decent flapjack
No butter I'm afraid.
bigyinn, I get yr drift. Same goes for bike shops these days.
I'd say the same to anyone opening a bicycle shop for cyclists. If you just market bicycles then you're missing out on all of the non-niche vehicle owners. This is why Halfords do cars and bikes, notwithstanding the majority of cyclists who are these post-Wiggins pro-Bojo fake-cyclists. I don't have a problem with cyclists as long as they don't try and force me to get out of my car, wear lycra and embarass myself. Sad really. Most of these cyclists choose not to drive simply to jump on the latest fad. Halfords aren't going to drop their car-driving customers anytime soon, and they will continue to take the biggest share of the so-called cyclist market, (which will always be niche)
This latest cycling fad will soon pass, especially when climate change is shown to be nonsense, and that driving a car is safer and cleaner than riding an over-priced bandwagon. I mean bike. Real cyclists know why they cycle, like real vegans know why they choose not to eat burgers ie it's not to show off to their mamil-mates with their gravel bikes, or to their fake-meat friends with their tofu T shirts. Respectively.
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
Not remotely (albeit I cook and eat vegan and veggie food at various times)
Don't care
Yes if it was an option at that particular time but I doubt I'd base a trip round it or use it as a calculated stop off point.
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
Watch this space for an announcement for the Northenmost Vegan Lifestyle Cafe in the uk, probably.
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 care
4 - If the food was good enough, yeah, why not? Of course, if there was a place across the road doing big bowls of stew, or a plate of smoked salmon and scrambled eggs, or an egg and pig bun for brekker, you'd have one hell of a fight on your hands.
In short, a nice idea, and I wish you well if you do it, but you risk alienating a lot of potentially customers in a place with a limited pool of them. It's not like having a good vegan place in a tourist location like Oxford, Bath or even Salisbury, is it?
no
no
dunno
wouldn't choose one, but i wouldn't avoid it either.
Vegan cafe opened in Fort William last month.
1 : no but bean* vegetarian since 16 so 29yrs veggie
2 : lifestyle means nothing to me, but healthy, nutritious and delicious food that i'm willing to pay for is few and far between in rural scotland so you'd have to make it better than i can prepare at home
3 : never mind vegans, options for vegetarians are woefully catered for in rural scotland
4 : yes, and i'd go out of my way to eat at somewhere that provided more than macaroni cheese/ risotto/veg curry and the usual pasta dish (prefer not to eat pasta/excess carbs)
Old bridge inn and mountain cafe in aviemore are two places i frequent and happily pay for their produce when i'm up that way for 2 weeks every year
And as others have mentioned, you should also include at least a few select meat and fish based dishes that are equally well prepared with locally/traceable sourced produce as a selling point
And no huge 6 page faux leather menus either, if the entire menu cannot be shown on one page of A4 (with a changing specials board) then my "crap food alert" spider sense will start to tingle, yeah?....i'm a food snob..... get over it.
* pun intended...ta boom tish
No.
No.
No.
Only if the alternative was to eat my own earwax.
"Vegan cafe opened in Fort William last month." Thanks for the warning to avoid.
Still, it must be better than the Subway that closed down a while ago.
*Sorry, can't even put a 'winky face' on cos the site is currently shit*
No
More puzzled than interested
No idea.
I wouldn’t rule it out, but unless it had a great reputation or was the only place in town it wouldn’t be high up my priorities to explore. The one thing that might suck me in, is MrsP is coeliac so good gluten free is a magnet. Vegan can sometimes mean more attuned to GF requirements (but it can also backfire and mean they have offerings but for a fad clientelle but not the discipline about separation and not mixing utensils etc to prevent cross contamination).
Any cafe relying on NC500 traffic will be highly seasonal. I’d be very surprised if there is enough local business to keep any niche hospitality offering open in November.
Id question why make it hard for yourself by only selling vegan stuff even if your USP is that you’ll have good vegan options.
Bear in mind that getting more obscure ingredients to anywhere on the NC500 is likely to be slower and more expensive than in a major city.
