Today we meet Angie, the passionate force behind Funky Pies, who shares her love for creating wholesome vegan food and building connections through flavour. With a sharp business sense and a deep commitment to sustainability, she’s been steering the Bondi favourite with heart and purpose. From bold new pie ideas to a team culture rooted in collaboration, her story is a vibrant glimpse into someone making plant-based food fun – and unforgettable.
How it all started
Okay, okay, let’s start from somewhere. Can you tell in a sentence who you are and how you came to where you are today?
Yes. My name is Angie Stephenson and I am the owner of Funky Pies, which is a small vegan business based in Bondi, Australia.
What inspired you to start Funky Pies? Was there a light bulb moment?
Not really a light bulb moment. The inspiration is from my family. My father had his own business, not in the food industry. However, seeing him run his own business successfully gave me the inspiration to feel like I could run a business myself one day. And because I’m vegan, I wanted to have a vegan food business. So essentially, the inspiration was from my father having a business. And it was always going to be food because I want people to eat vegan food without any judgments. And I thought, if I could create a product which facilitated that, then I would be happy.
Did you always think it would be a cafe? Did you have the idea of a physical place from the beginning?
Well, a physical place is required to prepare food. So, and I think I wanted somewhere for people to come to and sit down and eat and enjoy their food experience. So, yes, a physical place was always on the card.
And how did you choose to live there?
I lived here. It wasn’t a complicated choice. Okay. Well, we looked around.
Because it does play a role when you’re opening a vegan place. I guess if you open in the middle of meat land, it’s not going to be the same.
Oh, I don’t think there is a meat land in Sydney, however, you’re right. Honestly, I did not think of the product having to go to the people. I assumed that people would come to the product. And because I have made this cafe not branded with the vegan slogan, it is more accessible to the wider population. Rather than say, if I went to a vegan area of Sydney, which is Newtown, and I put the vegan slogan all over the brand, I think that’s a different scenario. So I did not have that scenario in my head. I had the scenario of accessible, easy, vegan food.
So you settled in Bondi because you were close. How was the response when you first opened, like, how was the first reaction?
Slow. Yes, it’s a pie shop, so it’s mostly a takeaway style of food. It was very hard going in the beginning, it was not easy. It required me to maintain my job, not working in this. I had to maintain a job and earn an income whilst this business got up and running. We employed two people to work here in the morning and in the evenings. And then I would work on the weekends and I would come and work some evenings. And it was very hard because I had money saved up, but that money eventually runs out. Financially, it’s not easy. It’s a very big risk.
So, I guess you would say the aim, one of the early aims of the business was not just to have a cafe, it was always to create a brand and sell that brand to other places. Wholesale, and that is the only way that this business has continued. If we do not have wholesale, this business will not have continued. Financially, it did not earn enough money to survive without a wholesale. Now it’s better because we’ve been here long enough for the locals to have a very consistent local trade. Our name has gotten out there far enough. Tourists do make Funky Pies a pit stop when they come to Bondi. And Bondi, I think, probably because of Bondi Rescue, has made Bondi a tourist location. Not that it wasn’t before, but people are even more aware on Bondi than they’ve ever had before. It’s a very nice beach to visit. There’s got a good restaurant vibe. So over the years, our customer base has grown.
Do you feel like the community in Bondi has influenced the business?
Have not influenced the business, no, but the community have supported the business. I feel like we have a very loyal customer base who I can rely on to continue buying the pies. I feel that’s a nod to our food being good, consistent quality of food. Because if you don’t have good, consistent quality of food, people won’t come back.
And how do you say energized? In the beginning, you said the main issue was to gain customers and gain a name. What is your main challenge now? And how have you stayed energized the whole time?
Caffeine [explodes in laughter]. It helps, gotta have a coffee.
How many a day?
Oh no, I only have like one or two a day. Now. A little while ago I was probably having three a day, which is not good. One or two a day is fine.
Energized? Well, I will remain energized as long as I am feeding people vegan food who would have otherwise eaten a meat pie. For every person, every customer who comes in and orders a meat pie and we give them a Funky Chunky, that will continue to energize me because it means that I am reducing animal suffering through substituting people’s meat preferences. Not that they necessarily realize that, but that’s okay. I’m not into labels or labelling vegan food as, “Oh my God, it’s vegan, therefore I’m not going to like it,” which is one of the reasons I have not branded this cafe as vegan. I have purposefully left that word out of the branding because I want people to eat the pies without judgment.
