Vegan Brighton (the best places to shop and eat)
Brighton is one of England’s most vegan-friendly cities, and has a fair share of plant-based eateries. Get yourself a vegan discount card, to splash out some real bargains!
Vegan eateries don’t accept cash (as bank notes contain animal fat and plastic). Check sites for info on accessibility and being dog-friendly.
Kindly of Brighton (a zero waste vegan supermarket)
Kindly (Brighton) is a big busy vegan supermarket that was founded by an Internet techy wizard, who got bored and decided he wished to do something with his money, to do good.
His aim is to ‘flip the supermarket model on its head’ and put planet before profits. His supermarket even offers vegan sandwiches in compostable packaging (handmade in Brighton).
Locals in Brighton can also order online, or just pop in the store to shop in person. It supports local artisan brands including local beers, to keep money circulating within communities.
The good news is that as a former techy entrepreneur, the founder has plans to take this model nationwide, to rival the big bad supermarket chains! But this time it will be business doing good, not harming animals or the planet.
People want to do good, but they don’t want to do it at the cost of either convenience or choice. We’re trying to bring in a food revolution, where we change the way we consume things. Shiv Misra (founder, Kindly Supermarket)
Infinity Foods (Brighton’s thriving community grocery)
Infinity Foods in the city of Brighton has been around since the 1970s. Democratically run by its workers, it offers a huge range of organic fresh produce, in-store baked bread, vegan groceries and natural beauty and cleaning products, along with a wholesale division.
Many items are sold in refill containers, so bring along clean dry containers to fill up, saving you money as well as packaging. The shop also avoids selling items made with palm oil.
There is also a Community Card, which gives discounts to regular customers. A portion of profits are donated to local charities, usually ones to protect Sussex wildlife or to help poverty and homelessness in Brighton.
Only assistance dogs permitted (due to food being at nose level!)
Harriets of Hove (an indie zero waste shop)
Harriet’s of Hove is a lovely zero-waste shop. It’s co-founded by a dentist, who now will give you a refill, rather than give you a filling! It also offers click-and-collect for food, oat drink powder and household goods (like oxygen bleach), and local delivery. It also offers nationwide delivery from the online shop, for most items.
If buying plants or flowers, read up on pet-friendly gardens to know what to avoid.
The No Catch Co (Brighton’s vegan fish and chippy!)
The No Catch Co (Brighton) is England’s first vegan fish and chip shop! Set up by animal welfare campaigners, it was designed to offer an alternative to fish caught in nets (that catch other species), and help reduce fishing for cod (now endangered), sold in zero waste packaging.
Most items are made from algae-based protein (2.3 trillion fish are killed each year for food). The fishing industry also catches dolphins, seals, whales, sea turtles and sharks – and causes immense suffering and greenhouse gas emissions.
Diners are blown away by wonderful alternatives::
- Vegan Cod or Smoked Haddock & Chips
- Jumbo Battered Saveloy & Chips
- Jumbo Lemom Shrimp
- Calamari Sides & Chips
- No-Cow Desserts!
Chips are no longer wrapped in newspaper, due to food regulations. And if you visiting a normal fish and chip shop, it’s not good to buy ‘fish leftovers for cats’, as most are too fatty, and have hidden bones.
Purezza Pizzeria (Brighton, London, Manchester)
Purezza (London, Brighton, Manchester) is an award-winning vegan pizzeria that launched around 10 years ago, founded by an Italian who uses mostly local organic ingredients and no palm oil (outlets are furnished with reclaimed materials, run on green energy and even the loos have recycled bathroom tissue!
The range includes pizzas topped with their own cashew mozzarella (sold wholesale to other restaurants) includes Quattro formaggi (4 vegan cheeses!), Fungi pizza (with truffle oil) and Plant-based salami pizza.
Keep fresh dough away from children and pets. Don’t give leftover pizza crust to pets, garden birds or wildfowl (could choke, and salt is toxic)
CauliBox makes reusable pizza takeaway boxes that can be washed and returned to companies to save money and reduce waste packaging. This is far better than takeaway boxes that often leave those plastic sauce pots everywhere next morning, where people litter the night before.
