The tea on 2022, and how it’s impacting 2023
The tea on 2022
Put on your tap shoes! We got a soap box to stomp. ☕
2022 was MURDER for restaurants, but especially vegan food businesses. We kicked off the year with the Ukraine war and insane inflation. That caused everyone's cost of living to go through the roof. For restaurants, ingredient costs and labor costs went up. Also, restaurants felt the aftermath of 2021's skyrocketing property values in the form of property tax hikes, which are passed to them by their landlords. Anyway, 2022 was the convergence of every financial woe.
Vegan restaurants are canaries in the coal mine because their margins are super thin compared to other restaurants. And a BUNCH closed in 2022. Many of those still standing in are hanging on by a thread.
Here's a list of 2022 closures, according to Bittersweet :
- Sundaze
- Sweet Ritual
- Sassy's Vegetarian Soul Food
- Plow Bao
- Opera Cafe
- The Corn Dog Guy
- Wasota Vegan Paradise
- Chilaquiles Factory
- The Steeping Room
- Stray's Pizza
- Whyld's Vegan Kitchen
- Counter Culture
- Skull & Cakebones
In a Facebook announcement, the owner of a local vegan chain said, "...Until then, thank you for your patience and understanding as well as your continued support for plant based companies and for keeping us alive... god knows we all need it."
The owner of a long-established vegan food truck said, "...I'll also point out we're still feeling the effects of the pandemic but no longer getting any government assistance to help. It's been a tough year for all of us."
Okay, so that's depressing. But!
We're doers, right? We don't lay down and die, we get up and try! ✊ This is one reason we decided to do the Win Win Win Raffle for Veganuary. It stirs up the economic pot a little.