Finally, consider payment. With fewer and fewer banks around, the NC500 puts pressure on cash machines in rural areas. That affects locals and your potential customers. Consider also that getting change and paying cash in is becoming a PITA, so IMHO card capability is essential (and offering cash back could be a good hook to get people in)
We would like to thank all that have contributed to this discussion so far, the answers have certainly provided food for thought. People have provided us with some great ideas and thoughts that are hard to devise alone somtimes, so thank you all. Please continue to comment, give opinions and answer the questions offered. The use of the word 'lifestyle was for the want of a better word to gain an idea of people interested in veganism which spreads throughout life if so desired. Some people are just interested in eating vegan food others take that philosphy through their entire lifes, so apologies if people felt pigeonholed. Thanks again to all that have answered.
1 No
2 – No
Happy to eat veggie though
3 – Do you feel vegans are adequately provided for in the highlands?
Probably not
4 – Would you entertain eating in a vegan restaurant or cafe based in one of the popular highland destinations
No - but would consider vegeterian-friendly
I have run cycle tours in that area. Finding food stops is a real problem. Most of the groups are easy going and would be happy to accept anything you put in front of them - as long as it's to a decent standard (not insta- and it comes with a smile. We've had owners ranting at us because we've eaten all the cakes FFS).
Vegan would be pushing it too far though.
No, am veggie though
No, I like eggs and butter and milk and cream
I would be willing to bet they're not
Yes, as long as the menu looked appealing I'd try it.
1. No
2. Yes, but not because it's vegan, I also like food that's not animal based/no, actively disinterested after living next door to a militant vegan hell bound to explain at all times why I'm a terrible human being.
3. Don't know
4. If it were there and there wasn't another choice then fine, but I'd actively seek out somewhere else as meat and diary are an important part of my personal diet.
Still, it must be better than the Subway that closed down a while ago.
Well on that we are agreed
Having the vast experience of one week's holiday up there I have the following observations
You need to have a reason for people to come, ideally a rainy day activity or tour
You need to be able to sell stuff to take away (the present/souvenir)
You need to cater for tourists in hire cars
You need to plan for the dark months
I'd go with the above advice, don't market as vegan, they will find out anyway, just do good food that "happens" to be vegan
^ Stealth vegan café? Dunno. I'd hate to witness the daily walkouts when meat-lovers have parked their cars/locked their bikes, hung up their wet clothes etc. Looking fwd to a greasy fry up. Read menu. Boom. Long faces. Walkout. This is the land of cow milk. We drink it in tea like it's milk from our own mothers. Soy milk in tea? Run for the hills!!! Double egg and bacon sarnie? No? Call it Longface Eatery.
I can't honestly see how a stealth vegan café would be playing to OP's strengths (assuming is amazing chef or else employs one)
You could OTOH go big and surf on the arriving wave of new plant-based protein alternatives such as Beyond Burger, Impossible Burger etc? And I'd love a meat-free sausage that tastes as greasy and addictively bad-good as a pork sausage. They can't be far behind?
What about a meat-free whole-food café specialising in cakes with locally sourced dairy options for milk in tea? Or maybe local (properly) free-range eggs as well? As you know, food doesn't require advertising as 'vegan' so cakes are just cakes. I like a cake-stop on a ride, and know that vegan cakes can be awesome. Often find they are more creative and delicious than the bog standard stuff. Have no problem with stealth vegan cake. But a stealth vegan café? Fine for me as dont eat farmed meat, enjoy trying new stuff, and dont have a hissy with non-dairy products, but probably not fine at all for 99.9% of everyone who will be disappointed to discover at the point of ordering that there is no meat. No matter how good your food is, that right there is a massive disappointment. I'd be similarly disappointed if I arrived at an assumedly vegan restaurant to find the only options are meat and dairy.
I have to admit I forgot about milk
As you know, food doesn’t require advertising as ‘vegan’ so cakes are just cakes
Don't do this! As "one of those people" the tendency to use banana in vegan cakes puts them all off limits for me, (usually there's enough alternative to just make it not worth the effort), you certainly wouldn't want me in your eatery when i find* some in my food and I'd be very upset with the after effects if they hit me a few miles down the road on a bike ride. By all means have vegan cakes but don't not mention it. Even if all your cakes/foods are vegan, mention it, for folks who struggle (as opposed to full blown anaphylaxis, who i imagine are justifiably anal about checking) with some of the common substitutes (soya for instance) it at least rings enough bells that you double check.
