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A former butcher’s shop in Brighton’s Open Market has been replaced by a vegan cafe.
Smorl’s Houmous – a producer of small-batch artisan handcrafted houmous – took over the site in the market, a permanent fixture in the London Road area of the city which serves as both a hub for locals and a tourist destination.
It’s home to more than 45 market stalls and shopfronts, including ‘traditional market stalls – butcher, fishmonger, eggs, fruit and veg’. Only the butcher is no more, now the vegan cafe has opened in its place.
Growth
Smorl’s, which has been running the cafe in Brighton Open Market as an extension to its existing houmous production and distribution business, will be increasing its cafe space to accommodate more diners interested in healthy and plant-based eating.
It is also using the new space to increase production of its artisan houmous range, stocked in stores all over Brighton and Hove.
Doubling Production
Sarah Cotton, Co-owner and founder of Smorl’s, told Plant Based News: “We’ve more than doubled our houmous production since September last year, and new production facilities are much needed.
“We’re working with stores and restaurants across Sussex, and welcoming new ones to the Smorl’s family every week. When we saw the butchers closing down, it was a no-brainer to snap up the unit and take the opportunity to expand Smorl’s.”
Smorl’s, which claims to have a ‘cult-like’ following for its houmous pots, including the famous ‘Thunder Garlic’ has noticed a steep rise in sales, attributed partly to the growth of the plant-based movement.
Products
The Smorl’s Cafe offers its houmous alongside dishes including Falafel Pittas and Mezze Cake – a savoury cake with layers of falafel, pitta bread, houmous, butternut squash, courgette, carrot and beetroot, sun dried tomato, spiced bulgur wheat, and caramelised onions.
There’s also the Waffalafel – a falafel and waffle combo with stuffed mushrooms, shakshuka, and beetroot caviar. All of this is also available via Deliveroo.
With the new facilities and expanded cafe, Smorl’s expects to continue its growth in the South East. Meanwhile, Brighton Open Market is left without its traditional butchers and has an artisan houmous producer in its place.
