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Media outlet Vice has interviewed people working in Australian vegan restaurants in a bid to find out what they think about serving vegans.
In a piece titled We Asked Vegan Restaurant Workers What They Think of Vegans, hospitality workers – who are all vegans themselves – were questioned about plant-based customers.
According to one plant-based cafe worker, vegans ‘want to out-vegan each other’ – and are ‘really anoying’.
‘Morons’
According to Sarah*, people treat veganism ‘like a religion, and tell the whole world ‘I’m a vegan, and I follow the rules strictly’.
She goes on to say: “I’d agree that 99 percent of vegans are morons.
“Most of them are really annoying. I hang out with them and have to listen to them yabber on, so I know.”
‘Finicky’
Brendan*, who also works at a vegan cafe, doesn’t like to call himself vegan.
“I personally don’t tell people I’m vegan,” he says. “I think it’s boring to tell people you’re vegan. Nobody gives a sh*t, to be honest.”
He also discusses the vegan archetype: “[A vegan cafe] attracts a different archetype of person. “Finicky” is probably the best way to describe them.
“A typical customer asks a lot of questions regarding veganism. There’s a certain level of assurance they want. Even down to the sprinkles we use on the cupcakes.”
“Once people are comfortable it’s vegan, then it becomes a big thing about sourcing and where the products come from.”
‘Self-entitiled’
28-year-old Janet*, who recently quit her job at a vegan cafe, has dealt with many ‘self-entitled’ customers.
She says: “I found a lot of the difficult customers were just fussy. Obviously we were a vegan cafe, so we were already ticking that box for them.
“But when they came in, they were very self-entitled– they almost demanded the stuff they wanted. It wasn’t a friendly ask, it was ‘I deserve this latte more than the next person. And I deserve it first’.”
Janet also mentioned that plant-based eaters do not have tolerance for those who aren’t vegan.
“There was just no tolerance for people who weren’t vegan. They would think, ‘You’re a terrible person for not being vegan’.”
‘Grounded’
Janet concluded: “We’re not all bad. Most of us are pretty grounded and let you do whatever the hell you want to do with your life.
“Not all of us are going to beat you down with a stick because you’re not vegan.”
*All names have been changed
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