Hasta La Creative!

Burgerville’s customers are hooked on the regional chain’s veggie burger.

When Kellogg’s, which owns Gardenburger, issued a voluntary recall, Burgerville customers were bumming. But thanks to the ingenuity of Chez Gourmet, a small Oregon-based outfit that went from making 3,000 veggie patties a week to producing over ten times that amount, things in Veggie Burgerville are copacetic.

According to Marketplace, Marie Osmunson of Chez Gourmet is driving full-speed ahead, moving into a new production facility that’s 10 times bigger, and continuing to go after new business.

Oregon State University’s Food Innovation Center is providing technical assistance to the startup.

“It’s been fairly risky,” said Osmunson. “I have had family invest in my business, which has been extremely helpful. Establishing credit with some of the vendors has been a challenge, because they don’t want to take a risk with you when you don’t have any history.”