UKH

I am looking for people to answer a couple of questions about access to vegan foods in the highlands.

I am doing a study into how many people would be interested in vegan restaurants.  Would be really grateful if you could answer a couple of questions please.

1 - Are you a vegan or interested in vegan food?

2 - Do you feel vegans are adequately provided for in the highlands?

3 - Would you entertain eating in a vegan restaurant or cafe based in one of the popular highland destinations?

What the highlands really needs is a decent fish and chip shop in Fort William. The existing ones are all absolutely dire to the point where even after a two day epic winter climbing trip, straight off the mountain, I chucked my much anticipated chippy in the bin within a few mouthfuls. Surely this needs sorted, alongside a redo of all food available North of the Clachaig. Vegan or not the Highlands is almost devoid of good food.

Hi thanks for your reply, even as a vegan I completely agree that the chippy's in fort William are dire. If you came across a good vegan restaurant with excellent chips, good quality food and great portion sizes would you eat here.  Thanks again

Only if it had fish as an option. 

1a no

1b yes ish

2 not at all

3 would depend on quality. Probably not unless the alternatives were dire (which they often are). I'd be much more interested in a good vegetarian place with interesting vegan options

What toad said.

1: Yes (vegan)

2: I'd say no - though experience is not huge. Only visited once for a Basic Mountaineering course provided by one of the bigger guide/training companies - accom and meals were included in the course and I informed them of my veganness at the time of booking and was assured it wouldn't be an issue. My provided packed lunch was 2 slices of bread with a couple of slices of cucumber in the middle, cheese and onion crisps (not vegan), a mars bar (not vegan) and an apple. Not a massive deal as I understand it's a relatively uncommon thing so came armed with a tub of peanut butter and more snack bars than you can shake a stick at but indicates a gap that could be filled. The kitchen at the lodge did a great job of trying to accommodate me but were clearly struggling I had cous cous with veg and a butternut squash one night and a plate of roast veg on the second.

3: Absolutely if there were options.

As a non vegan who has been on trips with vegan companions, I would say don't forget to cater for the rest of us or have at least 'normal' vegetarian options available.   Otherwise even if you could entice lone vegans, you would find it difficult to entice groups with vegans in the group.

  Would you entertain eating in a vegan restaurant or cafe based in one of the popular highland destinations? Probably not since the (albeit few) vegan restaurants Ive been in have felt patronising and snowflakey.

Agree about what GrahamD said Dont just limit yourself to vegan otherwise you're limiting your market too much and there are long periods of the year without tourists when you'll need a strong, probably non vegan, local trade

Thanks toad much appreciated and great feedback

1) I'm omnivorous but my girlfriend is veggie so we eat veggie most of the time and vegan if we don't happen to put any dairy in. So I guess no but kind-of.

2) I'd guess not... even the veggie stuff tends to look pretty uninspiring tbh.

3) Possibly, and particularly in the evening - if nothing else, there are plenty of places in the highlands where the general eating options are pretty crap and I'd happily pass on meat and dairy options if the food was fresh, flavourful and properly cooked. I would be put off by anywhere that felt too worthy and "health-foody" though - if I'm in the highlands, I've probably been doing exercise all day and I want a big pile of tasty, greasy, crunchy, salty calories, not a purifying gluten-free superfood detox-bowl.

Whilst not going to the highlands anytime soon here' my take. I am veggie and we sometimes eat out vegan, even cook vegan meals but for a cafe/ restaurant that is vegan for me the biggest drawback is tea/coffee and  cake options. None of the non-dairy is as good as milk for tea and coffee, the cakes tend not to taste as well either. This might stop me using a vegan place if I was starving and looking forwrd forward to a hot cup of tea and a huge slice of cake.

By the way - partly out of curiosity, would you mind telling us a bit more about what you're doing this for? Is it a purely theoretical thing for a uni project, a business plan for something you're actually thinking of doing, market research for a major hospitality chain or what?

Cheers!

1: No & No

2: See 1

3: See 1

1 Not vegan.  Happy to eat most things occasionally so I would eat vegan if I was at a vegan’s house without a problem.  

2 No idea, I suppose chips and baked beans are available most places.  I suspect you’d have to plan ahead if you wanted special alternatives rather than just the none meat and dairy stuff.  

3 Probably not, unless there was a vegan in the group, in which case I’d give it a go.  

I think I’d miss cheese more than meat.  

That’s not great, it’s not that difficult to check for milk in the ingredients and give you ready salted crisps.   Peanut butter or even hummus isn’t difficult to get these days for sandwiches.  

