>I am looking for people to answer a couple of questions about access to vegan foods in the Scottish highlands.
With opening of the North Coast 500 and many other long distance routes across Scotland I am interested in the response to a vegan cafe on this route and if people would interestedin a vegan restaurant as an option whilst undertaking long distance routes.. Would be really grateful if you could answer a couple of questions please. I am not advertising anything such as a Facebook page, website, business or blog, just trying to get some feedback. Thanks very much for your opionon and replys.
1 - Are you a vegan?
2 - Are you interested in vegan food/lifestyle?
3 - Do you feel vegans are adequately provided for in the highlands?
4 - Would you entertain eating in a vegan restaurant or cafe based in one of the popular highland destinations
No.
No
Couldn't care less.
No.
Sorry. 😀
Sensible answer: small customer base, cater for everyone.
It may be feasible in Shoreditch but in somewhere as sparsely populated as the Scottish Highlands by going vegan you've instantly alienated 90% of your customers.
It's ok thinking that omnivores can eat vegan food as well, and they can, but they prefer non-vegan food. Chefs love butter.
The vegan menus I've run in a busy city have been popular, <span style="text-decoration: underline;">alongside</span> non-vegan options.
Unfortunately non-vegan food does taste better.
Basically, don't decimate your customer base before you've even started. 🙂
1. No
2. I find it amusing
3. I doubt it
4. If I was hungry and there wasn't a regular restaurant nearby
<span style=”text-decoration: underline;”>alongside</span>
**** YOU FORUM. **** YOU AND YOUR MOTHER. **** EVERY SINGLE APOLOGIST.
AND **** YOU MARK, I'M GOING BACK TO PISTONHEADS WHERE I'M CONSIDERED SOME SORT OF COMMUNIST BECAUSE I REFUSE TO SWEAR ALLEGIANCE TO BORIS JOHNSON AND ACTUALLY VOTED TO REMAIN, SO I GUESS I'M A TRAITOR AS WELL.
I'LL TAKE THAT SHIT FOR THE WORKING ****ING QUOTE FUNCTION.
PS. THAT SITE IS A **** OF A LOT BUSIER AND HAS FAR FEWER ADS AND MAKES A LOT MORE ****ING MONEY.
HAVE A WORD WITH YOURSELF. I OFFERED YOU ALTERNATIVES TO YOUR PISS POOR BUSINESS MODEL AND YOU WEREN'T INTERESTED, SO GET TAE ****.
Night night.
xxx
sbob.
I should point out that in reality I'm quite calm and happy, but it is time for my sleeps. 🙂
No.
No.
No.
Yes.
Vegetarian for over 25 years and not in Scotland.
What bike do you ride?.
Hi thanks for your feedback. I ride a long haul trucker.
1. Crikey.
2. Crikey!
3. Did I miss something?
4. Jings!
No
No
Dont really care
Only if there was nowhere else to get any food.
Note - I am a very keen meat eater but I don’t mind vegetarian dishes since a couple of veggie friends made food which I liked. However Vegan food generally has substitutes for dairy which I find revolting. The simplest example is a cup of tea which is vile with any of the milk substitutes.
1 - No
2 - Never really thought about it, although as soon as someone affixes the 'lifestyle ' tag to something it usually puts me off straight away (probably says more about me than them tho!)
3 - Well I've lived up here all my life and have done the route many times over the years and have not noticed any vegancentric cafes or similar, does not mean there aren't any though. This may,of course, be related to the first part of answer 2 above, which I suspect is probably 90% of the populations answer as well.
4 - As long as the food tastes good, I will eat most places,no particular opposition to eating vegan food.
As someone may have said already, don't alienate 90% or whatever of potential customers by providing only vegan foodstuffs, unless your lifestyle prohibits you from preparing non-vegan meals. If that is the case then I feel your business will be unsustainable if you even get it going.
The problem with the NC500 is that the the competition to provide services is fierce, and there are only a limited amount of locations available from where to provide them. Most of these businesses are well established already.
