Psycle Shoreditch - So what did we think?

WORKOUT REVIEW - BARRE @ Psycle Shoreditch

We’d been wanting to check out Psycle studios for a while now, having walked past the entrance on the way to the restaurant many times before. We’d been crushing on their ultra cool branding for a while already- so we were a little more than excited to be able to finally take a little Vurger Co. team trip to the Shoreditch studio.

Photo credit @ The Hiltlist London

There are currently 4 classes on offer at the Shoreditch branch- Ride (the class that started it all), Strength, Yoga and Barre. We picked the latter because the thought of the team attempting to do any form of ballet seemed an amusing one. Barre is one of the newer additions to Psycle’s programme. It’s a fusion of ballet and pilates with a healthy measure of resistance training thrown in. It’s great for lengthening and toning up the whole body- and if you’re anything like us it’s a sure fire way to discover your lack of grace, agility and general balancing capability...

THE GYM

The gym itself is suuuuper nice. The light and airy entrance features pink opalescent walls, a cute little juice bar and a spacious communal area. It only gets better from here. The only way we can describe the changing rooms is luxury spa meets futuristic space station.

There are complimentary fluffy towels, the shower cubicles are all stocked with the latest snazzy Sachajuan products, and the lockers all come with a handy coded locking system so you don’t have to worry about purchasing a padlock.

It’s worth mentioning that Psycle are doing an awesome workout clothing collaboration with one of our favourite brands LuluLemon at the moment. You can check these out on display in the communal area.

RE-PSYCLE!

What’s so awesome about this studio is the efforts its making to reduce its negative impact on the environment. As you know that’s super important to us at Vurger! They’ve introduced their own water bottles and a refilling station. While you can still purchase plastic water bottles (while their stocks last) they cost a hefty £2- but don’t worry- a whopping £1 of each sale goes towards The Ocean Clean-Up Project. Awesome. They have also ousted plastic clothing bags from the changing rooms, encouraging you to bring your own or purchase a reusable one from the front desk. Like us, all of their drinks containers are made from compostable materials. Yes guys!

THE CLASS

Sinead was our instructor for the 55 minute session. She was super helpful in correcting our postures and keeping us motivated when we needed it. And boy did we need it! It burned. A lot.

Over the course of the session we used resistance bands, medicine balls and small hand weights. The class itself was divided fairly evenly between the barre, freestanding resistance exercises, and mat work. The exercises were extremely dynamic and there was lots of variation which kept things interesting.

On the website they say that this class is ‘made to target the muscles in the thighs, bum, arms and core to the point of fatigue for a serious, results based workout’. They weren’t lying. It’s the most our muscles have ever wobbled during a workout class- barre or other. Unlike many other traditional barre workouts, it’s set to loud pumping music which drives you through the session and makes for a faster paced workout than other more conventional classes. Think of barre on speed. It had a little less focus on the actual ballet positions than other barre classes- but the core principals were still there- and the day after we really felt the difference!

In summary- This class is NOT for the faint hearted- but if you want to see visible results in a matter of a few sessions then you’re in the right place. The amount of people turning up to an 8:15am session is a testament to its popularity. Combined with the mega swish surroundings and the super friendly staff, Psycle definitely earns its place in our top 3 favourite boutique gyms in London!

Thanks you so much to the team at Psycle for letting us come along- we will definitely be back! Please see their website for more details :- https://psyclelondon.com/timetable/shoreditch

The Vurger Co. Team x

Collaboration with Gaz Oakley - @AvantGardeVegan

GAZ OAKLEY X THE VURGER CO - KICKIN’ CARIBBEAN VURGER

What a time to be alive!

2018 so far for us has been a year of immense opportunities. We’ve opened our first restaurant, collaborated with some incredible brands, taken our burgers stateside AND had the opportunity to work with some of the most talented chefs in the game right now. As if that wasn’t enough for us to be thankful for, it doesn’t stop there, and this time we are bringing it a little closer to home (well, Wales, to be precise), in our latest collaboration with one of the UK’s top innovators in plant-based eating, Gaz Oakley (aka Avant Garde Vegan).

Photo credit to @petersullivan_ & @avantgardevegan

Since creating the Avant Garde Vegan Instagram account back in February 2016, fellow Welshman Gaz has gone from strength to strength, building up an incredibly loyal following of subscribers on his YouTube channel and releasing his own highly successful cookbook at the beginning of this year - #VEGAN100.

Gaz has been a friend for almost 2 years now, having come to our first ever pop up way-back-when in October 2016, and we are seriously busting with excitement to be able to work with him on introducing a new and exclusive burger to our menu.

Did somebody say New Burger?!

Yes, that’s right. Gaz’s Kickin’ Caribbean Vurger features a spicy jerk patty topped with fried plantain, crispy coconut bacon, and a generous smothering of Gaz’s special mango ketchup. It’s the ultimate in summer indulgence, packed with punchy, bold and tropical flavours and it’s here for one month only- so don your sunnies and make sure to visit us for your Caribbean fix before it’s too late!

From Saturday 30th June, you’ll be able to wrap your mouths around one of Gaz’s Kickin’ Caribbean burgers, available exclusively from our Shoreditch restaurant!

