Reinventing the Cheese Wheel!

The Vegan Gardiners are a wife and husband team that produce plant based alternatives of cheese and meat. We always use all-natural, high quality organic ingredients to give you clean, delicious, and handcrafted foods to incorporate into your daily life.

As many will tell you, giving up cheese is the hardest challenge. After trying many other vegan cheeses and meats in large grocery stores we during our dietary transition, we were constantly disappointed and decided to make our own. After creating some recipes that worked we set ourselves a goal: To create products that make the transition away from dairy and meat easy and delicious for friends and family!

It is incredibly important to us to create a judgement free environment. Regardless of your dietary preferences, we hope you can come in and find something delicious and that makes you happy.

The Vegan Gardiners is a story about reinvention. Founder, Amy Gardiner Upton, is the owner and operator of The Vegan Gardiners, Windsor’s first plant-based deli. After realizing that the lifestyle of becoming a vet was not what she originally envisioned, Amy decided to walk away her degree in science to walk her own path in pursuit of a deeper calling. The passion for helping animals and wildlife has always been the motivating force, but the direction changed when she switched to a vegan lifestyle.

Ryan Gardiner Upton, has been present for every step of the way, from helping out with markets to launching our line of meat alternative products. Together, they found not only the courage to pursue a wonderfully terrifying journey, but also discovered an amazing community of small business owners, organizers, volunteers, and people that are the most solid supporters of local, small businesses. By reinventing the rules of cheese and meat, Amy and Ryan reinvented themselves.