Venus Williams Joins Canadian Vegan Platform PlantX As Investor & Ambassador

Tennis champion and entrepreneur Venus Williams has joined plant-based e-commerce platform PlantX as an investor and ambassador in an effort to help the company raise awareness about the benefits of plant-based foods and encourage consumers to shift to a plant-based lifestyle.

Canada-based PlantX, which offers over 10,000 plant-based products across the food, beauty and clothing sectors, announced its partnership with plant-based advocate Venus Williams and as a PlantX ambassador, Williams will promote the company’s mission of helping everyone easily transition to a plant-based diet.

Willams, who has seven Grand Slam titles, five Wimbledon titles, and four Olympic gold medals to her name, was diagnosed with Sjögren’s syndrome, a condition where the body’s immune system attacks its own healthy cells many years ago. To recover from the effects of the condition, and to get back to her professional tennis career, Williams adopted a plant-based lifestyle in 2011 and since then, the diet has proved beneficial for her, with the champion athlete crediting it for her successful return to tennis. This led Williams to launch her own vegan protein firm, Happy Viking, which provides a range of yellow pea and brown rice protein blends. The products contains omega-3 fatty acids and gut-friendly prebiotic fiber. Featuring a combination of Complete Body Mind Macronutrients (CBMM) and inspired by Williams’ post-workout recipe, her shake will soon be available to buy on PlantX’s e-commerce platform in Canada and U.S. In a press release seen by Green Queen, Williams said that she is thrilled to be partnering with PlantX. “It is the first marketplace of its kind and I wish it had been around when I was transitioning to a plant-based diet over a decade ago. Living a plant-based lifestyle has improved my quality of life and I am looking forward to working with PlantX to help others learn about the benefits of living plant-based.” Furthermore, through this partnership, Williams will share her own journey with having a plant-based lifestyle and will curate a list of her personal favourites from the PlantX product portfolio under a special section called “Venus’ Favorites”, promoting it on her social media channels as well.

It is the first marketplace of its kind and I wish it had been around when I was transitioning to a plant-based diet over a decade ago. Living a plant-based lifestyle has improved my quality of life and I am looking forward to working with PlantX to help others learn about the benefits of living plant-based Venus Williams

PlantX founder, Sean Dollinger said: “Venus’ success as an elite plant-based athlete is incredibly inspiring. I am thrilled that our values align so powerfully in a way that can encourage people to give plant-based living a try. Our partnership with Venus aims to celebrate these values and raise awareness of the benefits that a plant-based lifestyle can provide.” Apart from this partnership, PlantX appointed U.S.-based Michelin-rated celebrity chef, and author Chef Matthew Kenney as its Chief Culinary Officer, signed a five-year agreement with Matthew Kenney Cuisine(MKC), and is set to acquire Kenney’s plant-based deli and retail space, New Deli. Kenney will be instrumental in product and recipe innovation and will head the meal delivery vertical. After expanding to the U.S. late last year with its online platform, PlantX will be opening brick-and-mortar retail stores in locations like San Diego, CA; Canada; and Israel, and has plans for future franchises across North America. Other athletes too are promoting the benefits of plant-based diets, for instance, U.S. soccer stars Toni Pressley and Ali Riley are set to unveil a vegan cooking show called ‘Girls Gone Veg’, to change the perception that “veganism is not a sustainable diet for athletes and that vegan dishes are these hollow, unfilling meals” and through their own personal experiences, will link these diets to the effects of being able to play at the highest level of professional soccer. U.S. professional boxer Claressa Shields too recently highlighted how her strength and athletic performance is attributed to her plant-based diet after she won at the junior middleweight division and made history as the first woman fighter to win an undisputed championship in two weight classes. The James Cameron and Arnold Schwarzenegger backed documentary film The Game Changers drew worldwide attention to the performance gains for athletes following plant-based diets, and highlighted the misinformation the animal protein industry promotes.