For more even more of Gaz’s seriously drool-worthy recipes, you can grab a copy of his cookbook, Vegan 100, here.

Thank you Gaz for this incredible opportunity, you talent is limitless, your kindness is unparrallelled, thank you for beliving in us. x

Our week in LA with Chloe Coscarelli

For those of you that have been following us on instagram, you’ll know that the past fews weeks have been pretty crazy. It all started with an incredible night at Tabasco’s 150th Anniversary celebration at Hoxton Docks, where alongside over ten other incredible chefs, we served up the most incredible hot maple bbq Cauli-burger to over a thousand hungry punters.

Little more than a week later we left the cloudy shores of the UK for the….ok we’ll be honest, equally cloudy shores of L.A, to take part in our most exciting and game-changing collaboration to date. In case you didn’t know by now (which would surprise us as it’s pretty much inundated our instagram stories!) we had the pleasure of collaborating with the powerhouse that is Chloe Coscarelli (and her unbelievably lovely mum!)  on the most indulgent, gooey and incredibly cheesy burger creation which we debuted at Eat Drink Vegan Festival, Pasadena. Aside from being a crazy week full of first time experiences (the L.A Wholefoods market at 6am was definitely a memorable one) it was also a week full of new friends, new partnerships, and new horizons.

The idea of meeting with Chloe for the first time was a little nerve wracking, we have to admit. We’ve always had admiration for everything she has built and the great leaps that she has helped the plant-based and vegan movements to make over the past few years. Let’s just say she was more than a large influence on us when we first started out at our little market stall in Tottenham Green. Fast forward 2 years and we are standing in our kitchen cooking with her. It was all a little unreal. We felt like little school girls meeting chloe for the first time- she oozed this confidence and general zest for life that was truly infectious. Her mother, Shelley was the same- we can see where she gets it from!

Chloe spent a solid 5 hours with us lovingly perfecting the signature truffle cheese sauce, to ensure every batch was just as heavenly. And my God, was it. We have found the answer to all of your cheesy prayers people. This cheese sauce is an absolute game changer. It’s gooey, incredibly truffle-y and super indulgent. It’s the kind of sauce you want to eat straight from the bowl without judgement. We have an addiction here people! Thank you Chloe for bringing it into our lives!

The day itself went by like a blur. It was beyond inspiring to see the sheer volume of people in attendance- true proof of how much of an impact our united message is having. It reminded us why we began this journey in the first place- to be part of the pioneering force making delicious and exciting plant based food accessible to the masses- and boy have we come far!  It was so amazing to see so many new faces at our stall, and to receive such resoundingly enthusiastic feedback. To our new friends reading this from over the pond, YOU GUYS ROCK!!! It’s days like these that make all the hard work worth it...

We would also like to say the world’s BIGGEST and most heartfelt thank you to Chloe, Shelley and Don for being so unbelievably supportive and for helping us overcome any issues we had on the day- we’ve never met more genuine and giving people. It was the most humbling experience seeing Chloe meet her admirers with the same overwhelmingly sincere smile, and to hear of the different ways that she has touched so many people’s lives, in the same way that she has ours. We can only say with the utmost certainty that we would be more than honoured to work with Chloe again if ever the opportunity arose! What an uplifting and invigorating experience.

Last but not least, we would like to say thank you to our all-female superstar team, who drove us through the week with some serious determination, commitment and of course those winning smiles! Shout out to Morgan for the bad-ass California playlist, which got us through some long drives and some even longer kitchen cooking sessions!

Among the sweaty cooking marathons and the copious freeway trips we were also able to steal away some time to sample some of the best plant-based grub that L.A has to offer. Very soon we are going to give you guys the low-down on L.A’s food offerings, including the hottest foodie spots, where to get the most ridiculously fluffy pancakes and where to pick up an other-wordly takeaway dinner! Watch this space!

This was our first time returning to L.A since the initial dream trip that started us out on this whole crazy journey. We were once again reminded of the mind-blowingly innovative food scene that is being cultivated there. It’s left us with more of a thirst than ever to change the game her in the UK. Our mission to revolutionise fast food through the power of plants continues...

You can get hold of Chloe’s awesome new book, Chloe Flavour here- https://www.amazon.co.uk/Chloe-Flavor-Saucy-Crispy-Spicy/dp/045149962X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1528719176&sr=8-1&keywords=chloe+flavour

TABASCO COLLABORATION 150TH BIRTHDAY!

As you may well know, May is a very busy month for us. Not only are we packing our bags and heading to California for Eat Drink Vegan Festival (which we are VERY excited about by the way), but next Friday we’ll be heading to Hoxton Docks to take part in Tabasco®’s Global Kitchen event, an awesome night market of food and drink in order to celebrate their 150th anniversary. We’ve been selected alongside 10 other insanely talented chefs at the top of their game. Pretty cool huh?

As part of the celebrations we have been tasked with creating an extra special burger for Tabasco® using their signature hot sauce. We have to say we felt a liiiittle bit of pressure as the last time we collaborated with Tabasco® it resulted in the Auburger, which has now become a firm favourite and a permanent fixture on our menu.

This time though, we think we may have outdone ourselves again. Until now we have kept the new burger under lock and key but now we feel it’s time to share with you all what we’ve been working on. And boy are we onto something good folks, something reeaaal good.