Thanks for your interest Dave, we are looking into a realistic possibility of opening somewhere in the highlands, not for a major hospitality chain, so just a bit of research to test the water. Thanks Lee 

Thanks skog for your reply much appreciated and food for thought. Lee

No and no.

Forraging is a bit crap outside of bilberry season.  I sometimes have veggie food when eating out - including highland pubs - but only recall one place with an emphasis on veggie and pescatarian foods, a wonderful cafe in poolewe that has I think changed hands.  I don’t recall seeing any food labelled as vegan anywhere but there.  Might you, I normally go to the grill page...

No.  When I’m doing a lot of activity - especially cold water swimming - I know what I want afterwards, and I’m not going to find it there.  

Probably not very useful replies I know!

I’m not convinced - if “animal free” lab grown meats and other proteins are counted as vegan, I think it’s the eventual future of much of the food business.  Veganism is a broad church, and apart from the vocal part, there are those motivated by concerns of animal welfare and/or the climate, and those concerns will one day be addressable through synthetic foods.  A long way off for sure.

There's every chance that'll prove right further into the future - but I personally think veganism is likely to become much less popular again long before what you describe becomes mainstream, which would be a problem for a vegan business in an area with fairly low resident population and strongly seasonal visitor numbers. If I'm wrong, great - we'll see.

It's my fault for saying 'long-term' - it's a bit vague; I meant in just a few years, possibly sooner than that.

I live in Wester Ross.Gairloch) Possibly a market for a vegetarian café/restaurant but I think vegan would be a dead loss.

1. No and yes

2. No. Veggies can now do OKish but its rare to find vegan options that are not simply the veggie one less the cheese / egg. Mhor 84 is a good example of a place that caters to all three diets.

3. Yes but while I drink gallons of almond milk I prefer dairy in my latte so your coffee would need to be top notch to lure me in. And you would need to come up with a substitute for halloumi!

A new craft ale micro brewery pub opened up down here in Swansea. Billed itself as a proper boozer, bands on a Saturday, open Mic, pub grub etc

Except the pub grub was mostly vegan, with one or two veggie options. 6 months in they've redone the menu, much less vegan, more veggie options, more meat

No meat initially? Or some (you do say 'more meat'}?

Hi Harley

I don't think the business case numbers will stack up to support a vegan only restaurant.  Your total available market of customers that would want a vegan restaurant will be low and seasonal, of which the % market segment of this that are interested in vegan only will be lower still.  Then you need to balance this against how much it would cost to set up selling vegan food. I would try and dissect why Fort William chip shops are in such a dire state, frying food should be an easy issue to fix, so why is it so crap?

As case studies go niche food tends to sell well in large towns and cities where the numbers of new and repeat business is likely to be high enough.

Lastly I assume its a tongue in cheek joke at the expense of the Scottish however there must be a grain of truth somewhere that the Scots are not known for their love of vegetables (chips don't count).

Not vegan or vegetarian, so experience is limited. However, unless you are in one of the few larger towns, I can't see how restricting yourself to vegan only is going to be sustainable in most Highland towns or villages. You need to be able to attract the widest variety of customers to do well, especially as for half of the year it will be very quiet. Perhaps better to open a decent "fresh/local produce" type place and include vegan, vege and some meat dishes (I realise this may complicate both menu and cooking due to needing to double up on pans/storage etc). You would then have the best chance of survival, could still pull in the vegan customers as word spreads, but the rest of us would be happy to come along with them too. I still have a few mates who would almost panic if there were no meat dishes, including one who still talks about the time we went into Zeffirellis in Ambleside for a pizza and everything was vegetarian - poor lad was scarred for life, this was around '92...

Someone said the Highlands is almost devoid of good food. I'd disagree, nowadays. Its far, far better than it was 20 years ago, and I've had some excellent food in pubs or hotels in the Highlands in the last 10 years. There are still a few places where its puzzlingly poor though!

I'd recommend trying a different tack if it is a business. I  just remembered that when we were hill walking years ago we went into Ambleside as a family . Looked at a load of menus before we all agreed that the pizza place looked the best . We all sat down and ordered then realised we had all ordered something vegetarian. It was a vegetarian restaurant with no labelling. Veggies and vegans will see it for what it is at first glance and everyone else will look at it without prejudice. 

1. No

2. No particularly on courses, don't know if that's a viable market though

3. I just eat on a whim the food type interests me less than quality to provide what my body needs at the time . Sometimes that's a fry up, sometimes it's a croissant .