Yes, and you can see on the outside it’s written « plant-based groceries, » but it’s one of the last things listed, and it kind of implies that it’s only the grocery that is plant-based. Was that on purpose?
That was me actually being a bit radical and putting the words plant-based on something. That was put there just before COVID. I think that writing was only there in 2018, 2019. We had already been here for 10 years before I put the words « plant-based » on anything.
Okay. When did the cafe open?
Just before Easter in 2009. We signed the lease in 2008 and then got three months free rent. We had to convert this cafe from a surfboard store into a food premises. It had no plumbing, no exhaust, no electricity points, no food premises requirements at all—not even a development application. We weren’t allowed to sell food here until we submitted all the documentation to the council.
So early on, you planned a lot of things to challenge yourself. Was that frightening to you?
No. I like a challenge. I don’t think I would be here if I was shying away from challenges.
Sustainability in the Business
Changing topics to sustainability: is this something that was important to you? Because I know you reuse a lot, recycle, use sustainable packaging… Were these conscious decisions? What have you specifically put into place? And did you start it from the beginning?
It was a conscious choice in the beginning. We have always used plant-based packaging, even for our wholesale pies. It was non-negotiable for me to package our pies in plastic. In our first year of operation, we submitted our cafe to the Local Council Awards program and we won the sustainability section for being the most sustainable cafe in Bondi.
We use biodegradable takeaway materials, water-saving tap heads, lead-free paint, our truck was run on soy diesel. And because the place is vegan, it’s reducing carbon emissions by virtue of the fact that it’s a vegan premises. We also use recycled cardboard in the boxes we put our wholesale pies in. They’re not very strong, but made of recycled material. So that’s one of the offsets. And yes, it was a conscious choice. As for adapting over time: Sometimes it’s harder to add sustainable practices from the beginning because it’s more expensive.
Yes, that was the question: was it a non-negotiable or did you add it gradually?
It was non-negotiable. I don’t want to create a business and ruin the planet. I wanted to create a business and be as sustainable as possible. Because what’s the point in creating something that damages something else?
Also, I noticed some things are organic—like maybe the flour? Was that a conscious choice?
It depends on what you mean by conscious, even with the price choice.
Yes, the price choice.
Some meat replacements don’t exist in organic form. We had legumes and grains as organic options, coconut, flour, etc. But not pastry. We still can’t find an organic vegan puff pastry in the quantities we require. I’ve been speaking to our supplier over the years about it. Right now they can only make small square pastry sheets. We need massive rolls.
Okay. Have you influenced some of your suppliers?
Unfortunately, no. We’re not big enough to have that kind of influence. Veganism is still very niche in Australia.
Veganism in Australia
What’s your experience of living vegan in Australia?
I think it’s easy to live as a vegan anywhere. I cook most nights, grains, legumes, and meat replacements occasionally. Sydney has lots of vegan spots – Happy Cow is amazing. I’ve been using it since the early 2000s. I recently visited Tanzania – lots of vegan cafes and restaurants. You never know!
You wouldn’t guess!
Exactly. There are vegan options almost everywhere. Maybe not a plethora, but always something.
And in Australia, do people look at you weird when you say you’re vegan?
Of course. I think veganism is still a dirty word in Australia. What do you think of the word « vegan »? What do your friends say behind vegans’ backs?
(Zoe:) I think it’s neutral—neither positive nor negative.
That might be a young person’s opinion. I feel that if you get to the older generation and you say I’m a vegan, they still don’t really respect it, and are not as willing to assist you in your food choices being a vegan. I think it’s a generational thing. It’s not just Australia.
Right. I was curious about if there are any specifics in Australia relating to veganism.
I don’t think so. I think veganism and the battles that vegans face are the same no matter where you are. Same reactions, same questions, same assumptions. I’m not too sure.
Suppliers and Seasonality
You seem to have a wide selection of suppliers, a mixture of very local brands and international ones. Is this part of a business equilibrium or is it just random? And are there any criteria for your food in suppliers, both the suppliers of the food that goes into the pies and the grocery shop?
I think with the groceries you want to try and choose a simple selection of foods that people will use to replace animal products in their day-to-day cooking. And also you want to have products that not only replace animal products in cooking, but also offer vegans a similar treat or dessert which they would otherwise miss out on through going to a regular supermarket, for example. So you want to supply products that the bigger supermarket chains do not supply.
And you want to supply things that cater to vegans. Because they are not easily accessible in the big supermarkets.
