Kroger sells the spice powder and it's always been fine for me (I spent a number of years working for Skyline in every position except salaried management (though I was trained on and did their jobs as well)). It has you adding tomato paste, water, and ground meat. You could just do something other than the meat at that stage. Anything providing umami and fat would probably work fine.

I make chili for work once a quarter or so. I make two batches, one Vegan, one Fantastic (ok kidding)

Yes, you can use just about any meat substitute they are all fantastic. Slices of seitan, TVP, Small chunks of drained and pressed low moisture tofu, morning star sausage. The spices destroy any of the finer flavors, so you're just in it for the texture you really can't go wrong because the only no-no is gristle.

Before the meat alternatives got decent in the past few years, I always just made both batches with beans.

That's where the soy curls come in. TVP would be a nice addition, but I lean more in favor of a whole-foods approach. TVP = chemically stripped soy, mostly protein. Soy curls are the whole beans boiled and reformed into a surprizingly incredible and versatile meat alternative.

Coconut oil is high in saturated fats.

Both health and ethics reasons. Healthwise coconut oil has even higher saturated fat levels than palm oil does, but both are quite high.

Ethics wise coconut is similarly not sustainable, at least not in terms of being yet another monoculture. I would say it's arguably not vegan because of the harm that comes to animals and their habitats because of the coconut industry.

https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/by-the-way-doctor-is-palm-oil-good-for-you

https://theconversation.com/our-love-of-coconut-oil-may-have-forced-some-species-to-extinction-141454