Vegan cafe owner faces torrent of abuse for selling meat

A struggling vegan restaurant owner was bombarded with online abuse and fake reviews after he introduced meat to the menu in a bid to boost sales.

Adonis Norouznia, who owns Nomas Gastrobar in Macclesfield, Cheshire, added meat options in January to help bring in more customers - but received a furious backlash online.

The cafe was was opened in 2021 as a plant-based eatery, but high inflation and a 40 per cent drop in sales forced the business to add meat, eggs and dairy to the menu.

But this choice wasn't welcomed by a number of vegans online, who posted comments telling Mr Norouznia and his wife to 'die'.

Speaking to BBC News, he said: 'They were telling us, ''what else are you going to do for the sake of making money, you're going to slaughter animals in there, you're going to sell animal organs,'' they even talked about human trafficking.

'I have nothing to say to them, I am really sorry if our choices made them feel unhappy, but this is the world, one small independent cafe is not going to change it.' 

Mr Norouznia added he often worried that people would vandalise the cafe. 

He urged the trolls and his critics to 'step in his shoes' before they judged his decision, and try to better consider the struggles of a small business today. 

Announcing the change on social media, the cafe said: 'We have made the difficult yet necessary decision to introduce a thoughtfully curated selection of high-quality, responsibly sourced meat and dairy options to our menu.' 

Mr Norouznia has only been a vegan for six years and he knows how to cook meat. 

It comes after Pret a Manger revealed they axed their last three vegetarian-only stores and converted them into normal outlets due to a slump in demand for meat-free sandwiches.

The remaining Veggie Pret stores - two in London and one in Manchester - started selling meat products at the end of February.

The move will bring an end to the concept that was introduced eight years ago and is another sign that veganism's popularity is dying out.

At its peak, there were 10 stores serving only vegetarian and vegan options across the UK which included salad bowls and falafel sandwiches.

At their peak, there were 10 Veggie Prets across the UK and, in 2019, the High Street brand had been planning to convert more until the pandemic grounded their ambitions.

In 2022, Pret closed three-quarters of their veggie-only stores as it said it was offering meat-free options at other sites and didn't need the standalone outlets. 

The two London Veggie Prets - one on Broadwick Street in Soho and the other on Great Eastern Street in Shoreditch - will be converted and begin selling meat on February 19.

Meanwhile, the Manchester Veggie Pret in Deansgate will reopen on February 26.

Despite the hiccups with their veggie-only outlets, the brand is still expanding with 41 sites opened last year.

Katherine Bagshawe, UK Food & Coffee Director at Pret A Manger, said: 'Today, one in three of all our main meals sales are veggie or vegan-friendly.

'Every Pret shop is a Veggie Pret shop, with new vegetarian and vegan-friendly products coming onto our menu all the time.

'Our original Meatless Meatball Hot Wrap was born in Veggie Pret, yet it became a top five bestseller across the whole of Pret within its first week of launching, showing us how customers across all our shops want amazing veggie food.'

The development is another sign that veganism is declining in popularity after experts warned many vegan restaurants could close in the next couple of years as they struggle to compete with meat-selling eateries.