^ ??? Surely by law you have to list common allergens no matter what kind of food and drink you are selling? Not sure because something is 'vegan' that makes it more or less likely to contain allergens that are not normally listed (ie nuts, soy). Although, banana allergy is something I'm now aware of but previously wasn't. The only vegan cakes I've had with banana in (to my knowledge and including those I've baked) have been a banana bread and a banana muffin.
I think the normal thing to do with any foodstuff for sale is to list common allergens at POS (it maybe a legal requirement), and also have available a quick-check ingredients list (of all foodstuffs sold) kept behind the counter available for any customer who asks? Labelling something simply as 'vegan' essentially says nothing useful except that it contains no meat or dairy. I'm skeptical that labelling it 'carrot cake' (for instance) and not 'vegan carrot cake) is actually a stealth banana issue!
its a minefield out there...
*edit.
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/collection/vegan-cake
Googled vegan cake recipes. First result ^ . Of 10 recipes/ingredients I looked at only one recipe has banana and is called 'cup cakes with banana and peanut butter'. Cmon now! Still not convinced that vegan cakes are stealth banana carriers. Especially not to the point where being labelled 'vegan' is the most effective dog-whistle for banana-phobes, as opposed to instead clearly labelling any cake (dairy or non) with banana in it as 'Not suitable for those with banana intolerance'
Most common allergens are labeled on packaged stuff but i can't think of the last time i went into a cafe and the home made cake was labeled "contains milk" etc etc.
Completely agree vegan tells me only doesn't contain x y z rather than does contain a b c, but lack of x y z does indicate it'll have something else instead, same as "diet" tells me no sugar but it'll have aspartame or something instead. In my (limited) experience banana is often used in place of butter, eggs etc. Given its very unusual in non vegan cakes unless they're obviously banana cakes i just steer clear of the vegan one as it's less hassle. (I don't order fresh fruit anything etc for the sane reason). I'm not full blown allergic though, it just has sudden onset D&V effects about an hour after i eat it (taste is enough for me to gag and retch back up, not nice if I'm in a cafe etc but from a personal point of view much better as it's 2-3min of nasty vs several hours)
[Edit] 10% hit rate, i mean come on, that's enough to be special advisor to the PotUS.
Specifics aside my point is don't conceal what stuff is, just be honest and let people make up their own mind.
[2nd edit] maybe my vegan friends just put the stuff in there so i can't eat their cakes m
Seeing as Glasgow is apparently the Vegan capital of the UK it might not be such a bad thing.
https://www.glasgowlive.co.uk/whats-on/food-drink-news/places-for-vegetarians-and-vegans-12826322
Edit] 10% hit rate, i mean come on, that’s enough to be special advisor to the PotUS.
😂 Well I put more effort in than you, it has to be said. You can be my Press Spokesperson. Also married to a vegan and am the only baker in the house, so have some prior experience in addition to googling recipes today.
Specifics aside my point is don’t conceal what stuff is, just be honest and let people make up their own mind.
Well, that's exactly my point. Specifics are more important. So list any common allergens. Unless you are actually right on both counts ie most vegan cakes have hidden banana souls and somehow this would be a deal-breaker/health-hazard to most cake-lovers. I stand skeptical. I see no problem with labelling 'vegan' but it may put some non-vegan customers off if they mistakenly believe the vegan cakes are more likely to be full off hidden allergens over and above any cake with dairy/eggs.
2nd edit] maybe my vegan friends just put the stuff in there so i can’t eat their cakes
🎂 😜
Another way of looking at it, to get a bigger picture - Discounting your (possibly psychotic) friend's cakes, how many vegan cakes have you eaten that have caused you no problems/had no bananas? Counting only the ones that weren't labelled 'vegan'?
