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COMPANY VALUES
Although we are a vegan company, the food we serve is only one of the many factors we take into consideration when trying to build an ethical business. Our 3 company values guide us in the way we design everything at Happy Maki from our processes and products to our teams and customer service:
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KINDNESS
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TRANSPARENCY
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HUMILITY
Anna, Happy Maki's founder has learnt the huge importance of these three values from the Divine Truth teachings. We try to apply them to all we do, constantly innovating, making mistakes, learning and growing as we work towards upholding and improving our 6 goals. We help each other to see our blind spots and we're not afraid to go against the grain, experiment or take accountability when it's needed.
COMPANY GOALS
1. CUSTOMER CARE Putting customers first with fast, genuine service and delicious, good value products
2. PROFESSIONALISM Creating a hard working, productive, compliant, nurturing, fun and respectful workplace
3. HEALTH Bringing people together in their passions for making and enjoying healthy nourishing vegan meals
4. CHARITY Helping our global family who have less than us, no one should be hungry in a world of plenty
5. SUSTAINABILITY Being careful and regenerative with resources where possible thus minimising the harm that we have on the environment and its animals.
6. PROFITABILITY Making money so that we can increase the scope of our positive impact and reward our team
When you put all of these together we think it's a pretty happy list, this is what we are constantly striving for at Happy Maki. For expansion on these goals please see below.
CUSTOMER CARE
As soon as you walk into our stores we want you to feel looked after, relaxed and excited to eat! Customer service is at the core of the of what we do in the hospitality sector and we truly appreciate you're choice to spend your money with us. We love interacting with people, getting to know regulars and hearing feedback for when we may have missed the mark on quality and consistency.
We really value your time and will always do our best to make your food quickly. Our focus is not on exposure, making as large a margin as possible or becoming a popular brand ..... our focus is on making sure you are getting the best experience in the way you are treated and the food that we make you. In turn we hope that this focus will lead to our success and growth so that we can feed more people in our stores, at festivals and in our sponsored school with our meal 4 meal initiative.
PROFESSIONALISM
We strive to create an environment where everyone works hard and is passionate about achieving our number one company goal of customer care.
As a team of employees we really focus on kind, direct and transparent communication which is often not present in many workspaces. Upholding this is very important to us and the standards we all strive for are very high when it comes to thoroughness, diligence, respect, honesty and positivity.
Food safety is a big part of running a hospitality business and we work hard to make sure all team members are trained to follow our strict protocols. Every staff member has a level 2 in food safety and all of our locations have a 5 / 5 FOOD HYGIENE RATING. We understand that you are paying money for quality food and that is always what we want to deliver.
Communication, organisation and clear systems is such a huge part of running a professional workspace. Giving people the tools and training they need to do their job well and ensuring they know what is expected of them. Giving employee feedback is really important to us as it provides people with the opportunity to learn and improve, we also learn a lot from this, as to where we can improve and where we can be more clear and helpful.
When everyone is on board with being part of a professional workplace it this it creates a wonderful and joyful environment that people can be proud to be a part of. It's so amazing what a team of committed and positive people can achieve in a day, a week or a month when a common goal is set. We believe every single person on our team is equally important and valuable in their contributions to this common goal.
HEALTH
We are committed to providing healthy nourishing food and a healthy nourishing environment, it's one of the reasons Happy Maki was started. Our founder Anna is passionate about public health but she was disappointed by the lack of quality grab and go options. We are really keen to change the stigma around vegan fast food, we care about our customers and them to benefit from what we make for them.
Our sushi rice, salads, sauces and fillings are made fresh in-store everyday by our team of chefs. We believe the care that goes into making the food for you is what makes it taste extra special. We pride ourselves in being allergy friendly, and have a widely gluten free menu, with only a few of our externally sourced ingredients stating "may contain" on their labels.
We are an alcohol and caffeine free company so from our gut friendly soft drink choices to our nutrition and flavour packed sushi rolls and bowls everything on our menu has been carefully crafted to makes sure you finish you meal feeling satisfied, energised and indulged.
CHARITY
Check out our MEAL 4 MEAL page for all of the info on the amazing "Mary's Meals" charity and how we work with them to provide meals for the kids at Thanthwe school in Malawi. This is a huge part of what we do and we hope that it brings a real connection and depth to every meal that you enjoy from us, knowing that a child in need is getting a meal in a place of education thanks to you.
