London’s First Vegan Butcher Shop Sells Out on Opening Day

Rudy’s Vegan Butcher in London opened its doors on World Vegan Day, this past Sunday, November 1st. On its first day of business, the butcher sold out of product after 100 online orders were placed in just 10 minutes. It had a long line of excited customers waiting to place their order in the brick-and-mortar shop and the first 200 customers to visit got a half-pound of free vegan bacon each.

Rudy’s posted on Instagram a video of the turnout on its first day with the caption, “This was the line at 10:54 AM before we even opened and it didn't slow down for hours! 100 online orders in the first ten minutes! Thank you to everyone who stopped by, messaged with love, ordered online, and shouted out our news. It was an unbelievable turnout. We are so blessed to have your support and feel overwhelmed by all the love. THANK YOU, thank you a million times and more.”

In a follow-up post, Rudy’s posted that “After such a mad rush we’ve sold out online.” and they would be “back with updates when our dedicated hardworking team of chefs has restocked.”

The team behind Rudy’s Vegan Butcher also runs Rudy’s Vegan Diner in Camden, founded in 2017. The vegan butcher shop stocks everything you need for a plant-based barbecue, with a full meat-free charcuterie section that includes smoked ham, salami de Provence, pepperoni, and pastrami alternatives.

Co-founder Matthew Foster commented on Rudy's success, saying, “People understand what it is that we’re selling. It’s all designed to emulate meat. It tastes like meat, it’s got meat-like texture.”