Introducing the new Cauliburg Tabasco burger. Four delectable layers of sweet, sticky, spicy goodness. Featuring a crispy cauliflower-corn fritter in a maple BBQ Tabasco® glaze, sat on a bed of fresh lettuce, topped with sweet and tender cauliflower chunks and finally finished off with strings of red pepper, spring onion and fresh chillies doused in an extra helping of that smooth and more-ish BBQ glaze.

Mouths watering yet? We think we have a new favourite. To be one of the first to try our awesome new creation, head on over to the event page (https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/tabasco-sauce-celebrates-150-years-of-flavouring-food-drinks-tickets-45055275542) where they release a new set of tickets every Friday at 10am.

Thanks Tabasco® again for the awesome opportunity- we’ll see you all there!

OUR SUSTAINABLE EDGE!

Well it’s been a crazy few weeks! We’ve already learnt so much, not only about our own processes  but also about what is most important to you all as our lovely customers!

Something that we have found ourselves talking a lot about over the past few weeks is sustainability and our impact on the planet as a new (and still relatively small) vegan business. It’s an area close to your hearts and it’s very close to ours too.

From day one we have strived to make as little impact on our lovely planet as possible! We get really really excited when we come across new products and methods that can help us to achieve this ongoing goal, which is why we are so happy to be able to offer you these brand spanking new ‘keep cups’ produced by frank green. Frank green donate a portion of the profits from all of their products to Earthwatch. Since 1971, Earthwatch has helped over 100,000 people join leading scientists on crucial environmental research projects around the world. Pretty awesome!

These handy keep cups are available in store now!

Since we began as a market stall we have used 100% compostable packaging, the majority of which comes from a company called Vegware https://www.vegware.com/about/info_1.html. No plastic straws here! The only issue we’ve found with it so far is that they’ve succeeded in making their packaging appear so similar to plastic it’s difficult to tell the difference at first glance!

For those of you, like us,  that like to get a bit nerdy when it comes to this sort of thing, here’s some good-to-know info straight from the Vegware website regarding their packaging! WWW.VEGWARE.CO.UK

Why plants, not plastic?

RENEWABLE - Vegware is made of plants, not plastic. Why use up finite resources – trees, corn and sugarcane are renewable natural materials.

LOWER CARBON- Making plant-based materials emits less carbon than making most plastics. And our Eco Audits count your carbon savings by the kilo.

RECYCLED - We love recycled card, paper and bagasse, our recycled sugarcane fibre. Our Eco Audits track the recycled content in each order - together we're saving virgin materials.

SUSTAINABLY SOURCED-Any virgin card or paper used to make Vegware products come from a responsible forestry source with a recognised chain of custody.

Vegware plant-based materials

PAPER & CARD- Sustainably sourced, using recycled content where we can.

PLA & CPLA- Plant-based alternatives to plastic. Clear PLA for cold use, CPLA for hot.

BAGASSE- Recycled sugarcane. Sturdy & practical, from -15º to 120ºC.

PALM LEAF- Fallen, pressed Areca leaves. Unique eco style.

INKS- Water- or vegetable-based, with a great print finish.

NATUREFLEX- Clear film made from wood pulp. Anti-grease, heat sealable.

ECOVIO- A plant-based compostable material with great properties.

More info on composting- https://www.vegware.com/compostingfaq/info_85.html

One of the best parts of having a permanent restaurant is that we can receive instant feedback from you all! If you have any ideas of how we could improve on what we’re doing already, please don’t hesitate to email us on FEEDME@THEVURGERCO.COM!

As we mentioned earlier on, it’s a topic that we care deeply about and it’s an important ongoing discussion!

All our best wishes,

Rachel 

OUR NEW RESTAURANT

Wow! What an incredible few weeks. We’ve taken a step away this afternoon to reflect on what’s been possibly the craziest month of our lives. In the first week alone we sold over 1500 burgers- that’s a lot! We never expected to receive this much attention and positive feedback in our first few weeks and for this we are so so grateful. You are all just incredible!

From the moment people started queueing outside the front door on that first Saturday we couldn’t help but feel an immense sense of pride (and also a whole lotta nerves) at far we’ve come. That’s largely down to all of you and also the incredible team of people we surround ourselves with- thank you, thank you, thank you!

We’ve had visits from some seriously inspiring people as well as many familiar faces and were also able to host the book launch for Plant Based Pixie’s awesome new book The Wellness Rebel.

We’d like to quickly say one last humongous thank you to the team for being so enthusiastic, energetic and determined over the process of this whole launch- you’ve kept us going and the numerous remarks we’ve received of how friendly you all are has made our day countless times.  

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We have already learnt so much about what means a lot to our customers, and that means a lot to us too. It’s been the BIGGEST learning curve and we are still learning ourselves now- this restaurant business is pretty challenging at times but also seriously rewarding. One of the best things about this company from day one is that we have been strengthened and driven forward by our loyal customers. Having a permanent base now to be able to interact with you all on a daily basis has been the most formative part of all of this. As always we value your feedback and we take each and every one of your comments on board.