Maybe better than 20 years back .I can't comment but compared to south Wales, Yorkshire or the lakes it lacks the consistently good pub grub at a good price point . Similarly North Wales lacks good pub food on some areas but makes up for it with good cafes . 

Shieldaig sticks in my mind as a place which had spectacular views with spectacularly poor food to accompany them . A real shame because you've got to travel so far to get there .

Parallel experience in this post to my last... Thanks for telling me the resteraunts name I never forgot it .didn't forget the food though. Good all round .

my mistake, previously no meat whatsoever. despite billing itself as a proper boozer, with classic pub grub and guest street food evenings

yeah, but it's all vegan!

1: No, happy to eat vegan though

2: Probably not

3: Yes

Had exactly the same experience in the same restaurant.

No

No

Yes

My guess would be that an exclusively vegan food joint in the highlands would not last a season (if that), so the viable option would be to broaden the range to include veggie and dead animal based food to stand a chance of viability. This may run the risk of alienating the hardcore vegans but the question is whether you want to run a  successful business or an ethically orientated venture?

1. No (vegetarian)/ Yes

2.No

3.YES!

Thanks for the response to the post everyone, it is much appreciated and very helpful to gain so many useful points of view.  Will attempt to keep people informed of what we decide to undertake.  Anymore points of view or opinions are very well one, thanks again Lee

Ben Nevis takeaway in inverlochy?

To the op: maybe go for a meal at nourish in Inverness and see what they say, they're quite friendly in there.

Also, currently, when we go somewhere not veggie/vegan friendly for a few days we normally do self catering, so don't tend to go and eat out. Don't know if this is usual, but could mean your target customers will be more used to self catering than meat eaters who can rock up anywhere and expect to find suitable food.

1. No (vegan), yes (interested in vegan food)

2. Don't know, but probably not

3. Would depend on its focus. I could see myself visiting a place that serves hearty vegan food (e.g. curries, chilli, burgers, pizza), but generally don't fancy a vegan raw food salad after a day on the hills. 

1. No, and not especially.

2. I very much doubt it.

3. Probably not. Main reason I posted was to echo many other posters. I think you would struggle outside of Inverness to provide a vegan-only restaurant, as the population density is just too low. Your best bet is either to combine it with a non-vegan menu or to have another part of the business that doesn't rely on people actually visiting the premises. Look at other niche businesses in the northern highlands - for example Cocoa Mountain in Durness or the pie shop in Lochinver. I doubt either of these get enough trade physically through the door to survive, but both offer their fairly unique products by mail order/online.

The usual rule of the highlands applies really - you have to be able to do multiple things to survive.

You peaked my interest so some basic analysis below from a quick google:

highland visitors per year ~2.5m across whole region http://www.visitscotland.org/pdf/Tourism_in_Scotland_Regions_2016.pdf

Vegitatians estimated at 2% of uk, vegans <1%

so a veg Resteraunt has access to approx 49,000 visitors, spred across the whole region, vegans maybe 20,000. Or more realistically 1in every hundred visitors will be able to dine in your resteraunt. This basically eliminates passing trade as a basis for business, unless footfall is seriously high. (For a tiny 4 table resteraunt doing 4 services a day  you need 6400 visitors, assuming every vegan eats with you and ignoring the effect of their friends dining)

this leaves you with either ensuring you have a large enough population centre nearby, or building such a good reputation people are willing to travel to you to eat...

vegan Resteraunts work well in big citys where catching the small market is easier, Edinburgh has some which are good, I’d be very careful with the financial planning if I was you...

to answer your questions:

1 no, but been allergic to dairy for 20yrs so often eat vegan options

2 it’s a lot better than it was, most good newish places have vegan options.

3 No, i’d Be far more likely to eat in a Resteraunt with a specialist vegan section than a fully vegan Resteraunt...

Sorry, why do you say "be able to" - do you have to be a vegan to eat in a vegan restaurant? 

I'm not vegan but would happily eat veggie / vegan food if that was what is on offer and good. In fact, I'd probably veer towards it as I get bored of the meat + 2 veg approach to pub food where you quickly lack a healthy amount of veg.

As a vegan I would love a restaurant in the highlands, but realistically the market is a bit small in the remoter highlands. I'd be more inclined to open an allergy-friendly B&B, something a bit more scaleable. 

Fair enough, I was intending to infer that they may not be able to eat in the other locations, it does read as if no-one else can eat there, which is obviously incorrect.  1 in 100 is just their core market, actual vegans looking for a vegan meal.

The other 99 in 100 have a choice to eat in any of the local resteraunts, and unless there is little completion they will likely eat elsewhere the majority of the time.

