The blog post today is a bit of a strange one and even though it originates from an experience in Brisbane, it definitely raises a topic people everywhere can chime in on.
Read more below.
I’m currently in Brisbane, Australia visiting my family and friends. Did you know that I was born and grew up here?!
I’m happy to be here and spend time with people I care about, but I’m also making sure I check out as much of the vegan scene as I can.
There is a cafe in the inner city suburb of Annerley called Paper Moon. I’ve heard about this cafe for a few years and read glowing reviews about their 100% vegan pies, pastries, and cakes.
Imagine my suprise when I stopped by today and discovered that the are now serving non-vegan donuts and cow milk. Admittedly the vast majority of the food was vegan, but it was a surprise after hearing so much from the vegan community about it.
But here is the real kicker.
While I was chatting with the server, she told me they had only recently taken over as owners. Of course I asked if they planned on keeping the main food case completely vegan as it is and she said no!
I was told that the new owners are dairy farmers and veganism is not their priority. While they will keep vegan options, they are planning to phase in more and more non-vegan food to the menu.
It’s a very confusing situation becase the cafe still has many signs up shouting about being vegan and even the profil picture for the business on Instagram says ‘100% vegan’. I asked about the profil picture and the owner told me she doesn’t know how to change it!
Apart from it all seeming a bit chaotic and amatuer, it also left me feeling compromised.
I don’t think I want to spend my money with a business that is transitioning AWAY from veganism and that is owner by dairy farmers. The food I ordered today was tasty (vegan steak, gravy, and mash pie and a double choc lamington) and I certainly do eat in non-vegan places with good options, but this situation just hits differently for some reason.
How about you? Do you think you would continue dining here if they reduced the vegan offerings from 100% down to half or a third? Does it matter to you that it’s a business run by dairy farmers?
Share your thoughts in the comments.
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I have a general rule that if a cafe or restaurant moves in the wrong direction I will no longer support them. Wherever possible I eat at independent vegan businesses, but when out of London in particular, I do eat at non-vegan places which offer decent options.
Of late Floozie Cookies in Covent Garden are no longer 100% vegan – with a really flimsy reason for this being offered on Facebook (the rising cost of vegan ingredients???). I have abandoned my almost weekly visits.
Good policy to have!
Sad to hear they are moving further away from being fully vegan. As you mentioned they’ve only just taken over – in the last few weeks. I had been meaning to head back in but now not sure, conflicted to show support for the vegan side so they keep it up but why support them in moving away from it.
I did use to go at least twice a month due to them being one of the few places on the south side that consistently had vegan pies and on the way home from my daughters dance lessons. I think it was sometime last year that the previous owners had added diary milk to the menu, but the food was still fully vegan. I think it was related to serving the tradies from the cross-river rail project down the road. I still supported them as business is tough.
Yeah, it just feels like a letdown to know it is moving in the other direction
I wonder how the staff feel about this, and whether any of them have left or are thinking of leaving as a result. I wouldn’t go to this one any more at all, as it seems the new owners will increasingly sell their cruelty products through it.
As you say, it’s somewhat different from the usual question of ‘do you change things by only dealing with vegan companies or do you seek to show vegan demand by buying vegan from partly non-vegan companies, too?’ The latter option assumes that companies will look at their sales, recognise trends in demand, and adjust accordingly; in the case of this café, the change has occurred just because it’s in the owners’ interest and there’s clearly been none of the above process.
A shame, you can only hope that people have elsewhere to go that’s nearby and fully vegan, or that there will be new openings to compensate for the loss.