Biig Gal Energy Is Portland’s Official Hookup for Sea Moss, the Wellness Ingredient Du Jour

Candis Hertz and Madison Castellanos always aspired to be their own bosses. Veganism helped make it happen.

The founders of plant-based meal-prep service Biig Gal Energy both grew up in rural Oregon, where a well-rounded meal always included an animal product. “Soon after leaving the dairy town I grew up in,” says Hertz, 30, “I realized that everything I learned was bullshit.” She’s been vegan ever since, and vocal about how the meat and dairy industries “contribute to the things that most of us don’t believe in,” the “us” being socially savvy millennials.

The pair’s friendship began with vegan education, when they met by chance in a neighborhood carpool. “Both of our plans fell through,” recalls Hertz. “So we went to a pumpkin patch, smoked a lot of weed, and Madison tried her first vegan burger.”

“Which was fucking delicious,” adds Castellanos, 23, “and I’ve never looked back.”

A fast friendship gave rise, in 2019, to Biig Gal Energy. Hertz and Castellanos bet that if they could make eating vegan both look and taste better, their peers would see what they see. The duo preps and delivers 100 meals a week on average, with a rotating menu composed of personal favorites and stoned inventions promoted through their vibrant Instagram page—a wild explosion of ’90s color schemes, memes and photos of the pair in matching gym outfits.

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Hi! Madison & Candis here to tell you a bit about @biiggalenergy, our food, and what we can do for you! We like to call ourselves ‘transitional’ vegan chefs. The ‘transitional’ part means we cater(no pun intended) to people who aren’t necessarily seasoned vets when it comes a plant-based diet…or maybe they are and they just can’t get enough:) Regardless, we make food that even the people trying ‘vegan food for the very first time’ can enjoy and probably order seconds of. We are a full-service plant-based cooking service that offers all event, wedding and studio catering. We too work as personal chefs & traveling chefs and even private dinners. Another service that our traveling clients, especially, have found useful is diet-consulting during the transition to a plant-based diet…we help by selecting restaurants and finding food items you will love and enjoy regardless of where work or life takes you. In addition, we offer cooking lessons for individuals, couples, teens and families. We know how intimidating the transition can be, we are here to help! In regards to the produce and food we purchase we do our best to make sure it’s non-GMO, organic, and local whenever possible. We believe in HEALTHY AND DELICIOUS food and quality is and will always be most important. The food you see most on our page is our WEEKLY ROTATING MEAL PREP OPTIONS. We post the menu for the coming week every Thursday and take pre-orders until typically Sundays/Mondays. Meals are available for pickup at our kitchen by appointment only Monday/Tuesday/Thursday or local delivery is available for a flat fee. Appointment Only Pick-up is at our kitchen located at 833 NW 16th Ave. We appreciate all pre-orders but often have extra meals available so always ask! We wanted to offer some insight into what we do and offer and hope this helped! We love to keep you all HEALTHY, happy, fed, and smiling! Let us know if and how we can better serve y’all up 🤟🏼☺️😘

A post shared by TRANSITIONAL CHEFS (@biiggalenergy) on Jun 22, 2020 at 10:00am PDT

And now, they have their own branded product: Moss Sauce, a wild-crafted Irish sea moss gel you can eat, blend into a smoothie, or use as a moisturizer at night.

A sort of super plant containing “92 of the 102 minerals in the body,” sea moss has emerged as the wellness ingredient á la mode, and Hertz and Castellanos swear by its effects. When they noticed no one was making it locally, the entrepreneurial wheels started turning. Two weeks and one bulk order of dried sea moss later, the first doodle-laden jars of Moss Sauce were ready for order. They sold 150 in the first month.

“This is what BGE is about,” says Hertz. “Putting our motivation to grow our business into action in a way that helps others and the planet.”

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