Serving exclusively vegan means you need a very good reputation for people to step away from their normal diet, if there is competition most will go with “what they know” so it’s difficult to get them through the door, or they may leave if it’s not what they expected.

i agree with purple monkey elephant, most of the highlands is likely just too small a market to support a 100% vegan Resteraunt, as much as I might want to eat in one.

1) No and no.

2) No idea.

3) No.

1. No and yes.

2.Probably not.

3. No. Because I and and others with me would like other food options and because I assume, perhaps wrongly, that such places are likely to be overpriced.

I was vege for 32 years, now eat fish 

Don't know

No, I find vegan food to restricted in ingredients to give me sufficient choice, and lacking the ability to give me a hearty meal, which I would want in the Highlands.

Even when I was a vege, I would always look for a place which would give me a filing meal, over somewhere which was exclusively vegetarian.

1.  Not vegan or veggie, but will happily eat good vegan/veggie food.

2. Don't really know.

3. Yes, if the food is good.

Here's a thing. What about serving really good food that just happens to be vegetarian or vegan?  A specific example could be Zefferelli's in Ambleside - I'd eaten there several times before I actually twigged it was vegetarian. At that time (probably almost 20 years ago now) they didn't overtly state that they were veggie, just that it was Mediterranean food and pizza. If you get a reputation for great food, which just happens to be veggie or vegan, without shouting about it, then you could be a winner. Special events (all you can eat curry etc) can get a reputation too as can really good coffee, cakes etc.  If quality and VFM comes first, then veggie/vegan can be a 'stealth' extra. Food for thought?

N

Yes

No

Yes

1 = no

2 = no

3 = no

Go to the globe in Glossop. If you can recreate that north of Aviemore I will be your most loyal customer.

(Not vegan but love vegan curry, especially when it's great value)

I had a look at their website, that's some incredibly cheap bar food and it looks like a good menu. But I had a chuckle when I read that some of the options became deluxe when tofu was added. 

1. yep (interested)

2. No

3. Yep, something Like Zeffirellis in Ambleside, but with a slightly updated/ more adventurous menu would nail it for me. 

1. No, and I think the whole idea is a bit strange, but each to their own

2. Probably not

3. If the food's good I'll eat most things

Except for the haddock & chips at the Anchorage in Scourie.

1. Vegetarian, 80% vegan

2. Not really, but I do think it's improving (everywhere apart from Aviemore *shudder*). 

3. God yes, we always cook for ourselves after hikes at the moment and it would be lovely to be able to go somewhere that we know would be serving good food rather than afterthought-food. But it also needs to be the right kind of vegan food - warming, filling etc. 

1. No

2. Define "adequate" for <1% of the population in a sparsely populated area.

3. I'd entertain it but far from enthusiastically. I am OK with eating vegetarian if others in a group want that but I've eaten vegan a few times and never enjoyed it.

1- no, but l do eat lots of vegetables.

2- 50/50

3- yes why not, but will not become vegetarian!

Not many climbers or walkers are vegetarians, climbing mountains is one of the hardest activities, therefore healthy diet needed, and meats is part of the diet alongside vegetables.

1 no but heading in that direction

2 No not at all

3 Yes would love it

I agree. But there is some good food if you know where to look. I have the knowledge.

To the OP: there is a new vegan coffee shop in Fort William, it serves up some nice stuff, which I say despite mostly enjoying fried meat.

1- yes

2- no

3- yes

Don't they feel dry vegans in Scotland?

No, and yes

No

Yes, but I don't think they could survive without bringing in the larger omnivorous population. 

Much like others, I'd characterise the way forward as:

A really good restaurant that serves fairly priced seasonal food, freshly made, with a range of vegetarian options that can be made vegan on request. See the Mountain Cafe in Aviemore, for instance, or Wilf's in Stavely, the much lamented Lakeland Pedlar etc.

I have been veggie (not vegan) for 35 years including when working in Inverness, and it wasn't that easy - although most places would grudgingly take the meat out the salad (but still charge for it).  People are weird things, and many folk don't look at non-meat options as being options - they just look right past them. There are very, very few long term veggie places in the UK as a whole, let alone Scotland outside of the major centres (e.g. Banns in Edinburgh). 

Personally I don't think there is a sustainable base for vegan only restaurants in the highlands - it can be hard enough to feed omnivores well. 

b

Not really

No idea

Only if the food was good.

There was a restaurant on Skye  but it closed eventually 

In Dunvegan I think....

I may have missed it and its been mentioned already, but Fort William has a Vegan cafe.

The WildCat.

I was up last weekend with a Vegan friend and it was top notch!