(Plant-based) Cafe Owner

Key skills/talents

• Culinary Expertise: A strong understanding (and a love) for cooking in general and food, in general, but then with an added love for plant-based cooking techniques, flavour combinations, and associated nutritional principles.

• Business Acumen: Sound business skills, including financial management, budgeting, and a level of business planning, are crucial for the overall success and sustainability of a cafe.

• Creativity: The ability to innovate and create unique - and appealing - plant-based dishes that can set your cafe apart in an already competitive ‘hospitality’ market, but where you are also competing against main-stream food that is ‘known and loved’. Being open to experimentation is a must.

• Passion for Health and Wellness: A genuine passion for promoting a healthy lifestyle through plant-based nutrition that will resonate with customers and drive the cafe's mission.

• Sustainability Consciousness: Awareness of sustainable and environmentally friendly practices (existing and emerging), from sourcing ingredients to minimising waste, aligns with and drives the values of many plant-based consumers.

• Effective Communication: Strong communication skills are important for conveying the cafe's mission, values, and menu offerings to customers, staff, and the community. This includes marketing and social media communication.

• Customer Service: Creating a positive and welcoming experience for customers is crucial. Being attentive to customer needs and feedback helps build a loyal customer base.

• Adaptability: The food industry is dynamic, and trends can change. An owner should be adaptable to evolving tastes, dietary preferences, and industry trends.

• Networking Skills: Building relationships with suppliers, local businesses, and the community is important for sourcing quality ingredients, collaborating on events, and creating a sense of community around the cafe.

• Leadership: Leading and managing a team effectively is essential for smooth operations. This includes hiring, training, and motivating staff to uphold the cafe's standards.

• Attention to Detail: In a culinary business, attention to detail is crucial for maintaining quality in food preparation, presentation, and service.

• Tech Savvy: Familiarity with technology, including point-of-sale systems, online ordering platforms, and social media, helps streamline operations and reach a wider audience.

• Risk Management: Being able to assess and manage risks is important in the restaurant industry. This includes addressing challenges promptly and making informed decisions to ensure the cafe's success.

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​Qualifications required

You don't need years of experience or any qualifications to run and own a cafe. As long as you know how to safely and hygienically prepare the food and drink you have decided to sell, and can demonstrate that to your local council, then you are sort-of good to go.

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There are, of course, regulations relating to food & hygiene standards that all premises serving food in the UK need to abide by, and these are stated below.

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And even though qualifications and training in food hygiene aren’t a necessity when running a food business, we would always recommend them, and the courses for this are split into 3 levels:

• Level 1 – Introduction to food hygiene, typically for those handling low-risk food, e.g. wrapped foods. This course may be beneficial for waiting-on and front of house staff with limited food contact.

• Level 2 – Basic food hygiene certificate for staff preparing, cooking and handling food. Most coffee shop staff will need at least a level 2 course, e.g. kitchen staff and baristas.

• Level 3 – Intermediate food hygiene certificate for those with more responsibilities, e.g. coffee shop owners, supervisors, managers and those involved in food safety management systems and HACCP.

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Online study is probably the easiest route to take for these:

Food Safety and Hygiene

Food and Drink

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It will also help massively if you've already had have some level of hospitality experience prior to setting a cafe up… i.e. You have waitressed/waitered at college/uni. Some people really don’t enjoy this element of ‘customer-facing’ work, so it’s worthwhile making sure you do before embarking down this road.

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Rules and regs

Legislation in and around food and hygiene is strict and closely managed by local councils, so really gem-up on everything related to this before you even begin to get started.

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The main laws are:

• The Food Safety Act 1990 – provides a framework for food safety legislation in Great Britain (England, Wales and Scotland). Northern Ireland has different legislation; the Food Safety (Northern Ireland) Order 1991. The Food Safety Act 1990 covers food safety, consumer protection, food information etc.

• The Food Safety and Hygiene (England) Regulations 2013 contents were created under the Food Safety Act 1990. The regulations cover the enforcement of food hygiene and the HACCP principles from Regulation (EC) 852/2004 (retained EU law). There are different regulations for each UK country, e.g: The Food Hygiene (Scotland) Regulations 2006 , The Food Hygiene (Wales) Regulations 2006 and The Food Hygiene Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006.

• The Food Information Regulations 2014 places duties on food businesses to provide effective information to consumers on allergens. These regulations were amended by the Food Information (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2019 to include Natasha’s Law, which came into force on 1st October 2021.

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The Food Standards Agency give further information here.

All food businesses will also need to register with their local local authority, as part of the food business registration.

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Environmental Health Officers (EHOs) are responsible for enforcing food safety and hygiene. They have certain powers under the Food Safety Act 1990 and various food hygiene regulations. If a food business fails to comply with the law, EHOs can give a poor food hygiene rating score or issue enforcement notices. For more serious offences and non-compliance of notices, officers may decide to prosecute, which may mean fines, imprisonment and even closure of the business. If customers are made ill by unsafe food, they may also claim compensation, which can be very costly.

