From stalbanstimes.co.uk/opinion
Laura Bill reflects on her decision to embrace a vegan lifestyle earlier this year…
A few months since I decided to go vegan I had an idea in the middle of the night – which is where all brilliant or very daft ideas are formed in my crazy head.
If it passes the ‘morning’ test then it might make it out of my mouth and be run by an adult to consider. In this instance, St Albans Times editor Matt Adams.
Why should we have to pay more for an alternative to cow’s milk in our coffee?
After all cow’s milk is for baby cows to drink. Human milk is for baby people to drink. Oats and coconut and soya don’t give birth but seem to be able to be made into a decent enough liquid to take the edge off your otherwise black Americano.
I’ve now realised this was naïve really. Why pay more for one thing than something else? Because it costs more to buy in, of course.
What also struck me in subsequent discussions with café owners is just how considered it all is, how much they do cater for vegans and how much thought they have put into the milk alternative debate.
Brad & Dills’ Oliver Denley said that they charge 20p for alternative milks and gave us a cost breakdown too. He said a litre of whole milk costs him 85p whereas oat milk is £1.40 per litre, coconut is £1.80 and soy milk is the most expensive at £2.10 a litre.
He said: “Alternative milks are double if not more. That’s why we have to charge more. We technically should be charging more than 20p but in a bid to keep our alternative milk drinkers happy we settled with 20p.”
This seems very fair and is arguably a kind gesture on their part. Oliver explained that most people who order alternatives ask for oat milk so it balances out but if people were to drink more soy or coconut they would be operating at a loss.
Interestingly, he said that charging a flat rate for coffee would mean the cost of a flat white would increase to £4.
Julie Lee at George Street Canteen said they charge 50p for alternative milk: “The reason for this is that they are more than double the price of cows’ milk per litre.
“I’m not sure we would be willing to charge a flat rate for all milks as margins are so tight at the moment we couldn’t cover the cost while alternative milk prices are so high.”
Owner of Toast Liam Judge said: “Essentially, pricing in any food business has to be based on the cost of ingredients and the labour cost in the time taken to prepare the dish and its components.”
he revealed that St Albans vegans seem to like oat milk best as it is the most popular. He pays £1.66 per litre versus 64p
for whole milk and so a 30p charge is added for milk alternatives.
Liam said “it wouldn’t make any sense” to charge a flat rate:
“That would be like saying ‘we charge a flat rate for every dish so no one pays more for anything’.”
This is an excellent point and one I hadn’t thought of during my middle-of-night musing.
Hatch owner Chris Evans also charges 30p for vegan milk which he again states is down to the fact that it costs about double regular milk.
He said he believes restaurants should cover the cost but doesn’t think they should profit from it. Nicely thought out. I agree. Nobody should profit from my choice to be kind to animals – except the animals.
Chris said: “For predominantly water-based coffees such as Americanos, we do not charge for the vegan milk as less is required.
“We wouldn’t consider a flat rate yet, as currently regular milk still outsells vegan alternatives. If that balance were to be swayed in favour of vegan milk then of course it could be something to consider. But if we did it now, this would penalise more than it would reward.
“In a time of inflation and tight margins it doesn’t seem logical from a business or customers’ perspective.”
Liam made the point that coffee has gone up a lot in price: “Coffee has had an awful year owing to the weather and is at its highest price yet – a latte and cappuccino are mostly milk. To have increased pricing across the board to take into account milk alternatives would essentially penalise those who drink dairy.”
I mean, I’d be all for that. And nobody is penalised more than the poor cows who have to hear the screams of their babies as they are ripped away from their mums never to be reunited. The dairy industry is horrifically cruel which is why I choose not to be part of it.
There seems to be a great range of vegan brunches and breakfasts in our city.
George Street Canteen offers a vegan breakfast for £13.95 and Julie said although they don’t have many vegan-only options on the menu they can adapt lots of dishes to be vegan.
At Toast a full veggie, vegan and English breakfast all cost the same at £13.
Liam said: “The full English comprises of seven items whereas the veggie and vegan breakfast both have eight.
“Vegan sausages cost more per sausage than a meat sausage.”
He chooses to offer the This is Not pork sausages which are very good quality and Great Taste Gold award winners.
“We deliberately made the pricing the same on these dishes so that all three feel like a satisfying amount of food. Avocado and halloumi aren’t any cheaper than the meat alternatives on the full English.
“We also serve homemade bubble and squeak on the veggie and vegan breakfast which requires more prep time than grilling bacon or putting sausages in the oven. This extra time has to be factored into costings.”
Chris added: “Whether or not a restaurant should be trying to promote eating habits and diets one way or the other is a very interesting notion.
“One thing that is for certain is that a main priority is to supply the demand, and currently the demand still sits in favour of traditional milk, just.”
He is right, of course, it isn’t up to business owners to become the ethics police. It hasn’t stopped the Government doing it with sugar tax on fizzy drinks though. And for decades they have been telling folk not to smoke because it might give them cancer – even showing photos of blackened and diseased lungs on the box.
Being able to have a chat and in such a considered and informed way is brilliant. It’s helped me to be a bit less naïve around business sense, especially Chris’ comment. It all makes perfect sense now I’ve thought about it.
And I also realise now that a campaign for a flat milk rate isn’t really an option. Mainly because we aren’t a communist society.
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