When the Edwards family turned their pub completely vegan for January they were on the end of a predictable barrage of cynical commenters.
“You won’t last until February,” posted one reader. And yet weeks later Ryan, Gareth and Jane Edwards have decided to turn the Queen Inn in Cwmbran completely vegan for good after an “astonishing response”.
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“We decided it was worth taking the risk for January because it’s always likely to be a quiet month anyway, but it’s been a genuinely insane response,” said Ryan, taking time out of another extremely busy shift to talk to WalesOnline.
“We’ve been fully booked for an entire month. The only dates we end up having available are cancellations.”
Ryan and mum Jane were already vegan, but the idea came from dad Gareth who thought Veganuary was worth a crack. The family said the decision wasn’t based on changing people’s eating habits, but they feel as though they’re making a difference.
“Some people are sceptical about it,” Ryan explained. “Some wonder why we’re doing it. For many, meat is a staple of their diet and that’s understandable. Some get uptight but people are interested and I enjoy talking about it to customers.
“My favourite type of customers are the interested non-vegans, who are surprised and blown away by what we’re doing.”
They’re getting customers travelling from far and wide. On Saturday, a couple travelled from Scotland after hearing about the Queen Inn online.
“So many people are supporting us, driving hours to come and see us. On Saturday we had a couple come down from Aberdeen in Scotland just for us which is unreal.”
Even Ryan has been left scratching his head as to how popular they’ve become.
“The only reason I can give is because we are a traditional pub which has gone vegan, which I think is unique. We've always been known for good food but for a traditional pub to be fully vegan is strange, and we’ve had a lot of people saying they’ve been waiting for something like this.
“We have had a lot of attention on social media as well. WalesOnline posted it, followed by Plant Based News, Veganuary, and then Greenpeace which was unbelievable. From there we started getting constant calls and messages for days."
So do they want others to follow? Ryan says while it helps being the only vegan pub in the area, they are always looking at the bigger picture.
“I’d absolutely love to see more vegan places open up," he said. "We’re ahead of that curve now, but it’s not about competing. We’re pleased how massively veganism is growing and for that to continue can only be a good thing.
“We see veganism as a relatively new thing but we’ve had people here who have been vegan for 40 years.”
The new-look menu has had an effect on the staff too. “All of our chefs have always cooked meat and I think they’re a little relieved they don’t have to do a steak every hour now. They’ve all gone vegan too.
"It is amazing seeing how many people have opened up to the idea and changed their minds on it.
“We expected to get a few vegan customers coming in who we hoped would stick with it for February and beyond, but we were fully expecting to go back to being 50-50.
“We’ve had a few being narrow-minded about it. I know one person commented on WalesOnline saying we wouldn’t last until February. So that prediction went well.”
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