SUSTAINABILITY
As the company was born out of a love of the ocean and a desire to provide environmentally friendly options for sushi, we are constantly looking for ways in which we can improve. What we currently do:
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Stores are powered by 100% green energy thanks to Ecotricity
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Stores are zero to landfill
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Zero plastic policy where possible
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Minimal & compostable packaging
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No disposable cups are used - keep cups only for takeaway
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Stores have free chilled and filtered water on tap so you can top up your bottles
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All of our sauces and salads are homemade
PROFITABILITY
We are proud to be a for profit company. We have learned how important profitability is for growth, stability and to reward those who have worked hard and taken on large risks and responsibilities. However we will not sacrifice any of the the above goals to achieve profitability, instead we hope that this will materialise from fulfilling our first 5 goals. We want to make lots of profit so that:
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We can grow and people can enjoy Happy Maki world wide meaning more vegan meals and more kids fed!
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We can provide living wage to all our employees and make hospitality an appealing career choice
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We can continue providing affordable healthy meals to the masses
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We can have the space and freedom to innovate and experiment with our menu's and kitchens
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We can continue to support our wonderful charity Mary's Meals
VEGANISM
A Personal note from Happy Maki founder Anna.
It was around 9 years ago that I turned vegan, I could no longer call myself an environmentalist and still eat meat. So one new years eve I made the resolution purely out of moral obligation and that evening I binged on all the meat I could get my hands on. Conveniently I was at a party with a barbecue buffet... whoops. However, since that night I've never looked back or regretted my decision in the slightest it was the best wake up call. Giving up animal products and alcohol has hands down been the best physical lifestyle change I have made.
You cannot deny that animal agriculture is the leading cause of, deforestation, water pollution, habitat loss, species extinction, soil erosion and global greenhouse gas emissions. It's also great for your health and most importantly it means you're no longer contributing to unnecessary killing and suffering of animals.
I felt the biggest benefits from being vegan came once I'd faced up to and connected with the heartbreaking side of animal slaughter and exploitation. I would never have been able to kill a cow, pig, chicken or duck but the fact that I had been willing to pay someone else to do that traumatic job showed a large issue of ethics in me.
Its obvious that the western world is addicted to meat. It provides "satisfaction" filling a hole left by the lack of connection, passion and hope. It's also a symbol of masculinity and wealth as we are often told that we need meat to be strong and healthy which isn't true. I know my Dad felt really "proud" of me when I'd finish a rack of ribs on my own as a kid, theres a lot of weird messaging in families around meat. Many world class athletes have proven its actually beneficial to be on a vegan diet, so it's just not justifiable to say that its not good for you when for example the best tennis players of our time, Serena Williams and Novak Djokovic who are top of their game.
Going vegan in the western world is very easy now and it's cost effective. So when people ask me why I am vegan I find the question so bizarre, I'm always curious to hear WHY PEOPLE AREN'T VEGAN ? When it ....
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Hugely helps the environment
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Hugely helps your health if you’re eating mainly wholefoods
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Does not involve killing or exploiting an animal.
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It makes you much happier if you do it for the right reasons
To me it seems like a no brainer. I do get that people are scared of change and scared of the perceived sacrifice of their favorite foods. If I can leave you with one point on veganism I can assure you you wont be sacrificing anything you'll only be gaining SO MUCH.
Yes it might take some time for your taste buds and habits to adjust. Think of it like going from having 3 sugars in your tea to 0, at the start you think that that the straight tea tastes HORRIBLE. Then after a while your taste buds adjust you can actually taste the flavours in the tea now and when you go back to try the sugary one, you think .... how on earth did I drink that its disgusting.
I can only encourage you or anyone to at least try the experiment, do it for 6 months or a year to get all the seasons in and give yourself time to get educated on the topic give it a genuine crack. Then even if you dont want to continue with it for whatever reason, you will have an informed opinion (unlike Piers Morgan). It might prove to be life changing like it has been for me, for many of my friends and for the other estimated 2.5 million vegans in the UK. What is actually to loose from trying it... I cant think of anything but there is so much to potentially gain.
So whether you're looking to reduce meat intake, are vegan or just like good tasting sushi you're all equally welcome at Happy Maki we have many a carnivore customer and I'm proud to have created a menu that showcases how great vegan food can be. Being part of a community of vegan business working hard to bring about positive global change is a privilege and a small step in the right direction of huge change that is needed if we're going to turn our world around to avoid serious disasters.
Anna x
P.s. My favorite documentaries on the topic are :
1. Forks over Knives
2. Fat sick and nearly dead
3. Cowspiracy
4. Gamechangers
