Support Vegan Business hub created to provide information and advice during Coronavirus pandemic
As the UK government encourages people to self-isolate and avoid restaurants and bars, the hospitality industry is suffering. This is a particularly difficult time for small, independent young businesses, especially vegan businesses which already face the pressure of having a niche offering and a lack of contingency funds to support them in difficult times.
The BRIGHT Club has created a dedicated Support Vegan Business Hub on www.thebrightclub.co which features regular updates and information for businesses and staff during the Coronavirus pandemic.
The #supportveganbusiness campaign started in 2017 by BRIGHT Zine to support the vegan industry is now specifically focused on how the industry can face the adversity caused by Coronavirus. The hub was launched on Instagram earlier this morning (Wed 18 March).
Other actions taken to Support Vegan Businesses include:
A group of over 50 London-based vegan business owners and influencers has been created to share information and support across the sector that is facing adversity.
A petition has been started by Clare Every (@thelittlelondonvegan) for Deliveroo to cut commission during this time.
A lot of vegan businesses are on the brink of collapse therefore it is vital that consumers support them in whichever way possible. Most food businesses are currently operating delivery and collection services as well as providing vouchers and pay it forward schemes to support the more vulnerable in our communities.
Others ways to support vegan businesses include:
Order delivery or collection from them.
Share your favourite food businesses online and encourage people to continue to support them now and in the future. Use the Support Vegan Business graphic from Bright Zine to draw attention to this campaign.
Donate to local food banks and organisations that support communities including:
Lifeafterhummus who will donating their surplus to those in need if they cannot provide free community cooking classes.
People’s Kitchen who have paused surplus meals but are supporting their local food bank and looking for volunteers to help out in other initiatives or to share recipes and food stories.
Follow the Bright Zine/Support Vegan Business Hub on Instagram.
Vegans. This is your chance to use your compassionate shopping powers for good.
It is emergency time for legendary London vegan bakery, Ms. Cupcake.
As I mentioned a short while ago on my blog, the UK’s first 100% vegan bakery has decided to shut doors forever. If you missed it, you can read my emotional post online here.
Mellissa Morgan and the Ms. Cupcake business have been on the frontline of veganism for a decade and without her efforts, we would have experienced a very different march forward.
Mellissa pushed boundaries as an independent vegan business owner and showed just how much demand there was for plant based foods. Being inundated with vegan food in 2020 is thanks to pioneers just like Ms. Cupcake.
So they are shutting down, but there has been even more devastating news for the bakery and Mellissa just two weeks out from closing date.
The business was booked to appear at the huge Vegan Life Live show in London this weekend (March 14 and 15, 2020) but with last minute notice, the vegan mega show was cancelled due to concerns about large events contributing to the spread of coronavirus.
While this was obviously an extremely tough decision for the show organisers, this has left Mellissa and her vegan bakery holding thousands and thousands of pounds worth of extra stock that was destined to be sold at the show.
Mellissa told me:
We are desperately trying to close on a positive note, but the idea of all of these products going to waste is heart wrenching for the whole team who has been working so hard. Financially, it is quite disastrous for our small business.
Vegans, this is where we need to do one last act of support and compassion for someone who has done so much for us.
Go the the Ms. Cupcake website NOW and up until March 20, 2020 and order delicious vegan cakes and treats to be delivered to your home or office.
You can choose from four categories of sweetness:
Vegan tray bakes
Vegan cookie sandwiches
Vegan brownies
Vegan American-style cookies
Click here NOW to buy one last big bundle of vegan goodies from this legendary vegan business. Help them go out on a high and with a few less bills!
Buy treats for your home, your workplace, a neighbour, a loved one, someone you are trying to expose to veganism, and most importantly for yourself.
If we can join forces to send as much love and cash in the direction of the Ms. Cupcake bakery as possible, we might just be able to help them have a smile on their faces as the doors shut for the final time.
Order from the online store now or before March 20, 2020 for delivery in the UK or for collection in store.
If you can make it along to the shop in Brixton before it closes, please note they have extended their opening times to include Mondays. This means they will be open EVERY SINGLE DAY until March 29, 2020.