*edit - I see now that some vegan cake recipes recommend banana as egg replacement. But I can't see why you'd prefer to just avoid all vegan cakes rather than ask 'does it have banana in it'? Even if labeled 'vegan', the likelihood will often be a good chance of being banana-free, so you would miss out unnecessarily. There may be a giant banoffee pie on the counter. Next to a (labelled vegan) double-chocolate sponge with coconut frosting. You'd be a silly billy saying no to both because I asked the waitress and she said 'no banana in that chocolate one'. Om nom. And I'll have some of that banoffee too. Only joking, banoffee makes my teeth hurt thinking of it.
I fear we digress but:
Real* cake nil out of lots
Vegan cake 2 out of a small sample of about 5.
Also of the remaining 3 one was a vegan beetroot sugar free brownie, which, had i realised before hand I'd have nuked from orbit. Sugar free cake WTAF? It caused many issues, most have left mental scarring, none directly related to what was actually [i]in[/i] the thing. I think I managed half of it whilst maintaining my "mmmmm yes it's lovely" smile, the other half was eaten like a starving person might eat surstroming or skata complete with staccato arm motion, self loathing and immense effort to convince my self it wouldn't kill me and it was worth the effort. The young lady who made it turned out to be very much not my type shortly there after (tee total, vegan, who is always busy on a Sunday morning really should have been warning signs, long before the offending cake)
*obviously barring those I've made personally is quite possible a significant proportion of said cakes were not "real".
I am still intrigued by the OP, whether they are planning on opening such an establishment in the teeming metropolis that is Borgie....
[img] 
[/img]
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, but I rarely eat meat or dairy, mostly only when it would make others' lives too difficult or my friends have salvaged it from the Waitrose bins
2) Yes, I was vegan for a couple of years, but eventually concluded is was far easier -- and far less alienating for others, like half of those that have replied so far -- to go 95%of the way there rather than 100% vegan
3) I can only guess. I very much doubt it.
4) It would be my preference if I was there, but I'm flexible enough to eat fish and chips if I have to (and sometimes happy to do to be honest)
Perhaps what others have suggested makes sense, i.e. offering a good range of vegan options, but other veggie and meat options too.
may be do the opposite of a pub? They often have an overadvertised sh**ty token vegan meal, saying something like 'vegans rejoice, we have COUS COUS, and it comes with RAISINS!!'
The equivalent would be something like having a nice range of vegan meals, with chicken nuggets for the omnivorous
I'm vegetarian as is my wife. i absolutely love the Scottish highlands and im starting to go back up more regularly again having got back into biking, walking etc - now ive got more like-minded friends etc.
the one factor i personally think lets the highland down (painting very broad strokes here) is the lack of vegetarian food. after a few days of pub options (mac cheese/ veggie burgers etc) its pretty limiting. of course, small villages further north are providing what the majority want to buy and there's never more than 'a V option' on most menus.
whilst i personally would welcome more options for veggie (and vegan) travelers I'm not sure its interesting enough for many to make it a viable business.
obviously barring those I’ve made personally is quite possible a significant proportion of said cakes were not “real”
I know what you mean, I bought (only once!) a tin of 'baked beans' in the States. They were sickly sweet and had clumps of fatty, sloppy, brown 'bacon' in them. Gag-central. Real baked beans, as we all know, are vegan! I like(d) bacon, but not when it's snuck into a tin of vegan beans 😉
may be do the opposite of a pub? They often have an overadvertised sh**ty token vegan meal, saying something like ‘vegans rejoice, we have COUS COUS, and it comes with RAISINS!!’ <span style="font-size: 0.8rem;">The equivalent would be something like having a nice range of vegan meals, with chicken nuggets for the omnivorous</span>
😃
Brilliant. Make sure you clearly label the use of any dimethylpolysiloxane in the chicken nuggets!
I like(d) bacon, but not when it’s snuck into a tin of vegan beans
Completely off topic now but i never got the "but, bacon" thing in response to vegans, i could live a life without bacon with only the mildest of disappointment. But no butter? Get in the sea.
dimethylpolysiloxane
Dimethyl[i]poulet[/i]siloxane surely?
😆
I know what you mean, I bought (only once!) a tin of ‘baked beans’ in the States. They were sickly sweet and had clumps of fatty, sloppy, brown ‘bacon’ in them.