Sorry,sounds a bit negative, there may well be a market for what you wish to do, and if there is and you go for it I wish you all the best and hope you do well 🙂
1. Sort of. Prefer vegan food because I have never particularly liked meat, and less so after seeing the killing floor of an abattoir, but it's not an ideology with me, so I'll eat what is available otherwise.
2. I don't regard my food choices as a lifestyle.
3. It's getting better. My daughter is vegan, so investigates where vegan meals are available.
4. It would be a first choice.
I suggest you get in touch with the folk at Velocity bike cafe in Inverness. They provide vegan food, and also have a good knowledge of the NC500 route. http://www.velocitylove.co.uk
No
No
is anyone adequately catered for out there?
No. Actually, possibly out of curiosity if it had good reviews and offered me something interesting
OP - do you live in the Highlands?
No
Not really, especially when you class it a lifestyle.
No-one has the choices they have in a big city up there.
Of course I would.
Having tried to get food up on the North Coast on a Sunday evening, I discovered you had three options: chippy, posher hotel, Indian. Always the Indian restaurant open, usually with just me in there....
Such a small and seasonal market, I'm not sure any restaurant or cafe that cuts off the significant proportion of the market would survive. That said, maybe you can make it work, and one of my favourite eating places is Blue Moon Cafe in Sheffield that is vegan/veggie.
Not vegan
"Vegan lifestyle" No
No idea
Maybe, I like trying different foods/styles of cooking. If it was too near somewhere that sold curry, pizza or pie it would stand a high chance of losing to them though if I had a serious munch on though.
It doesn't really cut anyone off though, does it? It's not like a meat eater *can't* eat in a vegan restaurant. It's only going become a less and less alien concept in the future. There was a stall selling only vegan food about 10 yr ago on the Camino de Santiago - I don't recall any meat eaters blustering past complaining about the lack of catering for their diet.
Businesses supporting vegan choices are doing well in all sorts of weird places. I've even found them in France 😉
For the record, yes, yes, probably not, yes but very unlikely to get up that far north (based in Basque Country)
I'd consider myself likely to do the NC500 at some point, but more likely in a car than on a bike. While it's talked about a lot, I'd suspect you'd only get 10-30 passing cyclists a day. You'll get more drivers, but the chances of a proper fuel guzzling petrolhead being vegan are pretty slim I'd have thought.
There are 29,000 people doing the NC500 a year. Let's be generous and assume 10% of them are on bikes. Based on 1.05% of people being vegan in 2015, that'd only be 29 vegans passing a year and 101 vegetarians who're also likely to be interested. The majority of other users are likely to go for an alternative if they can I'd suspect.
Anyway -
1- No
2- No
3- I don't think there are enough up there for food places to cater for profitably.
4- Only if everywhere else were shut/I was starving and the next food place was more than a few miles away.
How many vegan long distance cyclists are there? And what are the odds, on any given day, that they’ll be in the Highlands, passing through a particular spot?
1 No
2 I like carrots?
3 Yes, as much as they need to be.
4 yes, if they served something I wanted after a long day in the saddle. Which I strongly doubt.
by all means open a cafe, have vegan options so you don’t feel the wrath of vegan mafia, but don’t put off the vast majority of potential customers by only catering to one very small (if vocal) market.
I'm not a vegan and not a foodie. I've been to a few vegan restaurants with friends that are vegan and found very little that appealed to me.
Things like vegan burgers, pizza, chilli and similar. Pretty much vegan versions of pub/cafe classics and you'd be alright, but you are talking of sticking a specialist cafe in the middle of nowhere.
It all depends if you want to do it as a business or a lifestyle.
I used to live and work in Ambleside, Zeffirellis would be a business for you to look at. Vegetarian restaurant in the lakes. Doesn't ram vegan/vegi down your throat. but does plenty of options for all just without the meat and you wouldn't probably notice it until you have gone through the entire menu.
offering somewhere for people to camp/toilets/showers would also be a good addition to the business like Tan Hill Pub in Yorkshire. Certainly would help people aim to visit you.
