Suzy Spoon’s Vegetarian Butcher has opened a vegan butcher shop in Sydney, Australia.
The vegan meat company’s new store sells a variety of own-brand vegan charcuterie products. It also sells condiments, sauces, and plant-based cheeses.
Customers can also order a range of foods to go, including hot and cold pies, quiches, and sandwiches.
Suzy Spoon’s Vegetarian Butcher has been going since 2012, when founder Suzy Spoon spotted a gap in the market. She told Food and Drink Business in 2017, “there was a real lack of delicious vegan food in the supermarkets, things were just so highly processed.”
“The flavors were terrible. Rubbery and just awful,” she added. Spoon – who has followed a vegetarian diet for more than 30 years — wanted tasty meat-like products made with healthy ingredients. She knew that others must feel the same.
“I just thought ‘vegans and vegetarians, they’re not about processed. That’s like the opposite of what we’re all trying to do,'” she added.
Flexitarians Embrace Vegan Meat
While she started off with vegans and vegetarians in mind, Spoon’s products — which include Smoked Chilli Sausages, Smokey Rashers, Schnitzel, and Seitan Fillets — appeal to meat-eaters too, thanks to the rise of flexitarianism.
As consumers learn about the environmental, ethical, and health benefits of consuming plant-based foods, more and more are opting for vegan meat over traditional animal-based products.
In response to rising demand, vegan butcher brands — like the Netherlands’ Vegetarian Butcher and Canada’s the Herbivorous Butcher — are launching around the world.
Spoon told SBS in 2018, “I certainly don’t think this is a flash-in-the-pan trend, but the result of all the information we’re now exposed to thanks to the internet.”
“Most of us were kept in the dark on the issue of animal welfare,” she continued. “And the environmental concerns of eating meat and animal products with every meal.
“Now that we’re all becoming aware, changes are being made and it’s about time,” she said.
Suzy Spoon’s Vegetarian Butcher shop is now open for business on King Street Newtown in Sydney. You can also buy Spoon’s vegan meat from the brand’s online shop. Various health food stores across Australia also stock her products.