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And of course, when running any food establishment insurances are vital. You will need public liability cover, as well as employers liability, to protect your team. Below are just a couple of examples:

Food and Drink Insurance

Employers Liability Insurance

Business Insurance

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Building (if owned) and contents (needed for owned or rented) insurance cover will protect your premises from rare events like fires, floods, storms and subsidence and cover the contents such as furniture, food, and kitchen equipment.

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Depending on the nature of your business, you may want to look into supplementing the above with goods in transit insurance, stock insurance, loss of money insurance, loss of licence insurance and even cyber insurance to protect against online fraud if you are running online booking systems and storing customer data. SMEI Business Insurance offers info and quotes on all of these areas.

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Remuneration framework

It is almost impossible to state what kind of salary a cafe owner makes, there are so many differentiating factors. Doing your own research will help, though… i.e. Speak to cafe owners in your local area and see if they will talk to you about money and indeed cost barriers in that area (that might affect profitability). Likewise, speak to other plant-based eco cafes (even if not local) and do the same with them (factoring in different location variations, if you can).

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Some cafe owners can barely breakeven, or turn just a small profit each month/year, others can make 6-figures a year and above, and can go on to open 2nd and 3rd venues. It really depends on you and how you intend to run your place/what decisions you make commercially.

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How to get started

Assuming you have read and understood everything above, including all the rules and regs; and you’ve still decided this is definitely for you, we would recommend following Jo’s path, which is to have a good test and learn period on friends and family, first. Have a go at a menu, cook it and either invite friends and family to yours to try (in a faux cafe setting), or even just take the food to them - and gather really honest feedback.

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Jo also booked herself onto a specific and dedicated vegan cookery course, so again, if you can afford to do this, we would highly recommend it… Getting your food right (the main crux of your offering) is everything.

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• The prestigious Le Cordon Bleu runs a diploma course in London that specialises in ‘Plant-Based Culinary Arts.

• TV Chefs, Jamie Oliver & Godon Ramsey both offer plant based courses at their  academies.

• If you are looking to study from home, Leiths Online Cookery School has a 6 week home-study course.

• And the Plant Academy has both in person & online courses available, as well as various workshops… They even run an onsite course in Bali for 2024, if you’re feeling particularly inspired!

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Phase two and with your menu now ‘nailed’, or even while you are still nailing it, is looking for  suitable premises in your location of choice. Getting the right premises may take time, and like with Jo, may then need a lot of renovation work once found; so make sure you factor this into your timeline and cost model. Nb. With a ‘sustainability’ cafe, the location really is key, because customers will judge where you are based and why, so choose this wisely.

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Menu and premises nailed/underway, and with any potential staff recruited, the final part is to make sure you follow all the information we've stated above and then get opening.

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Associations or official bodies to register with

There are two main hospitality ‘trade bodies’ you can join to gather and share information with, so this really depends on how important (and helpful) joining these bigger bodies feels to you as you embark on this journey:

UK Hospitality

Institute Of Hospitality

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As a plant based cafe, you may also be interested in applying to associations such as the Plant Based Foods Association, or the Plant Based Food Alliance.

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Also the Vegan Society.

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Progression pathway​

The demand for plant based cafes in the UK is growing fast, so NOW is your time to do this. That said, the hospitality industry has never been in a more complicated state. Since Brexit and Covid, recruiting and keeping staff in this sector is tough; however, running a sustainability and indeed plant-based cafe/restaurant could be a strategic way to overcome this. The theory being, as Jo touches on in the chat, that you will inevitably recruit staff that inherently share your beliefs and values, so they are likely to come on board quite easily and then stay longer-term (as opposed to staff simply working for you as a job they don't like like very much).

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Assuming you’ve got the menu right, the premises right (all your rules and regs right), the staff right, then you’re kind-of on to a winner… assuming you can draw in a solid customer-base.

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... Which means - and yes, as we always hype on about it - executing effective social media. So if you don’t know what you’re doing in this area, find someone that does. It doesn’t have to be forever, and you can learn from them as they help you, but please please get this part right from the get-go.

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... Because you'll end up busy, and hopefully profitable, which will then leave capacity for further growth. And that growth could come in a number of ways...

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Extending your existing offering, like Jo has done, by opening at night and running more of a bar/restaurant vibe in the evening (cafe in the day).

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This could also mean (and again like Jo has done and intends to do more of after her baby arrives), using the space you have to run other aspects of food and cooking - i.e. cookery workshops.

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Developing your offering, again like Jo has done with her take-away/home-delivery service. If customers can’t come to you, make sure you can always get to them.

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Creating new offerings, which could mean 2nd, 3rd, 4th cafe’s; and if you like this idea, then we would strongly recommend you focus on a commutable geographical area for you, so that you can keep close tabs on every venue, and ensure they are all working to the agreed standards of work. Growth and expansion like this is not for the faint-hearted!