A Birmingham street food vendor stated that vegan and vegetarian restaurants are ‘failing’ in the city centre. and added that the movement has ‘stalled’. It comes after the caterer joined a restaurant that was meat-free until December.
Last year, street food chain Bundobust closed after just over a year on Bennetts Hill. In 2023, The Vegan Kitchen said they ‘physically can’t keep going’ and said the closure was the ‘most painful decision’.
In a post, The Vegan Kitchen said: “It’s with heavy heart that we have had to make the hard decision to shut our doors. Like every small independent business times are very very hard out there and our overheads are way too much to keep going.
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“It’s honestly been the most painful decision ever but with the festival just gone where everyone brought their own food with them and we didn’t see a penny back from what we put we in we psychically cannot keep going!
“We have loved serving everyone and we took the gamble to open up a restaurant as this was truly missing in birmingham-city-centre>Birmingham City Centre but it hasn’t paid off unfortunately. We wish everyone out there the best of luck. And we truly are sorry for letting you guys down.”
Serving pan-Asian favourites such as Cambodian chicken curry and duck spring rolls, Canoodle joined the kitchen at former vegetarian restaurant and bar, Somewhere in Brum last month. Owner Chris Wiggin spoke to BirminghamLive about vegetarianism and veganism, suggesting a reason behind the closures.
He said: “I think why restaurants are failing is because there are not enough vegans in the city to support them.
Chris Wiggin’s Canoodle serves up Pan Asian cuisine
“You can’t get away from the fact that vegans haven’t grown beyond about four percent of the population. Including vegetarians, it’s about ten percent.
“I think it’s failed to grow. It was gathering momentum and it’s stalled. My family are mostly vegetarian and vegan, I eat vegetarian food at home more than I eat meat. But I know how difficult it is to sell vegetarian and vegan food myself.
“I have a Korean beef rice bowl which is incredibly popular but I also do a soya version with chickpeas and lentils. It’s virtually indistinguishable, I’ve convinced some people to try it but it’s getting people to try it.
“It’s very difficult to do that. Speaking purely commercially, you have to get the balance right on the menu. When I go out with my family, I won’t go out unless there is a suitable vegetarian or vegan option. You have to get a good balance.
“There’s so much more to vegan food than replicating meat and producing a poor burger. It’s just not good enough, there’s so much brilliant food out there.”