Extra note: you can also order a signed copy of the best-selling Ms. Cupcake recipe book. Already got it? Click here to order another. They make great gifts.
Oumph! is launching two new fabulous products into Swedish supermarkets from March 16, 2020 with a UK and Ireland launch taking place later in the year.
The Oumph! Banger and Oumph! Smoky Bits are about to hit the shelves and they are highly anticipated. Especially by me!
“Our aim is that The Oumph! Banger and Oumph! Smoky Bits will raise the bar for the plant-based category in Sweden”, says Victoria Norviit, Brand and Category Manager at Oumph! and Food for Progress.
“The Oumph! Banger is a unique plant-based sausage for the next generation of products. The Oumph! Banger has been created combining traditional sausage making, craftsmanship and innovation with state of the art techniques”.
The Oumph! Banger is made from soya beans. It has a smokiness which means it works well as a hotdog, or in pasta dishes and stews. The sausage casing is made from algae and has the crisp bite you’d expect from a good sausage casing.
The Oumph! Banger is suitable for frying, cooking in the oven, barbecuing or grilling on an open fire.
Oumph! Smoky Bits is a wheat based product which is suitable to fry and serve in plant-based carbonara dishes, pies, omelettes and range of other dishes.
“Oumph! Smoky Bits is a versatile product for anyone who’s been looking for a really good plant-based alternative to bacon or ham, and it’s works in a range of classic dishes, such as pasta, or for other breakfast, lunch, dinner and party food occasions”, says Hans Mathiason, Head of Taste and Texture at Oumph! and Food for Progress.
The Oumph! Banger and Smoky Bits are sold frozen, and are available in Swedish supermarket chains ICA and City Gross from the week commencing March 16, 2020.
Stay watching for UK and Ireland distribution news soon.
I don’t know how you are all coping with me saying the same thing over and over, because I’m even sick of the sound of my own voice.
It is distressing to watch all of our vegan money be sucked up by huge corporations while independently owned local vegan business go under.
Ms Cupcake of London has recently announced they will be closing their doors (read about it here) and now we have this warning shot being fired by vegan pizza specialists Zad’s of Manchester.
Read the fill statement below:
It’s been a tough six months for us, here at Zads. We sent an email out around New Year explaining many of the issues we had been having, but it seems to have been picked up by a lot of junk mail filters (the Happy New Year subject probably could have done with being a little more original perhaps).
As many others have already said, the mainstreaming of veganism is incredible and something we’ve all dreamt of for a long time, but it comes at the expense of many vegan businesses; hardly a week goes by now that we don’t hear of another independent vegan business calling it quits and shutting up shop. We’re not quite ready for that yet, but we do need to make a few changes.
From this week, we will now be closed on Mondays AND Tuesdays, plus we will not be opening until 5pm on Saturdays and Sundays.
For some time now, our weekday takings have all but disappeared. It is not uncommon for us to not even take enough to cover staff wages, let alone the cost of the food we’re selling and the other costs which come with running a business. We have always been in the fortunate position of not being here to make a fortune. The owner of Zad’s has never taken a penny of income from the business and the business was set up as an extension of the vegan activism which he and the other founding staff members feel is so important.
We hope that compressing our opening hours a little will make the business a little more viable and if it is possible, we will take the opportunity to hire an extra driver at the weekend, to help take off some of the strain during busy periods. We would also dearly love to pay our staff a little more too, which they so thoroughly deserve. This also means that a small price increase is coming in the next couple of months, along with a few small changes to our menu.
Thank you all for your wonderful support, every order, every positive review, or lovely message, really does mean the world to us. We’re trying our very best to make this work, but we can promise you it’s not easy. Many sleepless nights over the last six to twelve months and probably more to come.
We have been inundated with amazing reviews recently, so we know you love what we do – we do, too.
If we do not support independent vegan businesses, they will disappear. When we only spend our money in huge conglomerates, our money disappears out of our communities. Local people cannot make a living being vegan if we don’t support them. They can’t pay their bills. They can’t employ other local people.
