Crust Vegan Bakery is a queer, women-owned Manayunk mainstay that aims to serve as a safe place for communities that are often marginalized, writes Lisa Dukart for the Philadelphia Business Journal.

The popular bakery, best known for its handmade pop-tarts, pastries, and cakes, has achieved this through its menu, company policies, the customers it serves, and in other small ways, like having the Progress Pride flag displayed in front of its retail store.

The bakery owned by Meagan Benz and Shannon Roche specializes in vegan foods, which makes it inclusive for people with dietary needs such as certain allergies.

Crust opened in January 2015, and its owners immediately imbued it with a certain culture. They put the focus on having a high-quality approach to ingredients and rejected artificial products. They also wanted to create a business that supported its employees.

“The most important thing to me was creating a workspace in the kitchen different from any other kitchen I’ve seen or been a part of or heard about,” said Benz. “I just really wanted to be able to create a space where people had more longevity in their career, both physically, mentally, emotionally.”

Read more about Crust Vegan Bakery and its multi-faceted mission to be inclusive in the Philadelphia Business Journal.

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