The UK’s first vegan butcher is moving to a new ‘state of the art kitchen’ to keep up with the ‘overwhelming demand’.
Rudy’s Vegan Butchers, on the corner of Islington Park Street and Upper Street in North London, opened last year (November 1 – World Vegan Day).
It offers a wide range of vegan meats such as smoked ham, salami de Provence, pepperoni, and pastrami. Other options include meat-free alternatives to ribs, lobster salad, bacon, burgers, chicken liver pate, and more.
‘Overwhelming demand’
“Exciting News!” the company announced on Instagram. “Due to overwhelming demand from all you lovely folk, we are moving to a bigger state-of-the-art kitchen.
“This will give us the capacity to keep up with all your orders and create new plant-based products including bringing back our DIY kits. “
On its first day of opening, Rudy’s sold out of all its stock – recording a staggering 100 online orders in the first 10 minutes. Videos on social media show customers queuing around the street before the store had opened its doors.
Since then, demand for its mock meats has been so high, it has been working through the night to keep up with orders.
Vegan butchers controversy
While the shop has so far proved a roaring success, its announcement stirred controversy among meat-eaters.
Among them was vegan-baiting TV host Piers Morgan. He wrote on Twitter: “A vegan butcher’s shop… and people wonder why I’ve written a book about the world going nuts.”
Debate raged online over whether or not a butcher’s shop can be vegan, but many were in support of the upcoming shop. One user wrote: “The world going nuts is the reason for a shop like this. Plant food is the future otherwise we won’t have a future at all. Simple really.”