If you live near Zad’s and you have the spare cash to eat takeaway food occasionally, please make a pledge to do it.
Will’s Vegan Store has long been the go to place online for compassionate shoppers looking for friendly footwear.
Will Green has amassed a huge and loyal clientele thanks to his on trend styles and ethical approach to production.
But it’s not just shoes and boots flying off the shelves at Will’s warehouse.
The UK company has launched a selection of eco-friendly and vegan clothing.
This is what Will has to say about their recycled cotton garments:
We have chosen to use recycled cotton because it has less impact on the environment vs new cotton, including organic. Recycled cotton does not need to be grown which means it saves on water, energy, fertiliser, pesticide (for non organic cotton) and co2 emissions from its farming & transport. Our recycled cotton is created with pre dyed off cuts from the textile industry. On average each garment in the collection has saved 33 litres of water and 2.6kw electricity because it has not been dyed. It has also helped reduce the waste disposal of these offcuts which are usually incinerated.
Will’s Vegan Store proudly states that everything they make and do is certified Carbon Neutral.
There is no packaging waste, as they only use biodegradable plastic free packaging from the paper bags to the paper tape they use to seal them.
Click here to visit the Will’s Vegan Store website and check out all the clothing and footwear. There is a lot to see!
After opening in Chelsea in 2017, Wulf & Lamb has been at the forefront of the plant-based casual dining scene in London, offering an array of vegan dishes including their greatly adored Chilli-non- Carne, Wulf Burger, and Cauliflower steak.
Wulf & lamb has been one of my favourite places to eat in the UK since they opened, so this news of a second location is certainly a cause for celebration.
The new location on Chiltern Street, Marylebone boasts 90 seats and will offer full table service, outdoor seating, and a bar with an exciting cocktail menu.
There will be a number of exciting new dishes added to the menu including Glazed Miso Aubergine, Bao, Artichoke Pesto Linguine, and Crème Brûlée developed by Head Chef Konstantinos Kotidis.
I’m so excited for this addition to the London food landscape.
Founder Philip Ryan said:
We are thrilled to be opening in Marylebone. Since we opened in Chelsea three years ago we have been delighted by the growing trend for plant-based eating. Our customers have fallen in love with our take on classic comfort foods including Mac-n-Cheese and Wulf Pie. For Marylebone we’ve added more dishes including starters, indulgent desserts, and a full cocktail and wine list.
Wulf & Lamb Marylebone will open to the public on Thursday February 27, 2020 from 7:30am – 10:30pm, 7 days a week.
You can see the exact location of the new Marylebone Wulf & Lamb online thanks to Google Maps.
London and southeast people, did you know you have a chain of vegan-friendly bars/cafes that are also extremely dog-friendly?
Wags & Tales are located in both Surbiton and Twickenham.
My mate Kay got along to the Twickenham location recently and she was raving about the vegan options and just the entire vibe of the place.
Both venues are like typical bars but they also have separate menus for dogs, dog areas and water bowls, lots of vegan food options, and a lot of people raving about them online.
You and your canine friends should get along for cocktails, comfort food, and a very welcoming environment for everyone, especially those in your party with four legs.
Visit Wags & Tales online for locations and full menus.
It has been just over 24 hours since the announcement was made, so the feelings are still fresh.
Legendary (I mean, really REALLY legendary) vegan bakery business Ms. Cupcake announced it is set to close in March 2020.
This is sad news but of course it is not completely surprising.
I talk with vegan business owners often and they are struggling. People want convenience and are willing to sacrifice independently owned vegan businesses to get it. It feels like our community is increasingly becoming a block of faceless consumers unable (or unwilling) to support small business.
This phenomenon already happened to non-vegan businesses, with many independent stores shuttering their doors over the past few decades.
Now it feels like it is veganism’s turn to lose our pioneering retailers and business owners to big ticket capitalism.
The Ms. Cupcake bakery in Brixton stayed open a lot longer than it should have thanks to owner and founder Mellissa Morgan and her ingenuity, talent, and compassion. The vegan retail scene changed drastically and radically, but Mellissa kept her head above water with savvy choices. Her cupcake distribution deal with Whole Foods Market stores was one of the first major deals of its kind for a vegan business in the UK.
