A “woke” vegan restaurant has flopped so badly that its owners have been forced to start selling meat in an effort to save the business from going bust.
In the English town of Taunton, about 150 miles southwest of London, The Mango Tree is closing temporarily for renovation.
When the struggling restaurant opens back up in the fall, it won’t just be just the decor that has changed.
The menu has also been renovated and now includes meat, according to the U.K. Daily Mail.
“Those who loved the plant-based values have hit out saying ‘selling meat is worse than closing’,” the outlet notes.
However, the restaurant’s owners say they’ve had no choice but to adapt, given the circumstances.
Last month, the restaurant announced the renovations in a Facebook post.
But the post failed to inform the restaurant’s handful of “woke” customers about the addition of meat to the menu.
“Our final day as The Mango Tree is approaching fast, before we close our doors for a little while, ready to open our new restaurant in the autumn — same location, same team and including some of our renowned plant-based dishes, alongside exciting new menu options and a brand new vibe!” the post read.
The post added that, when the restaurant reopens, it “will be serving a variety of dishes to accommodate a wide variety of dietary needs and preferences.”
The new “variety” includes meat, obviously, and vegans were horrified.
“I’m very saddened to hear this as someone who put so much energy into your restaurant I understand entirely why you are doing this but from a vegan standpoint I would see this as unethical practice,” one user wrote.
“The non-vegans will probably be happy to see this but sadly I think you may have lost my business from now as I cannot support this decision wishing you the best.”
The restaurant responded by saying “continuing as a purely vegan restaurant has not been sustainable for a considerable amount of time as there are simply not enough customers supporting us in our current format.”
And, as for those who were whining about the ethics of meat-eating, management asked them to consider the ethics of putting people out of work.
“The only other option was to close permanently,” the restaurant wrote.
“Ethics extend to the jobs and welfare of our wonderful team, to whom we owe a great deal, and another chance.”
But for the outraged “woke” critics, the only life that matters is animal life.
“Veganism isn’t a business venture,” one user wrote.
“It’s an ethical philosophy that does the best for the animals, the planet, and public health.
“Introducing animal products to a menu in a town that has so many other restaurants makes no sense.
“It immediately increases the environmental footprint.
“It means that the restaurant immediately starts to support animals going through hell again.”
Not that one restaurant will change the environmental footprint.
It’s eminently clear that there aren’t enough actual humans willing to follow Bill Gates and the World Economic Forum down the primrose path to a plant-based diet.
“Despite lots of marketing, many special offers, offering dine-in and takeaway, introducing the use of home delivery partners, and working incredibly hard to be as efficient as possible, not enough of the local population used us regularly enough to make continuing in the current format sustainable,” the restaurant stated.
“We must move on with positivity and are determined to do so.”
Vegans may be loud but paying customers are louder.
