Sydney’s vegan golden era comes to an end amid cost of living crisis
The owner of one of Australia’s most iconic butchers has delivered a brutal message to the vegan community.
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The owner of one of Australia’s most famous vegan institutions fears she’ll be “stacking Woolies shelves in six months” as she battles to stay afloat amid a customer exodus.
Suzy Spoon has run her meat-free butchery in the trendy inner-city suburbs of Newtown and Marrickville since 2012.
Her business exploded in popularity as veganism became mainstream in the late 2010s, leading to product deals with major supermarket chains, but now sales have fallen off a cliff.
“We’re out of money. We’re out of everything, we’re tired,” she told news.com.au inside her empty shop during a ‘lunch rush’ this week.
“I am simply doing the best I can.”
And she’s not alone.
Her struggles mirror a national trend that’s crippling vegan restaurants and stores across the country.
Cult vegan fast food chain Lord of the Fries, famous for its vegan burgers and healthy fries, has shrunk from 35 stores during its peak to just six today.
Pay-as-you-feel restaurant Lentil As Anything was forced to close all four of its locations in 2022, citing financial struggles and the impact of the pandemic.
Just months later, Australia’s longest running vegan institution Bodhi was shuttered after 34 years in business.
An all-vegan supermarket based in Glebe had its windows covered and a ‘sold’ sign plastered above it when news.com.au visited this week.
A quick search of vegan restaurants in Sydney returns bright red displays of “permanently closed” splashed across dozens of businesses.
Retail expert Gary Mortimer told news.com.au that the latest data showed a significant decline in vegans searching for restaurants or outlets in Australia since 2020.
Despite the apparent drop in appetite for vegan cuisine, the lifestyle is on the rise.
A recent consumer survey found that five per cent of the Australian population identifies as vegan. Ten per cent adhere to vegetarianism while 21 per cent are reducing their meat intake.
It’s a huge increase from 2021 where just one per cent of Aussies identified as vegan and four per cent vegetarian.
Mrs Spoon said things were “going really well” before the Covid pandemic hit.
“There was a lot of interest in veganism. The big brands like Maggie, Kraft and Nestle were putting out vegan products.
“Now, ingredient prices have gone up so much that we can’t make the product for the same price anymore.”
Some of Mrs Spoon’s most popular products – plant-based ‘schnitzel’, herb sausages and bacon rashers – are stocked in Woolworths and Harris Farm Markets.
But the cash flow from the supermarket deals is drying up too.
“Woolworths has reduced our range dramatically and Harris Farm has quartered what they would buy from us before Covid. It’s terrible for our business,” Mrs Spoon said.
Selling meat is simply not an option for the passionate vegan, who hasn’t had a steak since 1986.
“I can see other businesses starting to serve meat, but I can’t do that, because that’s just not how I roll. That will never be what I do,” she said.
In 2023, a mother-and-daughter duo became the target of vile abuse after their business was forced to shift away from its vegan-only menu in a last-ditch effort to save them from going broke.
Natalie Yiannakopoulos and her mother Fay made the difficult decision to revert back to a more traditional menu at their cafe in Sydney’s Haberfield in 2023.
“Words like murderer and rapist and things like that were thrown around about me,” the daughter told A Current Affair at the time.
Mrs Spoon told news.com.au she had forged a close relationship with the pair during their vegan endeavour.
“I understand what they went through. It was either they closed or stayed making no money,” she said.
“The vegan community can be so cruel.”
As far as her business goes, Mrs Spoon said she wasn’t going to sugar coat the cost of living crisis.
“It’s terrible. Every week I struggle to pay wages, every week we work we work incredibly long hours ourselves to try and to try and open the shop without having to break the bank and pay the wages of staff. It’s impossible.”
In a popular Sydney vegan forum, many community members echoed her sentiments.
“It breaks my heart. I’m finding it harder to find vegan options every day,” said one person.
“It’s been really difficult,” agreed another.
“We are closing down our vegetarian and vegan restaurant because our business is not performing well,” said one heartbroken business owner.
Originally published as Sydney’s vegan golden era comes to an end amid cost of living crisis