Copyright Chicago Tribune
Local business and city leaders gathered in Batavia Wednesday to celebrate a local bakery and café’s induction into a state program that recognizes businesses offering destination-worthy products. Earlier this week, the Batavia MainStreet group and the Aurora Area Convention & Visitors Bureau announced that New Moon Vegan – a family-owned, small-batch vegan bakery and café, is now a member of Gov. JB Pritzker’s “Illinois Made Program” – an initiative overseen by the Illinois Office of Tourism. According to a press release from the MainStreet group, the program “selects a group of small businesses each year that exemplify the authentic experiences and innovative products that make Illinois an incredible destination for residents and visitors alike.” Located at 119 S. Batavia Avenue, Batavia, New Moon Vegan represents another success story for Batavia MainStreet and its popular Boardwalk Shops, a small-business incubator program where nearly a dozen entrepreneurs open small stores from May through December each year in hopes of later moving out to brick-and-mortar locations. Executive Director for Batavia MainStreet Beth Walker spoke before Wednesday’s recognition and said the local Visitors Bureau would be presenting a commemorative plate to the business owners. “I think this company really stood out because they’re just a really great couple that are so community-focused. We’re so proud of their recognition,” she said. “They were part of the Boardwalk program in 2021 and any time we see our Boardwalk alums go on to do great things – it’s just really exciting. They’re all vegan and having them in the community really creates a regional draw since vegans will seek out vegan places – we get a lot of people from out of town to visit them.” The current New Moon Vegan store opened in April 2023. Cort Carlson, executive director of the Aurora Area Convention & Visitors Bureau, spoke in the shop Wednesday morning just before the award ceremony and said there are “12 businesses that have now been recognized from our service area which goes from Geneva all the way down through Yorkville.” “This is an important distinction and what’s great is that it’s a statewide program run by the Office of Tourism and they really highlight the local businesses, the small makers throughout Illinois,” he said. “They use this small network of businesses and creatives to really highlight visitation to the state of Illinois. A lot of what they do is promotions and marketing-based around the Illinois-made program – they’re [local businesses] getting much more national exposure through the Illinois Department of Tourism.” The Visitors Bureau noted the Illinois Made program was created by the Illinois Office of Tourism in 2016 “to celebrate the diversity of small businesses across the state and support them by encouraging travel to all regions of Illinois.” The Bureau added that “with this new 2025 class, there are currently 277 makers in the Illinois Made program, and 12 Illinois makers in our regional destination.” Before the presentation, the couple who own the store, Jo Colagiacomi and Jay Weichun of Elburn, spoke about their vision. “We started this because I’ve been vegetarian for over 30 years and over the past few years, I’ve slowly moved towards a vegan diet,” Jo said. “I made that choice out of my love for animals, but something that’s great about the bakery is we cater to people with allergies. Our daughter also had a severe milk allergy when she was younger. “The award – I’m overjoyed for this honor today and very grateful to be part of this program with so many other artisan bakers in Illinois,” Jo added. “The recognition is validating to see that a place that is plant-based can be acknowledged and held in high regard.” Jay Weichun said “It means the world to us when people travel and come from Madison or Rockford or Indiana or other suburbs,” and make the café a destination. “Obviously people’s time is really valuable, and when we find that people have made the distance and effort to come out here – it really validates what we’re doing,” he said. “It also puts a lot of pressure on ourselves to make sure everything that goes out is worth the trip.” Lindsay Zimmerman of Glen Ellyn was one of those folks who have made New Moon Vegan a destination and said “I’m vegetarian and there are really no local places in Glen Ellyn that cater to my diet.” “I’ve been here before with friends from the western suburbs, and we’ve traveled as far as 45 minutes to come and celebrate together,” Zimmerman said as she looked at pastries in a case Wednesday morning. “We’ve had stuff brought to us from a family member in St. Charles. I think this recognition is fantastic – I’m a huge advocate for local foods, and for them to be supporting local vendors like this where they get and source things locally and service communities – I think it’s fantastic.”
