Vegan butchers: Could one be opening on your high street?

The increasing popularity of veganism has seen major supermarket chains devote whole sections to meat-free products that resemble sausages, burgers and steaks. Is the arrival of vegan butchers on high streets the logical next step? The BBC went to visit one and asked shoppers what they made of it.

Vegan chef Ritchie Stainsby, now 30, stopped eating meat when he was 12 years old. Like many vegetarians and vegans he loved the taste, but he decided to give it up for ethical reasons.

"I enjoyed the taste of meat," he said. "I enjoyed everything about it, other than the way it arrived on my plate."

Having struggled to find much variety in the meat-free food that, until recently, was on offer, Mr Stainsby made it his mission to devise vegan recipes that have proved the foundation on which his new business is built.

Faux, in the Nottingham suburb of Sherwood, is the city's first vegan butchers and delicatessen.

It opened on April Fools' Day.

"We had quite a few emails saying, 'Is this a joke?'" said Lauren Nally, Mr Stainsby's partner in life and business.

The business has a traditional enough feel: there are white tiles, a picture of a pig wearing an apron and the names of the products behind the glass counter have a familiar ring: mince, brisket, ribs, chicken thighs, cured pastrami, salami, kebab meat, black pudding, quarter pounder burgers and glazed belly pork.

However, everything for sale is vegan, including the cheese which comes from a supplier in London.

So far, the products have proved popular.

"We've been selling out every single day," said Ms Nally.

"It's blown us away really," Mr Stainsby agreed, adding there had been interest on social media from people in Canada and the US.

"We've opened what we intended on being this tiny community shop, to bring something interesting to a high street that was close to home for us, but... it's just been insane."

While vegan butchers are a relatively new concept, Faux could be at the forefront of a trend.

It is the first vegan butchers to have opened outside London, but a quick search of Companies House suggests similar businesses are due to open in Brighton, Barry, in Wales, and Lancashire.

"While vegans haven't been short on choice in terms of frozen vegan meat alternatives before, I think a lot of consumers, vegan or otherwise, like the idea of physically going into a vegan butchers and picking out things and buying them fresh for their dinner that night," said Francine Jordan from the Vegan Society.

Supermarket giant Asda is currently trialling a vegan butcher counter in its Watford store, and most supermarkets now sell vegan meat in their refrigerated sections. Even traditional meaty brands - like sausage maker Richmond - have started making vegan alternatives.

A recent report, which was part-funded by the European Union, suggested the sales value of plant-based refrigerated meat in the UK increased 90% between 2018 and 2020.

However the British Meat Processors Association, which is the leading trade association for the meat industry, said it was concerned consumers could be deceived by the rise of "fake" meat.

"We really don't understand why this deceptive practice is occurring," said CEO Nick Allan. "Vegetables are vegetables and meat is meat.

"We presume this is a way of disguising to the consumer that, in fact, fake meat is made up of vegetables that have been heavily processed and come with all the concerns that go with processed food."

Other traditional butchers expressed concern about what they believe is a misuse of their job title.

Gordon Wallace, a fifth-generation butcher from Scotland, is the manager of the Q Guild of Butchers which represents quality butchers and independent meat retailers in the UK.

He said it was important "consumers understand and appreciate that a butcher is a skilled trade, with a proper apprenticeship training right through to master butcher, just as in building or other trades".

"Just what is required to become a vegan butcher, I have no idea," he said.

"That said, any shop that's on the high street, that's producing locally-sourced, sustainable food of sound, as opposed to heavily-processed, quality is a welcome addition, even if the name does not fit that comfortably."

Nottingham butcher Geoff Bradley, who is 73 and has been working in the trade since he was 12, said he does not have a problem with vegan butchers.

"It's entirely up to people what they want to eat. It's everybody's choice, isn't it?" he said.

"I don't think you will ever see the end of the traditional butcher because people do like to eat meat.

"We've been through lots of crises in the past and people still come back to eating meat.

"I still think there's a place for the traditional butcher and if people want to eat vegan meat, that's up to them."

The Vegan Society said it did not believe consumers were being deceived.

"We'd have to assume someone entering a vegan butchers - which would be clearly labelled as such - wouldn't get confused that the food on offer is anything but a vegan alternative," said Ms Jordan.

She pointed to a European Parliament ruling in October, which accepted there was little evidence consumers were mistaking veggie burgers or vegan sausages for meat.

"There has never been any indication that people feel misled by fresh vegan meats," she said.

Faux also rebutted the idea they were being deceptive.

"Our products are quite clearly labelled as alternative. Everything is clearly labelled as vegan," said Mr Stainsby.

"I do understand the concern, as plant-based alternatives are growing exponentially, meaning naturally the meat industry will be under pressure, for the first time, to compete."

The Vegan Society said vegan meat may be a "gateway" for those who are vegan or considering cutting back on meat but miss the taste.

"If burgers, steaks and sausages are your favourite things to eat, you can just buy the vegan alternative," said Ms Jordan.

Indeed of the customers the BBC spoke to who were queuing outside Faux, none described themselves as vegan.

Some were vegetarian or had partners or children who were vegan. Others were trying to cut down the amount of meat they ate.

"I am vegan-in-training," said Matthew Moore, who lives in Sherwood. "I am slowly reducing the amount of meat I eat.

"I'm going to go from vegan-in-training, to vegetarianism, to full vegan. And that means everything, with clothing too."

Mr Moore, whose partner is vegan, said he visited Faux on their opening day.

"I had vegan pastrami. The texture was incredible, super flavourful," he said.

He said he had also bought vegan blue cheese from the shop.

"I have given that to loads of my pals that love their cheese and they had no idea it was vegan, no idea."

He added that while he felt "big meaty dishes" made him feel "really groggy", vegan meat did not.

"It doesn't make me feel tired; I can go for a run after that," he said.

Elsewhere, the new business was attracting a largely positive reaction among Sherwood's community Facebook users.

"Actually, I am pretty excited about this," wrote Chris Dowson.

"I am not veggie or vegan but would like a more plant-based diet for environmental reasons. I just hope the prices are reasonable."

"Finally something nice for vegans in our area," wrote Paulina Kowalik.

Some meat-eaters questioned why vegans might wish to eat meat-like products but others said they understood the drive behind the trend.

"I... am not a vegetarian," wrote Jenny Thirtle-Denmar, "but totally understand why the ones who are will shop here.

"Surely it is all about having a diet of varied tastes and textures - something that most of us appreciate."

Faux was unwilling to disclose the recipes behind its "meat" range but Mr Stainsby said the process was "a little bit like baking", with "lots of different doughs" and "lots of different rubs and seasonings".

"We've felt like scientists recently, trying to create the textures, the smells, the flavours, the qualities that meat has," he said.

"We've both not eaten meat for many, many years so we're kind of relying on memory.

"In our opinion, our products taste like meat. They behave the same as a steak would you cook in a pan."

So will there be more vegan butchers in future?

"We believe so," he said.

"We've had countless people getting in touch via email, saying they would love to... start doing something similar to this."

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