If you want to know what hard work looks like, study the output of Ms. Cupcake.
Mellissa started her business with all-night baking marathons followed by all-day selling stints at outdoor markets. She turned the London vegan scene upside down with her delicious and inventive creations, giving us hope that a better future for animals was around the corner and it included cake.
The Ms. Cupcake business was born at a time when London was still a struggle for vegans. Seriously, if you were vegan ten years ago you will know exactly what I’m talking about.
Mellissa showed us that we could expect more as vegan consumers while she also inspired dozens and dozens of others to take a risk with vegan business.
Ms. Cupcake didn’t just open the door through which other superstar vegans businesses strolled. Mellissa’s bakery smashed the door off its hinges.
We suddenly had a world class vegan food business and is not dramatic to say it felt like a hopeful new dawn for London.
The opening of the physical bakery location in Brixton took things to another level.
People would come from all over the UK to visit the bakery. Remember, this was long before vegan cake options were even a thought for Costa or Tesco. Ms. Cupcake gave us a peek into a strange new world and we lost our collective shit over it.
People would even come straight from the airport with their luggage because of all the hype. They couldn’t wait.
Mellissa wasn’t just a clever and talented cake maker. She showed us you could do all of this and also do what was right for your community.
Because of her kindness, the Ms. Cupcake and Fat Gay Vegan stories are inextricably connected. Mellissa went above and beyond what most would do by allowing me to start my monthly London Vegan Potluck social event (and then host it for six months) in the space outside her shop.
Four years later, when London Vegan Potluck was coming to and end, Mellissa and her team showed up to our final event with a personalised cake to thank me for my contributions to the London vegan community.
When London was absolutely bereft of exciting vegan social events, Mellissa allowed me to host a vegan pizza party in her shop on two occasions. I was desperate to create social capital for vegans and Mellissa and her bakery team were on the frontline with me.
I was once in the pub a few doors down from the Ms. Cupcake bakery, indulging in a few afternoon beers, when a random local pub goer noticed I had a box of Ms. Cupcake goodies on my table. He told me that when violent protests erupted around London (including Brixton) during August 2011 following the death of Mark Duggan at the hands of police, Mellissa went into the streets and gave away cakes to protestors.
This local pub goer had tears in his eyes as he told me that nobody touched or went near Mellissa’s bakery during the violence because of her act of support, solidarity, and community strengthening. He said everyone around those parts saw her as a good person and a treasured member of their community.
Through the bakery, Mellissa gave many people their first ever vegan job. Her team evolved over the years, however Mellissa always kept a strong, dedicated, and well trained group of people by her side.
I’m even friends with some of her team members to this day!
Mellissa gave her time and expertise with grace and humility.
Following on from her groundbreaking and highly-influential recipe book (which you need to order online here), many people started copycat baking businesses around the UK.
When I would ask her about this, Mellissa would shrug and wish them well. She really just wanted vegan cake to be everywhere and understood that she had created a sugary monster that she couldn’t control, so instead she hoped for the best for all the people following in her footsteps.
If you attended community events and vegan fairs in the early days, Mellissa could be found giving up her precious time and expertise for cooking demonstrations, panel discussions, and personal appearances. She worked as hard on building our vegan scene as she did on her own business.
At a time when we were all scrambling to build a vegan movement that would put compassion into the mainstream, Mellissa was ahead of the game with a world class product and an unwavering smile on her face.
I would never be able to overstate how important her role was in making veganism the unstoppable social and commercial concern it is now.
Mellissa might very well be the most important vegan business person that London has ever known. She is the original. Vegan Nights. Temple of Seitan. Hackney Downs Vegan Market. We all followed.
We all owe a huge debt of gratitude to Ms. Cupcake.
Extra note: I think you should all follow Ms. Cupcake on Instagram. Something tells me that she will be back with vegan goodness in some form before we know it.
Extra extra note: for goodness sake, buy her cookbook online NOW. Let’s send Mellissa out with a bang.