But we’re not stopping there! We have some awesome new burgers in the pipeline and we are currently in the process of perfecting the recipes for them! We know you’re going to love them. We are also busy planning our trip stateside for Eat.Drink.Vegan festival at The Rosebowl in Pasadena CA. It’s a tricky job but someone’s gotta do it ey! Shout out to Neil for taking one for the team and volunteering to stay behind and look after things at base camp ;)

Things seem to be moving at a whirlwind speed right now but what an amazing ‘problem’ to have. We can’t wait to meet so many more of you over the coming weeks and to keep spreading The Vurger Co. message!

BIG LOVE!

The Vurger Co Team x

2017 - WHAT A YEAR!

2017………………the epic adventure continues!

As we wrap up another incredible year, we are having a lot of fun thinking back over what has been a life-changing year for us, both personally and as a business. It’s fair to say that in many ways, 2017 hasn’t exactly been the positive answer that we all needed after a challenging 2016. The world, and the UK in particular, has seen more than its fair share of heartache this year but New Year is always a time for hope and optimism for the amazing things that lie ahead.

So we thought we’d round up just some of the wonderful things we’ve experienced this year and bring the year to a close properly, before embarking on our biggest adventure yet in 2018.

US FOOD TOUR

The Vurger Co was born in 2016 after we spent two amazing, eye-opening weeks in sunny California, and saw just how fantastic vegetables really could be. We followed that up early this year with a trip to Los Angeles and New York, as we embarked on a food tour to discover the very best plant-based food that the US has to offer. The trip taught us SO much, but most of all, it reminded us that being unique, authentic to the core and producing food we're proud of is where it's at - so thats exactly what we set out to achieve!! 

NEW MENU

Since late 2016, we have worked very closely with the incredible Andrew Dargue and Donna Conroy, who quite literally blazed a trail for plant-based restaurants when they opened Vanilla Black over 10 years ago. They were the first, and still the absolute best, to prove that vegetables could be the stars of the show on any menu and we are extremely proud to have Andrew and Donna on our team. We worked hard together to revamp our menu and we are super excited about what we will do together in 2018.

BALANCE FESTIVAL

May saw us take part in our first ever major festival, at The Truman Brewery in Shoreditch. We were completely blown away and we got to serve over 2000 burgers to so many wonderful (and very hungry!) people. It was a crazy few days but so exciting to serve up our new menu for the very first time and you all couldn't wait to beg for our first restaurant! 

TABASCO COLLABORATION

In Spring, we were approached by global sauce giant, Tabasco, ahead of their Summer ‘Better BBQ’ campaign. They asked us to create a one-off plant-based burger to star in their campaign and we absolutely jumped at the chance. We spent a long time working on a new burger which would incorporate their fantastic Chipotle sauce and at a pop up in Spitalfields, we unveiled ‘The Auburger’. After starting life as a one-off collaboration, The Auburger quickly became a firm favourite on our menu, and it has stayed there ever since! It's our team's favourite burger too ;) 

CROWDCUBE !!!!!!!!!

What can we say - it was an incredible experience for us! Although it was all over very quickly (3 days!), we had spent the previous 8 months working pretty solidly on preparing for the campaign. Working on our plans, speaking to investors and making sure our food was as accessible as possible to all you lovely people!

EASY RIGHT? WRONG! 

It would be perfectly understandable to look at some crowdfunding success stories and think, “That’s easy, why doesn’t everybody just do that?!”. We get it, and we used to think it too. You look at some businesses and the way they race through their funding targets and it seems like a very simple solution to the age-old funding challenges that start up businesses face. There is some truth in the suggestion that crowdfunding certainly opens up new possibilities and helps the message spread faster. There is absolutely no doubt that it helps you to engage far more deeply with people who already really care about your business and your journey, which is the best part for us. However to reach relatively large funding targets requires a huge amount of preparation and effort and so we are extremely proud of our campaign, but also have a huge amount of respect for anybody who has done the same thing. 

Thank you all for believing in us, what a sensational few days that was for us and The Vurger Co!

EVENTS

WILDERNESS | - INSANE festival, we loved every moment of serving thousands of burgers in just 3 days, with such a gorgeous foodie focus, we loved meeting so many fabulous people, thank you for coming down to see us, especially those who bought tickets JUST to see us! 

LULULEMON | This pop up was set to become a pivotal moment for us as we catered for a little beer mile event at the Spitalfields store - see why this was so important to us below! 

NATIONAL BURGER DAY POP UP | COLLABORATION WITH VANILLA BLACK |  - The most epic burger ever created- if you didnt get to try this, demand we bring it back - because it was seriously  to die for! 

BBC WORLD NEWS |  - Being asked to attend BBC World news was just insane, they wanted to discuss the rise of Veganism, and our record breaking Crowdfunding campaign - it was simply a mind blowing experience for us! 

STYLIST LIVE AT THE OLYMPIA | Honoured and humbled to be invited to cater their whole VIP area, we couldn't have asked for a better response and the feedback was just out of this world. Serving thousands of burgers in 3 days, we learnt so much, met so many people and were absolutely buzzing at the end! 