As for suppliers, well, there are some suppliers who have specific meat replacement products that I like in our pies, and they are international brands. And the other main product that we use in our pies are vegetables, and that’s local supply, local Australian vegetables.
Is it seasonal or not necessarily, or is it always seasonal because it comes from a different part of Australia?
The vegetables that we use are not chosen for their seasonality, they’re chosen for the ingredients that we want in our recipes. So we need them on a year round basis. Because we wholesale, we have the nutritional information panels on the label, which is a requirement if you are going to sell your product into other stores. So, you need to have consistent ingredients to meet the nutritional information labels of your product.
So does the pumpkin that we buy to go into our butterchicken and our satay always come from a local supplier? To tell you the truth, I’m not 100% sure. I know it comes from the local markets, but does it come from imported products to the local markets? I’d have to ask.
Some places would put a focus on seasonality, I understand that this is not your focus because wholesale is too important. It is easier to have the same pies all year round than have some at specific time of the year?
I have not enough time in the week to be able to create a new menu for seasonal vegetables. I just don’t have enough time. So it’s not my focus. My focus is running the business.
I think the pies are very affordable also. So I thought, maybe it was to keep the pies affordable.
No, I’m too busy running this and running the wholesale and the distribution side of things that I don’t have time. Good idea though.
And do you have any best practice tips on your side?
Try and stay happy. Keep laughing.
I forgot the sustainability part in the question. I mean, it’s a good question. What is your most easy sustainability thing that you do?
Go and pick rosemary from the side of the street. Plant some rosemary in a garden somewhere, let it grow. Try and reuse water from one source to another source. If you’re using a pot to wash a pot, then maybe you can use that pot to hold the water for the dishes. I thought about that once and twice.
And on a personal level?
Carry a Keeper cup.
Also we’ve got a bunch of plastic bags that our potatoes come in every day, and I’m storing a stash of them. So I can then go and take them to the soft plastic recycle, which is in Malabar down the road.
Tip the coffee grounds into the garden out the front as much as possible, so they can go back into the soil rather than putting them in the garbage bin.
Try not to waste food. We try at the end of the day to reduce the amount of pies that we have left in the pie warmer. Because we don’t want to throw away food or waste anything. We do need to get a compost bin. That would be amazing because right now our vegetable scraps mostly do go in the garbage. However, I have delivered a few bunches of vegetable scraps to a lady who has a worm farm down the road. But that’s one thing that’s missing from our business, and from every business in the Waverley precincts, is having access to a compost bin for our vegetable scraps. We would save so much on waste in Bondi if businesses and homes had access to compost bins and compost bin collection and maintenance. It’s such a no-brainer.
It’s not in their plan ?
I think it is because Randswick Council have it for homes. I’m not sure about businesses, but I would imagine Waverley will eventually get round to offering something like that. And I think that now you’ve asked me that, I have asked Waverley Council about compost bins. Give me a second, I’ll check my phone. No. I know I did ask the council and I know I got an answer from him, but I don’t remember the answer. I think they’re looking into it and it will come, but yeah, not right now.
So that’s one of the projects for the future?
Yes.
Local Tips
Do you have any local recommendations around the area? If someone was to visit Bondi for 24 hours, and of course, would have a meal at Funky Pies. What else would you recommend doing?
You would do the Bondi to Coogee walk, which probably takes half a day. And you would have lunch at Funky Pies. Then maybe they would get a vegan ice cream from Messina, or a vegan gelato from one of the gelato places in Bondi.
Or you might go to Parsley Bay, which is a beautiful bay on the Harbour side. You might go to North Bondi and sit on the hill and watch the sunset, which sort of sets over the southern part of Bondi, which is really nice. There’s sometimes free drumming and drum beats that happen on the North Bondi Hill on a Sunday afternoon, for example, if you were here on Sunday. And there’s a really nice bushwalk to the south headland of the peninsula. That’s really nice to go for a bushwalk around there. And you could also go to Malabar and do the Malabar Headland Walk. That’s really nice as well. I really like that one. It’s not Bondi, but it’s south of Bondi.
You would also take a south Coogee walk, that’s nice, South Coogee to Maroubra. Beautiful walk right there. You should also do a surfing lesson.
That’s the official tourist thing.
Yeah, definitely. But it’s also fun!
Then you go to the city, start exploring outside Bondi. Are there any vegan spots around the city that you would recommend?
