February 10, 2024

When Charlie Watson launched his vegan fast food restaurant chain Oowee he had high hopes for the future of animal-free food.

But Mr Watson has now announced he plans to put flesh on the menu, after conceding that restaurants “have got to sell meat” to be successful.

He says that offering beef and chicken burgers alongside plant only meals will help bring veganism into the “mainstream”.

Mr Watson, who co-founded Oowee with Verity Foss, said: “If you want to do big numbers then you have to offer the choice – you’ve got to sell meat.

“In this market, where it’s tough and everyone is fighting hard for sales, it’s difficult to be in a niche.

“For veganism to become mainstream, it needs to be a case of every restaurant offering both – serving great vegan food and great meat-based food, rather than making it singular,” he said.

“Having beef and chicken burgers on the menu just means our customers have the freedom to choose between plant-based and meat.

“There will always be a demand from some vegans who want to eat somewhere where no meat is cooked on the premises, but there aren’t enough to fill that demand.”

Mr Watson and Ms Foss, who launched their first Oowee diner in 2016 in Bristol, before opening other eateries in Brighton and London, had vowed to “push the boundaries of what vegan fast food can be”.

He previously said: “The more we looked at the potential of plant-based foods, the more we thought it would be the future of what we wanted to do.”

The firm will maintain four vegan-only sites, but plans to expand its chain of American-style diners, where meat will firmly be on the menu.

Mr Watson said: “Sales at the vegan restaurants are good, but they don’t compare to our diner sites.

“If you’re specifically 100% plant-based, then you’re going to struggle. Because most places do a good vegan menu, friendship groups that contain both plant-based and meat eaters can easily find somewhere that caters for both.”

The company was last year forced to close one of its vegan-only sites in Dalston, east London.

Plant-based rival Neat Burger shut half its outlets last year after recording a £7.9 million loss in 2022.

Other vegan eateries have also floundered, with Flower Burger disappearing from the market completely.

It comes after nationwide chain Honest Burger launched a vegan-only site in London’s Covent Garden, but put meat on the menu after just six months.

And last month, Manchester-based vegan restaurant Nomas Gastrobar announced it was introducing “a thoughtfully curated selection of high-quality, responsibly sourced meat and dairy options” to bring in more custom.

Polling by YouGov conducted last year found 2% of the British population were on a plant-based or vegan diet, and 5% described themselves as vegetarian.

Last month, a separate study by comparison site Finder.com found the number of vegans in the UK had increased by 1.1 million in the past 12 months.

Based on its survey of 2,000 UK adults, the report put the total number of Britons on a purely plant-based diet at 2.5 million – almost 5% of the nation.

A year ago, the number who refused to consume meat, eggs or dairy was 1.4 million – said the company – equating to around 2.5% of the population.

-yahoo