OUR XMAS SPITALFIELDS MARKET POP UP

Following our one-off collaboration with Lululemon in August, we were invited back to take over their outdoor trading space for a month until Christmas. We had the most fantastic November & December, serving up our amazing Xmas special Vurger, packed with everything that’s great about this time of year! It was a great spot for us and we got to meet so many new people and of course welcome back so many familiar faces too, and it was a great way for us to share our food with you all as we get closer to opening our first permanent site in early 2018! 

AWARDS

We were even lucky enough to be nominated for some awesome awards this year! 

Award Nominations
- Eat Out Magazine 2017 Awards - We were nominated in the 'Best New Brand' category -how cool is that? 
- Casual Dining Restaurant & Pub 2018 Awards - We have been nominated in the 'New Casual Dining Concept of the Year' category to be announced February 2018. Keep your fingers and ties crossed for us! 

LOOKING TO 2018

There are so many things that we are looking forward to next year and we are absolutely sure that it’s going to see the adventure continue! We are nearing completion on our first permanent home and absolutely cant wait to release the news shortly! We also have some surprises coming up in January so keep your eyes peeled! 

“One thing we’ve learnt this year is the power and force of will and how this alone can make change happen”

— THE VURGER CO

 No matter the challenge, a positive will alone can overcome it.

Change is needed in the world and we hope that 2018 is shaped by courage, not fear, tolerance, not segregation and love for all, not hatred. Together we can make great things happen. Choose the path that makes you happy and make decisions for the right reasons, and 2018 will be a fantastic year.
 

THANK YOU SO MUCH

Thank you from the very bottom of our hearts for your constant support. We wish you the most incredible happy and healthy 2018 and we can’t wait to see you soon at our very first permanent home!

BIG LOVE FROM US ALL,

RACHEL, NEIL AND ALL THE VURGER CO TEAM 

XO

NEW LOGO NEW LOOK NEW FEEL - SAME AWESOME TASTE

You might have noticed already but with our Spitalfields pop up around the corner, we wanted to take a few moments to introduce you all to our brand-new look! 

Our awesome new logo represents everything we believe in as a business and was the key moment for the look to evolve! 

We had our original logo designed in June 2016 and it was put together by a fantastic designer who became our closest ally!  At the time, the logo represented our fresh new take on plant-based food and it helped us to stand out from the crowd across our market stalls, pop ups, festivals and other events over the last 18 months or so.

In recent months, we have been working really hard with the amazing team at Benedict Wilhelm design, on the branding and design for our permanent restaurant. This has involved re-evaluating our whole brand – what we stand for, where we are heading and how we want our amazing customers to feel when they come to our restaurants. With that in mind, we decided to move the branding forward, including the logo, and we are super excited to reveal the results!

For us, this marks the evolution of the business from market stall to (almost) permanent restaurant and the new branding is the way we have decided to welcome in the next chapter!

You’ll see this branding working its way across all of our operations in the coming weeks and we are so excited to reveal the amazing space we are working on!

As always, we love to hear your thoughts, and we absolutely can’t wait to see you all this week as we open our Spitalfields pop up.

Big Love from

The Vurger Co team

xo

The Vurger Co Blog

Simply Thank You!

THE   BIGGEST   THANK YOU   FROM US! 

It’s been an unbelievable few weeks and a very busy few months, and we’re still clinging on to summer with a few more special events coming up over the next month or so! We’ve spent the last twelve months learning, meeting, testing, refining, laughing, crying and pretty much everything in between. The Vurger Co was officially “born” on 11th July 2016 and almost a year to the day exactly, on 6th July 2017, we closed our very first crowdfunding campaign on Crowdcube.com, 77 hours after it launched.

We set out to raise £180k, but after reaching that in less than two days, and with the campaign proving so popular with so many wonderful people, we decided to allow the campaign to overfund to £300k. This money will enable us to push The Vurger Co from pop up to permanent, and get the doors open to our very first restaurant. The additional funding will also give us a great springboard and hopefully see the number of restaurants grow in the coming years.

When we began ........

When we started a year ago, we had absolutely no idea what was going to happen. We had a mountain of knowledge and experience to climb, we had so many reasons (and people!) to think we were absolutely crazy, but one thing was absolutely crystal clear for us.

Plant-based food is here to stay and it’s going to change the future of the way we eat, all over the world.

The opportunity to create fun, natural, delicious and accessible plant-based food is unlimited and we felt a burning desire to try and bring our dreams to life. It’s certainly not easy but it’s the most rewarding and fulfilling work we have ever done in our whole careers and it’s made possible by the support, hard work and encouragement of our team, our customers, our suppliers and now our incredible investors!

Really, we cannot thank you all enough. Because of you, we are already working on finding and opening The Vurger Co, in its own permanent home finally, and we couldn’t possibly be more excited to share it with you soon.

T H A N K   Y O U   T O    E V E R Y O N E  !!

We promised as part of our campaign that everybody who invested would have their name on our wall .... so we have entered each name into a name cloud to generate the image of our logo. 

The size of each name is automatically generated and bears no judgement on how much investment has been made. 

We view each investor equally, and see each and every one of you as an essential part of our journey to take The Vurger Co to the next level! 

Thank you to all of our 285 investors!

The BIG news has launched!

We are crowdfunding, and we need you!