So you would go to a place in Paddington called Bad Hombres, which is a nice new age Mexican restaurant. Then you would go to Newtown and hit all the vegan spots in Newtown, such as Vandal, which is a Mexican place. You’d also go to Surry Hills and eat at Yulli’s, which is a delicious sort of Asian fusion restaurant. You would go to Bootleg Italian [unfortunately has closed July 2025]. You’ve also got Soul Burger, which is a vegan burger restaurant, cafe, in Newtown and another one in Randwick.
You would go to Miss Sina in Marrickville and have some vegan pastries. Oh, definitely go to Oh, My Days in Glebe and eat some vegan croissants and stuff yourself full with of a lot of food.
Do you share with the other vegan places? Like, Are you friends with them?
Yeah, for sure. Actually, you reminded me, there’s a place called Buddha Bowl in Newtown. There’s also a pub in Chippendale, called the Chippendale Hotel. And within that hotel, there is a restaurant called Mama Bs. And it’s a vegan restaurant in the pub, so the pub only serves vegan food, which is very cool. There’s another little place in Redfern, which I’m not sure if it’s still open, but it’s the McDonald’s, the Vegan McDonald’s, Mr Charlie’s.
What’s Next
What are the next challenges for you? and what can we wish you?
The next challenge is manifesting someone to come with a lot of money so I can franchise this. You’ve got to have something.
Yes, you have to manifest.
Yes, and that would be amazing. If not, I’ll just see where the process of fighting the landlord for a lease takes me. It’s a business issue. You still have to negotiate with the landlord. You don’t own this place. You only rent it. Yes, it’d be nice to think that Funky Pies will continue. And I will try my best to make it continue for as long as possible. But who knows what might happen in the future. We can’t predict the future. So we just take it day by day and be happy. Smile, enjoy our customers. Enjoy serving delicious food. Keep trying to make people happy. If people are happy, then I’m happy. Very simple. I don’t like things too complicated.
Any last words? Is there something that I should have asked that I didn’t? Any further comment, or words of wisdom?
I hope that the council provides us compost bins. That would be amazing. And then I would go back in the awards ceremony and hopefully win some more awards. To be able to make this business more sustainable.
I would love to create more pie flavours. I think that would be fun. I do like the creative process of coming up with more pie flavours. We’ve been stuck on 13 for a while now, so that would be fun, getting the time to do that. It’s always tricky, but I feel right now we’re at a very consistent pace for this business. So I think that will provide opportunity to get a little bit more creative. And there are areas within the food distribution network where I see a niche to be able to bring in unique vegan products for Australian consumers from different places around the world. I think that still needs to be explored, and I’m going to continue to explore that.
So there are a lot of other amazing vegan products around the world that we don’t have access to in Australia. And it’d be nice to be able to work out a way of accessing them in Australia.
It’s an idea. It’s my next idea.
That’s what I was gonna ask: where do you see yourself in 10 years?
I think it would be amazing for my idea to take off. It’s not just my idea, it’s somebody else’s idea. And if we can make that happen, then it would be exciting. That’s all I want to say about that secret idea.
Bonus: Creativity in the Flavours
We didn’t get to the creative flavour: how did you come up with the pie flavours?
It was not all me. There are many people, mostly staff, who have passed through over the years, who have come up with different flavours. We had a guy from Nepal who worked here for about four years and he made a Nepalese curry, which is amazing. So that’s one of our pies. We had another guy who worked here, Joe Jackson. He came up with the butter chicken recipe. Joelle Miller, she came up with the Bolognese recipe. Fraser Adams, who was the manager here for years and years, he came up with quite a few – the Tuscan, I think the satay. No, that was someone earlier.
Shepherd’s Pie is my recent addition. Moroccan bean – that’s Fraser. That’s a really nice one, nice and spicy. Staff who have come through. For example, we’ve got a girl who made the cookie recipe and the chocolate peanut butter dream recipe – Laura, her name is – she came up with those. Another girl came up with the funky nutty slice recipe. Caramel slice is mine. Banana muffins, apple pie… Apple pie is pretty standard apple pie mix. Yeah, different people. Joint, big joint projects.
But it seems like there’s a lot of travel inspiration in this, too, from different travels.
Well, you want to have diversity and unique flavours. So you have to make them really different. You don’t want, like, a beef pie and then a beef and something else pie, and then a beef and something else, something else pie. You want totally unique flavours, or go be different. It works well, it does.
Thank you. Thank you for your time.
Thank you. Good luck with your interview series.