Hunter Gatherer Coffee marks ten years of business after weathering pandemic and cost of living crisis
The vegan coffee shop opened in 2016
A vegan café in Southsea has celebrated ten years of business, weathering issues like the pandemic and the cost of living crisis by making multiple pivots in menu.
Hunter Gatherer Coffee on Albert Road opened in 2016 as a regular café, and served meat on its menu, but now only sells plant-based food.
“It’s definitely feels like a milestone,” said owner Brian Morton. “I think we have had to cope with a lot of things, Covid and the cost of living and we are leading into unprecedented times.”
“I feel a mixture of emotions, I am very humbled to be here and be in business.”
The coffee shop celebrated their anniversary by having a celebration with their regulars, making a special cake for the occasion.
“Lots of customers came out to celebrate which is great,” said Brian.
“When people realised it was ten years, it was a marker in their life, because they remember when it opened, so it made everyone quite reflective.
“I guess I can’t help but think what things would have been like if covid hadn’t happened. After covid, the role of the coffee shop changed It became even more a part of the community, with groups meeting and place for people to socialise,” he said.
The café has held their own run club, RunSouth, for the last two years, and hosts other regular clubs as well.
“People can connect over something they love,” said Brian.
The idea for the café was born in Colombia, as Brian was at a coffee shop in Medellín,
“I was looking around and thought how cool it would be to run a place that brought people together and connect. The idea was born then, and I came back to the UK and pursued it,” he said.
“We didn’t start as vegan or vegetarian. I ended up with quite a lot of vegans and veggies on my staff but it wasn’t something I knew a lot about.
“One morning, on a busy Saturday, my chef at the time was vegan and she was cooking bacon and we were really busy and she said to me ‘please don’t make me cook any more bacon’
“I said that ‘if we could find tasty alternatives, I am willing to give it a go’,” said Brian.
“We made the menu vegetarian in 2018 and revenue went up 20%. We were veggie until the pandemic, when I think health was very much at the front of everyone's minds,” said Brian.
After watching the documentary The Game Changers, which is about veganism and health, Brian said he “decided to become part of the solution, not the problem.”
“Vegan food was trending at the time, and our revenue went up again another 20%,” he said.
Brian decided to keep cow’s milk on the coffee menu to keep his customer base, but all the food served at Hunter Gatherer Coffee is now plant-based, including tofu eggs and vegan cheese.
“As time has gone on veganism is not as trendy so a lot of those people who are on trend moved on, we keep the kitchen vegan because it is a challenge for me because I like to veganise popular things,” said Brian.
He said that the team at Hunter Gatherer will go into the next 10 years of their business “continuing what we are doing and doing it well”.
You can find out more about Hunter Gatherer Coffee here.