Business Love Stories - Vegan Street Food Company

Sandwiched between a mobile phone shop and Superdrug up the tidiest alleyway you’ll ever saunter down sits the little shopfront of The Vegan Street Food Company. Blink, and you’ll miss it at your peril. The small entrance leads to a landing and a set of stairs down into the cafe proper. It is, however, worth pausing on the landing to take in and, frankly, admire the layout. On the right-hand wall, racks of herbs, spices and pulses sit cheek by jowl with lentils and gluten-free flour. For this writer, it is a slice of neat freak heaven.

From that, you’ve got the tiniest professional kitchen set up you’ve ever clapped eyes on, followed by a counter laden with cakes to suit, dietarily speaking, everyone. The smells waft up your nose, and you’re down the stairs slapping your money on the counter for a Bombay Wrap (Broken pieces of onion bhaji mixed with salad and Mango chutney.) I swear this job is a nightmare sometimes.

What made you set up on your own?

Like all good small businesses, The Vegan Street Food Company was founded on a gap in the market. Owners Gary, a chef of thirty years, and Anna set up shop when Anna discovered she was intolerant to dairy and wheat. They decided to opt for a plant-based diet, Gary lost 20kg, and Anna no longer looked pregnant after eating pasta. Everyone was happy. Except it made eating out impossible; where can you get your mitts on vegan, gluten-free food? Unless your culinary wishlist is so pedestrian, a jacket potato with beans will suffice, you’re left wanting.

On the day we visited, Anna and Gary were trading at a festival in Bristol, and it was up to meat eater turned vegan Nathan to fill us in on their kind of vegan street food.

Can you remember the moment you decided to set up on your own?

During the lockdown, Gary started creating vegan recipes and refound his love of cooking, and that’s how Vegan Street Food was born. “There’s something for everyone to eat here. Nut free, gluten free, and I’m trying to get us soya free, which, if you know anything about vegan food, you’ll appreciate, is a challenge! The aim is to reach a point where our food is free of all allergens, anyone can eat.”

How would you describe your relationship with your business right now?

It’s a challenge but good. “Prices of ingredients are increasing, and if you think flour prices are bad, gluten-free flour costs four to five times more. Prices are higher for everyone, so we find customers are more cautious. We can customise dishes to suit specific allergies, which helps us retain customers.”

When was it at its worst? What was happening to you then?

Like many businesses, Vegan Street Food uses social media to reach out to current and new customers; show off new dishes, build its reputation, and keep itself fresh in the minds of fellow vegans. “A few weeks ago we were hacked, and our five thousand Instagram followers were just gone! Whoever did it changed our contact details, so we couldn’t even log in and reset the password. You can’t get hold of Instagram, so that’s it; everyone’s gone.

That month we were down thirty per cent in sales. It was a disaster for us. We have a new account with a couple of hundred members, but it’s going to take a long time to get back to where we were.”

What advice would you give to another owner who’s feeling disillusioned?

When we got hacked, we waited a while to start a new Instagram account. In hindsight, we should have got one up and running the next day. My advice is, don’t wait to take action.

Also, be wary of cutting costs; you may retain customers in the short term, but at what cost to you? It’s a balancing act. We have picked a few lines which have a good margin, and we maximise them. Our cakes are great, so we have not raised the price. It may cost us more, but more often than not, the customer will buy something else to go with it. We also do a meal deal which works.”

What keeps you connected to why you started your business in the first place?

“We work with a local school that approached us wanting to offer more plant-based school meals. That’s a lot of fun, but if you don’t get the names right, they won’t eat it! Lentil Lasagne didn’t appeal, so we shortened it to Lasagne and hey presto! For the older kids, we opened a ‘tuck shop’ for food they can eat and still kick a ball around.” Nathan is 28 and a ‘strapping lad’, as my ancient uncle would say. You wouldn’t have an inkling he was twenty stone ten years earlier! This stuff is important. There are cooking classes too, and kids now bring their parents to the cafe. It’s a plant-based circular economy.

Would you say you love your business?

I think everything you’ve just read will answer that question for you. You can taste the love in the food, and their belief in what they do is obvious the moment you walk in. Nathan, Gary and Anna walk the walk.

Tell us about something you’ve done to show your business love and nurture your relationship with it.

The Community! Vegan Street food is one of a small group of businesses all sharing the same narrow alleyway. “Everyone works hard to keep it smart and tidy down here. A large restaurant backs onto the alley, and they keep it spotless for us. We’ve had new signs made and painted too. We’re looking into building a food ordering app like Just Eat but for Worthing eateries. Deliveroo, Uber Eats and Just Eat take a large slice of profits, so it makes sense to join forces.”

Who or what keeps you going in tough times?

Family and friends, every time. “You need one hundred per cent trust; I do anyway. I can bounce ideas off my mates or family and get honest (sometimes too honest) feedback. One day recently, everyone turned up! My lot, aunts, uncles, cousins and friends, then Gary and Anna’s lot. In the end, we had 40 people here, all ours. Family is everything.”

“My advice is to reach out to friends and family when it gets tough. Especially on your most disheartening day. Be able to laugh at yourself. We do TikTok now; we’re rubbish, don’t judge us, but it’s fun and makes us laugh.”

What do you love about working for yourself?

Nathan doesn’t hesitate; he just spreads his arms wide and invites us to look around “I can see the fruit of my labour. I don’t dread coming to work or feel like a number. I try and show my appreciation to my customers, and they’re genuinely happy to see me.”

Last question, promise, when is your peak season?

Summer holidays are good; making sure there are lighter items on the menu for the warm weather. “December is great too, which you wouldn’t think somehow. Worthing has a lot of festive events, so we’re busy then; customers order whole cakes and buy vouchers to give as Christmas presents.”

Never underestimate the power of the plant. The Vegan Street Food Company is small but mighty.