’ And I’m like, there is a trend of gluten-free and vegan, but like, it’s our lives. It’s not a trend for us,” Garcia said.
Davis said he tries to meet people where they are, bringing in alternatives to store-bought sweets to communities of color, with the help of local organizations who believe in the company’s mission, namely Black Men Read, an organization that inspires literacy and social awareness among Black men.
“Growing up in the Black community, there’s a lot of hurdles to education,” Davis said. “There’s a lot of hurdles with I feel like stubbornness and unwillingness to learn, as well as just not being informed and not having the platform to even think about that.”
Garcia, a California native said she was shocked by the difference in grocery stores in different neighborhoods in the city. When she first moved to St. Louis, she was surprised that every Schnucks in the region has different food options, with more unhealthy food options in grocery stores in the city versus the county. She said the food deserts in St. Louis was a concept she had to get used to.
According to a study by the Missouri Coalition for the environment, 56% of residents in the city of St. Louis are low-income families with low food access within a half mile of them. With this in mind, the couple said they want to increase access to good food in communities they interact with.
“We’ve said from the beginning that this isn’t just a bakery, this isn’t just a dessert company,” Garcia said. “This is a mission to educate and help people all around the world learn about food, education and nutrition and helping people heal themselves.”