Catherine Payne

capayne@guampdn.com

A brother and sister from Guam are behind what they call "America's first vegan butcher shop."

Aubry Walch, 34, and Kale Walch, 22, founded The Herbivorous Butcher in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The shop offers vegan meats, ranging from pepperoni to huli huli Hawaiian ribs, as well as vegan cheeses like pepper jack.

The business started with a table at the Minneapolis Farmers Market in June 2014. Later that year, the Walches ran a Kickstarter campaign to fund their brick-and-mortar shop. Since then, the business has gained attention from around the world.

The company was recently featured in an episode of The Food Network’s “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives” with Guy Fieri. The network highlighted the shop's recipe for a vegan Italian cold cut sandwich.

“Guy was very nice,” Kale Walch says. “He really liked everything.”

The episode cast a spotlight on a shop with a growing following of vegans and non-vegans.

Aubry Walch says the business is going well. “We’re trying to figure out how to grow quickly without being detrimental to our staff and products.”

The Herbivorous Butcher is looking to expand out West, in California or Colorado.

“We’re hoping to choose a second location by the end of the year,” Aubry Walch says. “We hope building can start in March of 2017.”

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While the brother-sister duo is branching out in the mainland, they haven’t forgotten their roots in Guam.

Born in Guam, Aubry Walch was 13 and Kale Walch was 6 months old when their family moved from the island to Minnesota.

Their father is Hutch Walch, who was a DJ on a morning show at Hit Radio 100. Their mother is Marie Dydasco from Sinajana.

“We have lots of family on Guam — aunts, uncles and cousins that we miss every single day," Aubry Walch says.

The siblings miss not only their relatives, but also the island’s food. When asked what food they miss the most, Aubry Walch replied "empanadas" and Kale Walch chimed in with "tuba."

“Guam is such a melting pot of different cultures and food,” Aubry Walch says. “Many of the ‘meats’ we carry are definitely reminiscent of food we had as kids, but not necessarily Chamorro. We have a variety of Korean, Japanese and Hawaiian-influenced ‘meats.’ There is the Chamorro jerky which we use our grandma’s fina'denne' recipe in."

Guam residents can even enjoy some of the shop’s jerky. The company can send its jerky sampler, which features three varieties, to Guam. The jerky sampler can be ordered through the company’s website.

In addition to featuring an online shop, the website also offers product and nutritional information, as well as food preparation tips and recipes. A blog features stories from behind the counter as well as special announcements.

On the shop's website, customers and fans also can sign up for the newsletter.

“Our newsletter has all sorts of goodies included — exclusive interviews with popular vegans, fun videos, upcoming specials and events, recipes, etc.,” Aubry Walch says.

Although the siblings are busy with their expanding business, Guam is not far from their thoughts.

“We are hoping,” Aubry Walch says, “to get out there in the next couple of years.”

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