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Meet Raynard Ledford and Jennifer Le of Lêberry Bakery & Donut in Pasadena

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Raynard Ledford and Jennifer Le.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
Raynard: What excites me about the hospitality industry is that no two days are the same and the opportunity to make a difference in people’s life through food. My passion for the hospitality business initiated when I was 13 years old. Notably to demonstrate how far America has come, hospitality was the only business back then where I could secure a dishwasher job with a staggering minimum wage of $2 per hour at a Chinese restaurant. From there, I advanced my experience at fast-food franchises, including Little Caesars and Wienerschnitzel, which eventually became my expertise in hospitality. After a few years at Wienerschnitzel, I proudly became a general manager. By the time I was 18 years old, I saved enough money to purchase my own restaurant and, more importantly, realized my passion for this industry that I embrace to this day. I also graduated from the most prestigious program in the United States, Culinary Institute of America.

I became Vice President at Universal Studios Hollywood, where I was recruited to start a restaurant and retail company. Today, I am a highly successful businessman in the hospitality industry, particularly as the founder and former owner of the Prime Restaurant Groups that was responsible for 300 restaurants and their real estates including prosperous franchises like Fatburger, Popeyes, Pizza Hut, Subway and Papa Johns. Through my executive roles, I have traveled to over 22 different countries, including most states in the United States, to build businesses. I had the wondrous pleasure of learning to speak Cantonese in Hong Kong, visiting Karni Mata in India, and enjoying peace at the most remote part of Russia. I am grateful for all these experiences during my travels, allowing me to appreciate different people, cultures and lifestyles. The lifestyle I chose for myself 20 years ago was vegan in order to lead a healthy life and committed to sustainability in our food source. As such, I aspire to merge my vegan lifestyle with my expertise in hospitality.

Jennifer: I am Professor and Doctor of Clinical Pharmacy at the University of California, San Diego Skaggs School of Pharmacy (https://profiles.ucsd.edu/jennifer.le) and specialize in pediatric infectious diseases and pharmacology for over 20 years. Serving in the capacity of an invited member for the Food and Drug Administration and National Institutes of Health, I support human health by consulting on pharmacokinetics – the process by which a drug is absorbed, distributed, metabolized and eliminated by the human body. I have published over 135 articles in reputable medical and pharmacy journals and books, including a national guideline that applies vancomycin pharmacokinetics (an antibiotic that treats serious infections) to ensure its safe and effective use in hospitalized children and adults.

In addition to my passion for research to improve human health through drugs, I am always exploring for delicious desserts to consume each day and extremely inquisitive in making healthier versions of my favorite desserts yet retaining their palatability, including donuts, brownies, cupcakes and cookies! I believe the scientific pharmacokinetic or “digestion” process of drugs can be extrapolated to food since food is handled similarly to drugs by our body. To achieve this end, I took a leap of faith to initiate a bakery focused on plant-based ingredients, dairy-free, egg-free, vegan and gluten-free. This has been a dream come true for me for two reasons — (1) enjoying “healthier” sweets every day made by one of my favorite culinary vegan chef, Mr. Raynard Ledford, and (2) playing a part to offer health-conscious food to Americans, especially those with food allergies to gluten, eggs and dairy.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Every successful business takes time and face challenges. Challenges are critical to development and growth, especially for the anticipated trajectory for our business concept to build into a national brand. With two distinct backgrounds, we serendipitously met and became business partners and good friends two years ago. It has been a very bumpy road for us, with a multitude of ups and downs largely arising from adequate staffing and desire for rapid growth. Nonetheless, united by our passion for healthy food, Lêberry Bakery & Donut was conceived to introduce America a scrumptious “sweet” vision to health-conscious living by integrating sustainable plant-based ingredients to facilitate food kinetics in and out of our body – in a healthy way. We capitalize on each other’s strengths to flourish Lêberry, even during our COVID-19 pandemic.

Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Lêberry Bakery & Donut – what should we know?
The plant-based-vegan and gluten-free concept embedded in Lêberry Bakery & Donut was rooted in our vision for health-conscious food among those with food allergies and everyone who wants a healthier version of sweets to enjoy daily. The case favoring plant-based food, shifting from the traditional animal-based diet, is not new; however, the expansion of 100% plant-based vegan and gluten-free food into the donut and bakery industry is novel and ultramodern, appealing to capture the increasing popularity of health-conscious living for everyone including those with food allergies like gluten, eggs and dairy.

Lêberry Bakery & Donut has arrived, with its first award-winning store in Pasadena, California to popularize delectable plant-based sweets. Plant-based food embodies health-conscious living for its sustainability through limiting the use of certain natural resources like water, and reduction in greenhouse carbon emissions into the environment. With water as the source of all life, we applied science to innovatively implement “magnetized” water to enhance the pH and solubility of ingredients thereby potentially improving the taste of Lêberry sweets. The process employed to generate magnetized water eliminates the use of chemicals, which aligns with a health-conscious future.

Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
In any business, we don’t believe in luck as hard work, determination and perseverance are keys to success. We both work 60 hours or more per week and it feels like only 30 hours as we enjoy or learn something new every minute. With our keys to success, we have achieved multiple accolades for best bakery and best donut within the first year of opening, including a 2019 Yelp award and 2020 winner of DonutFest Los Angeles.

In life, we both fortunately had luck as we found careers that energize us every day. We relish meeting people from diverse backgrounds and motivating the young minds of today, hopefully to engage them to believe in hard work and determination to achieve all their dreams.

Pricing:

  • Vegan or Gluten-Free Donut: $2 – $5
  • Vegan or Gluten-Free Cupcake: $3.5
  • Pastry: $3 – $4
  • Challah Loaf: $9
  • Vegan or Gluten-Free Pie: $20
  • Vegan or Gluten-Free Cake: $40 – $100
  • Vegan or Gluten-Free Lemon Bar or Brownie: $3

Contact Info:


Image Credit:
Images all originated and belong to Lêberry Bakery & Donut

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