UK

A post this week in which I voiced my concern about vegan people opening non-vegan cafes has garnered a lot of attention. The comment thread on Facebook has a life of its own and I think it is evident that this discussion is happening at exactly the right time.

One of the commentators suggested it would be beneficial for me to organise a platform to assist people looking to change their businesses into a completely vegan affair.

OK. I think I can offer some assistance. I don’t have a lot of time but I do take it on board that actions speak louder than words and I genuinely want to help people (and businesses) to go vegan and stay vegan.

What can I do?

I want to hear from people thinking of changing a non-vegan food business into a vegan food business. Once we have made contact, I can offer the following if you want it:

• email conversation about your business and a vegan transition
• you can phone/Skype me to talk about the situation
• if you pay for my travel (I will travel by the cheapest means if necessary) I will spend a day with you and/or your employees talking about a vegan change, discussing vegan alternatives to dairy and working out a strategy and I will not charge for my time
• I will supply you with testimonials by other business owners who have made the transition in unlikely locations
• I will supply you with practical advice on sourcing vegan ingredients to replace dairy
• I will help you write a press release about your relaunch and get it to as many press outlets as possible, as well as local, national and international activist groups, bloggers and social groups
• I will make myself available via phone and email to discuss publicity questions in the month following your transition
• I will feature your business on my blog and link to you on social media around the time of your transition to a vegan business

Just because I love to be dramatic, I am calling this the Operation Go Vegan Stay Vegan initiative. It is kind of like a vegan challenge, but for businesses.

Why am I doing this? The main reason is I am working to improve outcomes for non-human animals. Another reason is I wholeheartedly believe now is the right time for vegan business owners to take this step.

As I have mentioned on Facebook, there are 100% vegan cafes in regional Mexico, the West Midlands, Prague, rural USA and even an almost three hour drive into the countryside from my home town of Brisbane, Australia. They are popping up in the most unlikely places and they can succeed!

If you do vegan food and drink well, people will pay for it. Not just vegans, but people in general.

Please get in touch if you think you would like to make your business part of this vegan transition initiative. I am not the most knowledgable person but I am confident I can bring useful ideas together that will help you make this change to your business in the most positive way possible.

If you would like to offer a case study of your own vegan business (especially if you changed it to vegan from non-vegan), please get in touch via sean@fgvpr.co.uk – I will need all the vegan community firepower and ideas I can get.

Please note: I will have to exercise discretion in regards to who I assist and this might be based on my own workload or a host of other reasons. I envision being able to work with one business during a calendar month period. I am predominantly looking to assist UK businesses but will consider offering advice and time to people in other parts of the world but I will not have the same insights to offer.