This place near Fort William is a good example of vegan options in the Highlands. http://www.glenfinnanhouse.com/restaurants/
Maybe start with a mix with a view to reducing the non vegan options as the reputation for serving good food no matter what the label is grows.
Vegetarian not vegan
Do not really want to be vegan
Any more vegan or vegetarian food would be a real bonus in Scotland as there is little choice at the moment.
If the food was nice I would make a point of eating in a vegan food establishment.
Good luck if you decide to do it.
1 – No
2 – No
3 – Don't care
4 – Only if you do non-vegan options
1 – Are you a vegan? Yes
2 – Are you interested in vegan food/lifestyle? Yes
3 – Do you feel vegans are adequately provided for in the highlands? It's getting better
4 – Would you entertain eating in a vegan restaurant or cafe based in one of the popular highland destinations Yes if I was there. Always make a point of looking up vegan eateries, but I'm often with a group of veggie/meat, so would depend. If with family, then definitely. Only visit once every 2 years though so it's not much business!
No
No
No idea
Only if I had to through lack of choice
1 – Yes
2 – Yes
3 – No - it can be very difficult, even in some of the larger settlements.
4 – Not only would I entertain it but I would actively seek it out and may base my route around travelling there.
1. No
2. Between vaguely to no.
3. I would guess so.
4. Yes, if there is good scran.
1 – Are you a vegan?
2 – Are you interested in vegan food/lifestyle?
3 – Do you feel vegans are adequately provided for in the highlands?
4 – Would you entertain eating in a vegan restaurant or cafe based in one of the popular highland destinations
N (eat some fish and local free range eggs but no dairy or farmed meat)
Y (well, healthy, ethical and sustainable food choices, but 'lifestyle?' I've no idea unless you kean the same thing.
N
Y (would look for it if served good food, ie if on holiday passing through etc I always seek out wholefood cafes, ie The Quarry Café in Mach' - if I'm in mid wales I will normally make a diversion to eat there.
Vegan food generally has substitutes for dairy which I find revolting.
It does not and they are getting better tasting of late.
Oh and
YEs
Not really it no more defines me than eating meat defines other people
We are not adequately catered for anywhere but vegan places - but as others note the best option is vegan friendly a there are not enough of us to sustain your business
OF course I would
Not vegan
Interested in vegan food? No more or less than any other food.
Interests in a lifestyle? No not ever, unless "do the things i like assuming it's not specifically bad for someone else", is a lifestyle.
Is anyone adequately provided for? I'd guess ratio of menu options vs ratio of vegans/non vegans is probably representative, in practice that probably means a salad in one of 5 cafes. I assume you mean are they given significant choice which is far from the same, and i highly doubt they are but that's more to do with demand than any sort of anti vegan aggenda.
Would i eat in a vegan establishment? Maybe, but in likelihood, if I'd been riding all day, probably not. Given a choice between a vegan only eatery a veggie one and a general one all of similar quality, I'd eat in the general one, then the veggie and the vegan as last option. Once inside I might order vegan (i cook vegan a few times a week and don't dislike the idea) or veggie, but equally i might really want a steak. [Edit] and given It's the highlands it'll be cold,wet and windy so I'm not going to stand around outside deciding, I'll be inside with a coffee or beer looking at a menu[/edit] It's about choice and that people would rather have it than not (which is why you're thinking about this i assume since beans on toast everywhere is representative), and for most people vegan chilli or pork sausage is a choice they'd like even if no-one orders sausage. Between a group certainly the chances no one wants eggs or burgers after a days riding is fairly much nil so chances a group of us would choose a vegan only place over anything else are much the same.
As above it comes down to numbers, in the highlands you've a tiny market a fair amount of competition and by only doing vegan you're alienating 85%+ of that market.