The US is pretty bad for that in relation to the UK. We're used to buying convenience foods, things like jars of pasta sauce or Pot Noodles, with the default assumption that they're vegetarian unless it says "beef" or suchlike in big letters on the label. As a veggie (and allergic to cheese) I'd to scrutinise everything I was looking to buy.
No
No
I don't know but strongly doubt it
Yes if there was nowhere better nearby.
Last week in Iceland I ate horse, puffin, whale and reindeer as well as lots of fish, pig, sheep and cow.I like meat.
1 – Are you a vegan? - Nuh
2 – Are you interested in vegan food/lifestyle? - Nuh
3 – Do you feel vegans are adequately provided for in the highlands? - Can't answer that see 1
4 – Would you entertain eating in a vegan restaurant or cafe based in one of the popular highland destinations - Well I have no problem with stopping at the Pillars of Hercules near Falkland (vegetarian) or having a falafel wrap for lunch from a Moroccan Cafe near my work so unlikely to have a problem eating vegan food if it's decent... But vegan food is just cardboard isn't it?
1. No
2. No
3. Not sure but doubt it
4. Wouldn't be the first choice but if needs must...
As others have said before, you're probably going to limit your appeal by only catering to one niche market.
Plant based and GF.
Lifestyle, I am too much of a realist to think an ideological lifestyle would be possible for me. That said, I have self regulated guidelines that I live my life by.... most of the time.
Erm, adequately provided for in the highlands? It's a choice made by me, no one is under any obligation to provide for me, in fact, part of the reason I love to visit Scotland is that I have to provide for myself. The fact is that the market for a vegan only cafe would be small... that said there is a place for everything and there is a growing number of people making the choice to 'go vegan'. I found a cracking place in mid Wales, amazed me and was very busy. They knew their stuff, excellent food and a wonderful attitude towards all customers.
I do seek out places that offer a choice that fits with my current eating options. The people I'm with may be a factor though.
I'm a simple fella.... I feel blessed to be able to read the opinions of some on here that are so bloody clever they know more about my choices than I do. Sanctimonious buggers, if eating in a vegan focused cafe means I don't have to overhear their bleating so much the better. Chances are though that some bloody preachy vegan will take their place though.
I love people, I hate people.
Life ain't half confusing.
Real baked beans, as we all know, are vegan!
Actually I'm pretty sure REAL baked beans are in fact made with a big hunk of bacon.
"Last week in Iceland I ate horse, puffin, whale and reindeer as well as lots of fish, pig, sheep and cow.I like meat."
Does it not bother you that Whale is an endangered species?
Actually I’m pretty sure REAL baked beans are in fact made with a big hunk of bacon.
Actually I'm pretty sure 'REAL' anyfoodstuff is simply passive-aggressive code for 'MY preferred recipe, **** the rest of yous' 😂
Edit - see any British topic involving 'how do you like your tea?' 😂
I’d go with the above advice, don’t market as vegan, they will find out anyway, just do good food that “happens” to be vegan
If anyone is looking for a low-capital startup business, think about following the OP's activities and opening a bacon roll van next to the vegan lifestyle shack. There will be streams of disappointed non-hipsters queuing up to give you their money
"Does it not bother you that Whale is an endangered species?"
Does it not bother you that Whale is not a species?
"If anyone is looking for a low-capital startup business, think about following the OP’s activities and opening a bacon roll van next to the vegan lifestyle shack. There will be streams of disappointed non-hipsters queuing up to give you their money"
9 times as many as in the vegan lifestyle restaurant.
OP In case you're still reading, you may or may not have read/cooked this:
https://freefromharm.org/vegan-recipes/vegan-bacon/
Have not tried making any yet, but it's on my List.
I'll leave that for that ironing, bigbloke 😉 Bacon is apparently 'huge' with hipsters. Along with just about any animal they can get their crafty crafting hands on. Damn you, uninformed stereotypers, I thought veggie/vegans were supposed to be the judgmental ones who habitually shame others for their choice of foods? STW certainly cleared that one up for me....🙃
uninformed stereotypers
Guilty as charged m'lud