As plant-based food gains popularity across the country among vegans and non-vegans alike, Chittenden County restaurants are trying to keep up.
But the growing demand has paradoxically led several owners to reduce their hours of operation.
“It’s like any other economy: There’s a response to a demand,” said Trevor Sullivan, the owner of plant-based Pingala Café & Eatery. “The vegan movement is happening and it’s changing in a way where you don’t have to identify as vegan to connect with this food. … Five years ago, no way that would be the case.”
Plant-based or vegan food contains no animal byproducts. Those parameters require techniques that have made finding kitchen staff in an already tight labor market even more difficult. Recipes also rely on certain ingredients that have been particularly hard hit by global inflation.
At Pingala Café, one of the first plant-based restaurants to open in Burlington, sales have increased by 50% since before the pandemic. The business opened a second Burlington location in July.
Yet to retain staff and reduce burnout, Sullivan has kept open hours at half of what they were prior to the pandemic. Previously open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., Pingala’s hours are now 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., with the second location closed two days a week.
Some of Pingala’s attraction has come from Sullivan’s television appearances on “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives” in 2020 and “Guy’s Grocery Games” in June.
“I talked with Guy (Fieri),” Sullivan said, referring to the host of both shows. “He knows that (vegan food) is a big part of the food movement in the future.”
Similarly, retail sales at Sweet Alchemy Bakery and Café in Essex Junction have almost doubled over the last two years. But owner Bhava Carr has limited business hours to Friday through Sunday in part because she cannot find consistent chefs and bakers.
“It’s always been difficult to find staff that were passionate about plant-based or even vegetarian cooking,” said Carr. “I’ve never managed to find somebody … able to commit to long-term.”
Carr is planning to either reduce the number of days that Sweet Alchemy is open or switch to online ordering, which would allow the business to operate with fewer staff.
When Offbeat Creemee first opened in 2021, it served up ice cream Thursday to Sunday. With lines spanning the length of the 200-square-foot shop in Winooski, owner Aisha Bassett said she has been overwhelmed and often unable to keep up.
As of August, Offbeat is open only on weekends. By limiting its days of operation, Bassett said that she’s better able to prepare for the demand and offer more pints and wholesale items.
“Demand has increased a lot. Unfortunately my space hasn’t,” Bassett said. Offbeat’s current location has only two mini-fridges and four chest freezers, and she has been unable to find another location that fits her budget.
“We’d love to grow right now. But right now there’s really nothing available,” Bassett said. “I just think it’s really hard for a small business to foot the expenses of opening up a storefront or a production facility by themselves.”
Dealing with staffing challenges and inflation
As Vermonters feel more comfortable eating inside, one challenge many restaurants are facing, whether plant-based or not, has been staffing.
That was part of what led Knead Bakery, a plant-based Burlington café and bakery that opened in 2018, to close its doors on Sept. 4.
Owner Rob Blum also cited a recent birth in his family, among other reasons. Blum said that applications for the back of the house at Knead were always slim, potentially because of the added challenges that come with plant-based cooking.
Sullivan said he has been lucky that some individuals have moved from out of state to work at Pingala due to its plant-based mission. At the same time, he is concerned about staff burnout. Pingala’s shorter open hours allows him to offer a 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. job schedule, which he described as “unheard of” in the restaurant business. It is part of the reason he believes his café has been able to hire and retain staff.
Other businesses are experiencing an increase in demand for their products but are battling inflation costs — another problem many restaurants face.
Ren Weiner is the owner of Miss Weinerz, a “small cottage kitchen and yarden operation” that makes doughnuts, many of them plant-based. Though she doesn’t have a retail location, Weiner said she has noticed a growing interest in her vegan products.
Weiner focuses on sourcing regenerative ingredients such as elderberries from a bush in her backyard or peaches from her neighbor’s tree. Despite that, Weiner said that inflation has caused key ingredients, including flour and oil, to nearly double in price. Although she has increased her prices only once — by 15 cents — she said that she might have to do so again in the future.
Sullivan said that the cost of sunflower seed oil has increased drastically due to the war in Ukraine. He said that it’s “inevitable” that Pingala will increase its prices soon — in part to help cover the rising living costs for its employees.
Sweet Alchemy decided to turn part of its home garage into a storage space, stocking three to nine months’ worth of all paper and dry goods to combat inflation. Carr also bought a second larger fridge for Sweet Alchemy’s kitchen in order to buy in bulk. She said that they have also begun pickling specialty items in anticipation of price increases and shortages in the winter months.
Blum said that Knead “undervalued” itself when facing inflation costs, often absorbing the price increases instead of charging customers more. When Knead’s prices increased, Blum said that he saw business shrink. Blum, however, doesn’t believe that closing Knead means that vegan food is becoming less popular. In fact, he thinks it’s gaining in popularity.
According to Sullivan, vegan food has become more normalized. Plant-based restaurants are becoming known for simply having food that people like.
“The vegan food thing is almost in a way becoming less relevant, or less of a consideration,” Sullivan said.