We have just announced our exciting news, that we will be launching our crowdfunding campaign on crowdcube.com on Monday 3rd July and we thought we'd share our reason behind the big move!

We would be so incredibly grateful if you could join us in our mission to revolutionise fast food forever through the power of plants, by visiting the link below to find out more about how you can support our campaign.

Why are we looking for investment?

Right from the very beginning, now almost a year ago, we have made no secret of the fact that we want to open The Vurger Co in a permanent space in a great location in London. For us, the stalls, events, festivals and pop ups have been absolutely fantastic. We’ve got to know so many of you so well, built up a passionate and wonderful customer base and we’ve also had the opportunity to refine our menu gradually into what it is today.

This is absolutely the best way to start a restaurant and we are so proud to have spent a year trading this way. However there comes a time when things need to move forward, and for us, that means opening up a beautiful permanent space in London.  We have invested everything of our own, (blood, sweat and tears included) into getting to this point, and this is where our amazing supporters come in!

What is Crowdcube and how does it work?

Crowdcube is one of the world’s largest crowdfunding platforms and works by connecting companies seeking investment to a wide range of investors looking for opportunities. The fantastic thing about Crowdcube is that anybody can invest from a minimum of £10 so it gives supporters of a business the chance to own a portion of it from a very early stage.

The challenge is that as with most other crowdfunding platforms, if a business is unsuccessful in reaching their target in the 30 day period that the campaign is live, the business receives none of the investment. It’s an ‘all or nothing’ approach!

''The Plant Based revolution is coming''  - Google

 

How can you get involved?

On Monday 3rd July, our campaign will go live on Crowdcube.com. We would be absolutely honoured if you could find the time to visit our page, learn more about our business and get a better idea of what it’s all about. From there, if you believe in what we’re building, your investment would help us to make The Vurger Co’s permanent home a reality very soon. You can invest any amount from £10 and absolutely every penny counts, and every penny buys you a portion of our business so that hopefully in the future, we can share its success together.

When we decided that we needed to seek investment to make this happen, we couldn’t think of a better way than crowdfunding. We have incredibly passionate customers, followers and supporters who believe in delicious and natural food for everybody. On a daily basis we receive so many wonderfully supportive comments and emails and we are incredibly grateful for each and every one.

Your support and excitement has really kept us going in recent months so we just want to say the biggest thank you to you all. We are heading into a really exciting few months ahead, and the future is really bright for plant-based food.

*Please join us on this incredible journey!*

Thank you a million times

Rachel & Neil

x

So what next?

The adventure continues!

As we welcome summer back with this beautiful sunshine, we thought we’d pause for a few minutes and update you all on what’s been happening and what’s going to be happening over the next few months.

It’s been a busy couple of months for us! We’ve had lots of pop ups at the Pillbox Kitchen in Bethnal Green, we’ve been on a food (research, of course!) tour of the US, we’ve served hundreds of hungry (and very deserving!) customers at Balance Festival....

Pop ups, festivals and other events are so much fun. It’s the closest a food business can ever get to their customers. Making food right in front of people, handing it over and seeing and hearing people enjoy what they are eating – there’s really no greater feeling!

Markets, pop ups and events have enabled us to get the wheels moving for The Vurger Co, get loads of incredibly important feedback, improve our food and create an amazing buzz around what’s happening next.

We’ve teamed up with Tabasco to bring you the ‘Auburger’ and we’ve also shared a really special day with lovely people at their engagement party! Not to mention our photoshoot with the amazing Masters family!

You can read all about our events and your feedback using the link below!

LOCATION

But it’s hard. Really hard. Setting up, seeing loads of happy customers, building momentum and then having to disappear for another few weeks is so tough!

For us, the real goal is to open our first permanent space – hopefully the first of many! There really isn’t a day that goes by where our wonderful customers don’t ask us when or where we are opening. We are absolutely ready to go and cannot wait to tell you all where it’s going to be and when it’s opening. London is the most incredible city in the world. We absolutely love travelling but no matter where we are, we always find ourselves looking forward to coming home to London. But amazing things are never cheap, and finding a suitable (and affordable!) home for our first permanent restaurant is a real challenge.

YOUR SUPPORT IS EVERYTHING!

We’ve got some really exciting things happening in the next few months which we can’t quite reveal just yet, but will hopefully help us finally open those doors!

We’re going to need your support more than ever before and can absolutely promise you that when we get this open, it will absolutely be the best plant-based, natural fast food in London (and probably the world!). ;)

We’ve learnt so much and The Vurger Co is infinitely better today than it was when we launched at Tottenham Green Market back in August last year. The future is incredible, we just need your support and patience to bear with us whilst we make this happen. In the mean time, please stay tuned for updates and our big news coming soon!

After all, how can we do this without you? 

Thank you, again! 

The Vurger Co Team 

x

Behind the scenes at our photoshoot!

This weekend we had the privilege of working with Jen and Morgan Masters to shoot our whole burger range in all their glory!

We literally had the best day working alongside two creative masterminds and of course their beautiful dog Lola and we thought we'd share some behind the scenes madness and fun with you all! Enjoy!! 

We just loved playing with this little beauty!! Lola you are just adorable!

Mum and daughter duo Jen and Morgan have been our biggest supporters pretty much from the beginning of our journey, so it really was an honour to be able to work with them to shoot a whole new set of Vurgers for our brand new menu! 

