The owner of Glasgow cafe Rose and Grants talks of vegan square sausage success

Over a decade since opening Rose & Grants in the city’s Trongate, Ben Rose knows this better than most and credits one veggie-friendly invention in particular for his cafe’s continued success.

Pictured: Rose and Grants manager Alice Watson (Image: Rose and Grants)

He told the Glasgow Times: “We’ve been here for 11 years which does feel like an achievement in itself.

“We decided to open in the area not long after the Commonwealth Games bid for Glasgow had been accepted.

“There was a real boom of pop-up shops nearby and we hoped to catch some trade from the offices which were opening on Albion Street.

“Since then, in the whole time that we’ve been here, we’ve yet to have a neighbour in either of the units beside us.

“It’s remarkable.”

After months of enjoying a boost in footfall, businesses left in the shadow of the Commonwealth Games began to realise that a difficult future lay ahead.

Luckily, the team at Rose & Grants had a plan.

Ben said: “When the Games were over, we lost a lot of our custom.

“We set about trying to become a ‘destination’ business, somewhere that people would make the effort to come to Trongate for.

“We were trying a few things out on social media when a colleague came up with the idea for a vegan square sausage.

“We shared it on vegan networks and everyone loved it.

“That’s really what cemented us.”

Pictured: Vegan square sausage Via Rose and Grants on Facebook

The square sausage was an instant hit as vegans from all corners of the city raced to taste a meat-free alternative to the definitive Glasgow breakfast.

Made with soya protein and a traditional blend of spices, the sausage is served on a morning roll saturated with plant-based butter and crying out to be topped with a crisp potato scone.

Pure cruelty-free comfort.

Ben said: “I remember the first time I tried it.

“I was shocked by how similar it tasted to the meat version.

“We still use the same recipe and make hundreds every week on site.

“We’ll never change the recipe or stop serving the vegan sausage.”

While there’s no taking away from the sausage’s starring role on the menu, Ben explains that it was just the beginning of a new appreciation for the city’s plant-based palettes.

He said: “We launched a vegan menu to run alongside our regular one and tried to make them as similar as possible.

“I used to think that vegans were only looking for ‘alternative foods' like mung beans or lots of fresh vegetables.

“Looking back now the answer is obvious.

“People just want to be able to enjoy the same everyday food that they did before they went vegan.

“I suppose it’s still quite hard for people to get their heads around.”

Five years on from introducing their much-loved vegan menu, Ben speaks fondly of his regulars and is thankful for all of their continued support, veggie or not.

He said: “We do try and marry the two sides of what we do which is feeding the people who live or work nearby and people who will come in for something special on the weekends.

"I'd say that about 40% of the people we serve are vegan compared to maybe 4% in 2016.

“What I will say about our vegan customers is they’ve brought such a lovely and relaxed tone to the place.

“It’s so welcoming and makes it such a nice place to work.

“We feel really lucky to have such a down-to-earth and friendly clientele with a lot of people who have become regulars.”

He laughs: “It’s a bit like Cheers, just without the alcohol.”

For more information on Rose & Grants click here.