Last year, actress and designer Tabitha Brown caused a run on a vegan ‘TTLA’ sandwich (tempeh bacon, tomato, lettuce, and avocado) in Whole Foods Markets across the US after she shared a video of herself eating the sandwich and exclaiming her love for it. The retailer is now bringing it back for a limited run, just in time for Veganuary.
In the video Brown enthuses, “whoever thought of this?! Right now we all together wanna pray for you!…what you’ve done in this sandwich, y’all gonna set souls on fire!” The star goes on to encourage people watching to give the sandwich a go themselves, she says, “if you’ve got a Whole Foods by you, go to their deli, ask for this TTLA (and a pickle) and watch your life change. Honey, I’m looking around and stuff looks different. That’s how good it is.”
The video, posted in December 2017, has now received nearly two million views. It not only led to an increased demand for the sandwich, but also landed Brown a spokesperson gig for the natural food chain. She says she was able to buy a house after the success of the video. She also consults now with other natural and vegan food brands.
With over 200,000 people signing up for Veganuary — a UK-led campaign that encourages people to go vegan for the month of January –a number of restaurants and retailers have been increasing their vegan options.
Pizza Hut’s UK locations are running a vegan jackfruit pizza for the month of January, and McDonald’s just launched a vegan Happy Meal option in UK locations as well.
Image Credit: Tabitha Brown | Whole Foods Market