Finally just the biggest thank you to the incredible team Jen and Morgan, for welcoming us, for being our biggest supporters and for the awesome work you've done for us!

We really hope you all love the new images as much as we do and we can't wait to see yours when you get to eat them all this weekend!

Make sure you tag us in @thevurgerco so we get to see them all! 

BIG LOVE TVC team x

That TATLER review!

After our latest set of pop ups, where so many of you wonderful people came out to celebrate, enjoy and share great times together, we couldn’t help but to sit and reflect on what has been an unbelievable 8 months since The Vurger Co was born. We are suddenly in April and it literally feels like yesterday that we took our first steps at Tottenham Green Market last summer. So much has happened since then and there’s so much to look forward to!

The mission

From the moment we started, our mission has been to revolutionise fast food through the power of plants. We all love fast food. It’s become a huge part of societies across the world and for good reason. People getting together in a relaxed and laid back environment, enjoying great value delicious food, with the convenience of speed and flexibility of service. But somewhere along the way fast food veered off track, and became processed, un-natural, chemical-loaded junk. Not only that, but it became associated almost solely with meat, with a pretty tragic ‘veggie’ option making up a dark corner of the menu. Leaving a ''WHO WANTS THE VEGGIE BURGER YOU MUST BE MAD'' feeling across the table. 

We believe in real food, we believe in real people and relationships, we believe in real service and we believe our responsibility is to make an impact. However big or small the impact, we all share this planet and we all pass down our experience and wisdom to the next generation so that they can make their mark too. 

We see our responsibility as being one of breaking down walls, smashing stereotypes and making great plant-based food available and accessible to everyone. That’s why we focused from the very beginning on vegetables and other natural produce. Vegetables aren’t for any one group of people. They are something that everybody eats (or should eat!) anyway, so why wouldn’t a vegetable-based burger be to everybody’s taste?

Our goals and THAT Tatler review!

We were talking this week about how we could measure whether we were achieving our fairly lofty goals.

We said that the only way would be when we start seeing shifts in the mainstream market and the mainstream press. When we start seeing plant-based food being talked about in the same breath as any other food. When we see plant-based food being listed in ‘best of’ lists alongside any other food. Not because it’s plant-based, but because it’s just great food. Plain and simple.

We are so proud to see that Tatler, one of the country’s leading mainstream fashion magazines, have included us in their best 5 burgers in London list. To us, these sorts of things make everything so worthwhile and prove that with the right approach, and ears and minds that are open to hearing another way, plant-based food really could be the future.

To be included in the best 5 places to get a burger .... full stop..... is just overwhelming! Thank you @TatlerUK 

Read the full article here also!

Thank you all endlessly for your constant support and stay tuned for what’s next. We have so many exciting plans and so many opportunities for you to get hold of this delicious menu!! We really cannot wait to share it with you!

Have a fantastic weekend in the sunshine, 

The Vurger Co team x

THE VURGER CO BLOG

A moment with .....Pollen and Grace

We are so thrilled to be working with Pollen and Grace, to be able to offer their amazing Bliss Balls and incredible raw protein bar at our pop ups on the 11th and 25th March.

If you're anything like us, we are sure you'd like to find out a little more about the brand, who's behind it and how we've come to love it so much!

So we've managed to capture a rare moment with Stephanie here.....

Where did you get the idea of creating the brand Pollen and Grace?

I always wanted my own business, but the lightbulb moment came just after I found I had intolerances. I was working a busy job and had to change the way I ate and cooked, and noticed the huge gap in the market for healthy, free from food to go options

How did you get your product to market and how would you best advise other budding food businesses like yours to get up and go?

Truthfully, we were winging it for so long. Our first clients, back when we were lunch delivery, were a local office where my friend worked and they kindly let me trial it on them. Then retail just sort of happened - local studios asked us if they could stock our food, and we thought, well why not? And it just made sense, so we went about approaching bigger clients, and now it’s our core business. My advice would be to start small - once you start it’s amazing how quickly things happen. And don’t be afraid to take risks, they’ve worked out well so far for us.

What’s the first thing you do when you wake up and how do you find a balance in your hectic schedule?

I wish I had a ‘calming morning ritual’ but it’s more of a mad dash to get to an exercise class before work. I always start my day with a class at Move Your Frame in Victoria, before heading to the office. I’ll then make a cup of tea and plan the day’s to do list before getting started. These are probably also my ways to find balance - make time for exercise, plan exactly what your agenda for the day is (and try not to deviate) and remember that everything’s easier with a cup of tea.

What does the future hold for you?

Our next big project is to go Nationwide in the UK, and stock into stores across the country rather than just London. We also plan on expanding the product range to offer a wider selection of products, as well as continue to update our current collection

“Our focus is on making innovative food”

— Pollen and Grace

Having gluten and dairy intolerances, and seeing an obvious gap in the market, was it an easy decision to make the jump into creating the business?''

At the time, it was such a niche that it wasn’t even a market as such yet, so it was definitely a big risk. It was the scariest decision of my life to leave a career to cook from my kitchen at home. But of course so worth it, and much better than wondering ‘what if’!

