Founder, Angel Food
Auckland, New Zealand
This conversation was originally published in 2018 as part of the original Careering Conversations series.
We've lightly edited it for readability while preserving the original conversation and advice, and added an update on what Alice has been doing since we first spoke.
Most of us know the benefits of eating more plant-based food, and today supermarket shelves are filled with vegan alternatives. But long before that was the case, Alice Shopland recognised an opportunity to create products that simply didn't exist.
Two years after becoming vegan herself, Alice founded Angel Food, producing vegan cheese at a time when there was very little demand and even fewer options available. In hindsight, it might seem like the obvious thing to do. At the time, it was anything but.
When we spoke with Alice, she told us she'd never really known what she wanted to do after leaving school. For a while she considered becoming a vet, until watching an operation caused her to faint. That career option disappeared pretty quickly.
Like many of us, Alice hadn't consciously defined success either. She'd grown up surrounded by other people's ideas of what success looked like but had never stopped to ask herself what it actually meant to her.
Becoming vegan in the early 2000s wasn't easy. While the basics were available, many of the products we now take for granted simply didn't exist. At the same time, Alice was working as a freelance writer and increasingly found herself taking on work that no longer aligned with her values. Writing about how to display chickens in a supermarket, for example, became harder to justify when it conflicted with her personal beliefs.
Rather than waiting for someone else to solve the problem, Alice decided to have a go herself.
She laughs now that it probably wasn't the smartest decision she'd ever made. She had little knowledge of the food industry, no capital, young children and had never run a business before. The market for vegan food was tiny.
Yet she backed herself anyway.
As Seth Godin says:
"It takes about six years of hard work to become an overnight success."
Alice knows exactly what that feels like.
Building Angel Food wasn't easy. There were difficult years, including selling her house to keep the business going. But over time, the persistence paid off, with Angel Food becoming a familiar brand on supermarket shelves and supplying businesses including Hell Pizza.
Alice was refreshingly open about the parts of business she still finds difficult. Planning doesn't come naturally to her. Like many founders, she'd much rather be creating than forecasting. But she also knows that vision without action doesn't build a business, so sometimes you simply have to sit down and do the work.
Learning has also been a constant throughout her career. Alice is a strong advocate for asking questions, attending workshops and building your financial confidence. She believes financial literacy is something many of us should have learnt earlier, but it's never too late to start. Understanding money isn't just about theory—it's about applying that knowledge to your own life and, if you're running a business, making better decisions every day.
One early workshop challenged Alice to define Angel Food's purpose. Her answer was simple: to make veganism mainstream. Looking back, it's a goal she's played a significant role in helping achieve.
When it comes to money, Alice has a refreshingly simple philosophy. She believes you only need enough to live comfortably. For her, success isn't measured by the size of your bank balance but by enjoying what you do and making a positive contribution to society and the environment.
Alice didn't wait until she felt ready. She started before she had all the answers, kept learning as she went and built a business that reflects her values.
Since we first spoke
Angel Food has continued to grow into one of New Zealand's best-known plant-based food brands, expanding its range and availability across New Zealand and Australia. In 2025, Alice published her memoir, Cheese Matters: To Kind Humans, sharing the story behind nearly two decades of building a purpose-led business.
What Alice taught us
You don't need to have everything figured out before you begin. When your work aligns with your values, curiosity becomes your greatest asset and learning becomes part of the journey. Alice's story is a reminder that meaningful careers are rarely built through certainty—they're built through conviction, resilience and a willingness to keep going.