1 No
2 No, in fact I tend to find people who want to discuss a 'lifestyle' or love of coffee, ****s.
3 Don't care
4 Yes, if it had something to offer above the competition. As an example, I occasionally eat in a vegan burger/ hotdog place near me, as I like the hotdogs. I wouldn't touch their burger's or desserts, as better are available within 20 yard's of the place. Unfortunately, my custom won't keep them going. I mean fake cheese, wtf, just eat ****ing cheese.
Zeffirellis would be a business for you to look at. Vegetarian restaurant in the lakes. Doesn’t ram vegan/vegi down your throat.
They let you hold and use your own fork? 😃
No, in fact I tend to find people who want to discuss a ‘lifestyle’ or love of coffee, ****.
What if they really like cars, bacon, sausage rolls, gravy, expensive bikes and want to discuss/share it?
This sounds like a perfect Dragon's Den pitch - they'd be all over this.
the-muffin-man - Subscriber
This sounds like a perfect Dragon’s Den pitch – they’d be all over this.
I'm fairly sure dragons are obligatory carnivores
No
No
In my experience not even bread eaters are well catered for in the Highlands.
Yes I would if it was good food. I'm a confirmed carnivore but I eat veg only meals quite regularly too.
Is the OP to return to their one and only thread on STW?
OP - are you familiar with Venn diagrams?
Start as large as you like, total population of the UK if you want. Then draw the subsets of people who are likely to pass this café on a bike, then the subset of these that are going to be vegan. Tip - don't draw this to scale.
Look on the bright side, though, if you get your targeted marketing right, this shouldn't cost you too much either.......
No
No
Don't know
Yes Cake vegan chocolate cake hmmmmm. As long as it does not go against Bimble calorie rules.
The new vegan cafe in Fort William has been very popular.
No
lifestyle no, although I do find it interesting to see how meal choices are built without dairy/eggs etc
given the small numbers of vegans and small numbers of people in the highlands it's a moot point (I was going to mention venn diagrams too!)
Yes I would: however It would have to be a really good menu and even then you would really struggle to find something to appeal to everyone who passes (because that's your challenge), the bike thing isn't an issue, just make sure there's somewhere to store a bike and make it feel like you can come in whatever you are wearing
are you prepared to stretch to veggie? because that will give you more options for those who simply won't do pure vegan menu choices
1 – Are you a vegan?
2 – Are you interested in vegan food/lifestyle?
3 – Do you feel vegans are adequately provided for in the highlands?
4 – Would you entertain eating in a vegan restaurant or cafe based in one of the popular highland destinations
1. No
2. No
3. Don't know
4. No, gluten free is restriction enough without restricting further
64million dollar question is location of this café - on the NC500 the towns and villages are small, you have JoG, Thurso (which isn't exactly a tourist destination) and Inverness, everything after that is pretty small
No
No
Don't care
Depends on the type of owner and clientele
Sensible answer: small customer base, cater for everyone.
Nice idea, but you want all the business you can get, not just those that are entertaining a currently fashionable lifestyle niche
[B] To clarify before I am threatened with being force fed lentils and gassing myself to death, I have no issue with vegans whatsoever, its the bandwagon jumpers that choose to be vegan without actually understanding the reasoning behind the vegan choice[/B]
Is the OP to return to their one and only thread on STW?
OP has other fish to fry (as it were) - he/she has been purveying her wares over at UKC (and no doubt every other relevant forum). I'm sorry if you don't feel special any more.
no
no
no idea
If I were cycling I'd be after anything first, veggie second, ethical third. Vegan last.
1. No and never will be.
2. Not one iota.
3. I have a niggling feeling probably not, if any of them ever go further north than Watford that is.
4. Depends on the menu/staff/place. If it was right next to a pub knocking out pub grub or a chip shop then no chance. But if it looked inviting and their response to me asking 'do you do bacon sandwiches' wasn't as mental as the last vegan place I tried to eat in (vegan cafe morning after night out with epic hangover - didn't know it was vegan) then maybe. As long as there's free Wifi and decent flapjack.