How do you decide what to create and what’s your thought process when coming up with new recipes and ideas?

We believe that creativity works better as a team, so we work on product development twice a year, and get everyone involved. It starts with our naturopath, who looks at themes (alkalising, probiotic etc) then gives a list of ingredients that we’re allowed to use to fit into that health benefit. It’s then over to myself, along with the kitchen team to get creative and start discussing ideas. Through a process of trial and error (and lot’s of taste testing!) we then get to our final products. We have a quick look at food costs to see if it would be an affordable product, and then it’s ready to hit the shelves!

“What inspires me is a crazy belief that everything will work out”

— Stephanie Johnson

What inspires you to keep going?

A crazy belief that everything will work out, and if something doesn’t happen then it wasn’t meant to be. That, and the fact that I want to make it work for all of our amazing staff. And of course the desire to change the way people think about healthy food - quite a few reasons really!

What makes Pollen and Grace different and where are you currently stocked?

Our main USP is that each product is designed specifically so each element compliments the next in terms of taste, but also health benefits and how your body digests it - we don’t just pile anything in and hope for the best! We’re currently stocked in over 40 locations across London including Selfridges, Harrods, Planet Organic and As Nature Intended, as well as fitness studios such as Psycle and Move your Frame.

We would like to thank the amazing Stephanie and the incredible team at Pollen and Grace for the wonderful insight into their business, amazing recipes and plans for the future! 

We couldn't be more excited to be stocking the incredible Bliss balls  and beautiful raw cacao protein bars at our next two pop ups! 

Be sure to show them some love and buy everything in sight! 

Big love, The Vurger Co Team xo

Healthy Happy Glow Mexicano Collaboration Vurger

Health Happy Glow x The Vurger Co

It’s pop up time again!!!

We’re back with an incredible new collaboration with the wonderful Morgan from @healthyhappyglow. You’ve no doubt already caught an early glimpse of this Mexican masterpiece on our Instagram this week but for those who missed it, here it is!

We first met Morgan last year when she was the lucky winner of one of our first proper social media competitions. We delivered a feast to Morgan and her lovely family and since then we’ve become great friends.

What we didn’t know then, but have since discovered, is that Morgan is super-talented in the kitchen and when the chance for a new collaboration came around, we knew she would be perfect for it! Morgan had a great idea for the new Mexicano Vurger and after testing on her family, the spicy and delicious new addition to The Vurger Co family was born.

It’s bursting with flavour, from the spicy beans, chillies and delicious oat fraiche and avocado toppings, and we absolutely can’t wait to share it with you all at our new set of pop ups at The Pillbox Kitchen – 25th February, 11th March and 25th March.

New pop up menu

You can also check out the other new additions to our menu:

A new and improved, cheesier-than-ever Mac n Cheese

-        A new and improved, chocolatier-than-ever brownie with home-made caramel drizzle

-        Amazing treats by @Pollen+Grace

-        New beers from @fivepointsbrew and @bellfieldbrewery

-        New cider from @wearehawkes

Occasionally you meet people who you just know are going to be in your life for a very long time. Morgan, we salute you, and here’s to an exciting month ahead!

The Vurger Co Team xo

Thrive Magazine Best Vegan Burger Inspiration

We opened our emails last week to find out that we had been featured in Thrive Magazine's best Vegan Burger Inspiration! 

Just reading through the Thrive website, you will see so many incredible recipes, featured Q & A's with some incredible chefs and personalities not to mention their incredible instagram account that literally blows our mind on a daily basis!

We are beyond excited about the future of The Vurger Co and literally wouldn't be here without your support, so please accept the biggest thank you from us two! 

We would also like to extend an incredible Thank You to Maranda and her amazing team for featuring us all the way over here in London! 

In the mean time, if you're not familiar with Thrive, please take a look at their website here  http://www.mythrivemag.com/ and of course their amazing social accounts!

Have the best day,

The Vurger Co Team xo

Here's to the Crazy ones... The Misfits.. The Rebels!

The next chapter!

It’s been an incredible 6 months since the first Vurger was sold at Tottenham Green market. For almost a year now, our mission has been to revolutionise fast food.

Somewhere along the way, fast became synonymous with unhealthy, a burger became synonymous with meat and a successful restaurant chain became synonymous with cheap, mass-produced ingredients. We knew that there was another way and that the future was actually so much simpler than the present often is.

We researched, we travelled, we watched, we read, we asked, we learned and we cooked. We were driven by important changes we were making to our own lives and inspired by so many fantastic pioneering restaurants and chefs. Often finding the simplest and best outcomes can prove the most challenging but after months of development, we came up with the first Vurgers – BBQ Nut, Shroomelt and Quin-wahh! The three brave ones who carried the weight of our hopes and dreams and the vulnerability of our efforts to our very first customers.

Right from that first day at Tottenham Green Market, the reaction to our new take on fast food has been truly overwhelming. We have been absolutely blown away by the enthusiasm and excitement about The Vurger Co. We’ve had market stalls, pop up restaurants and even visited offices and customers’ homes to serve up our plant-based delights.

All this alongside full time jobs has been tough to say the least but it’s shown us that the future is incredibly bright for simple, natural and fast plant-based foods. This week, The Vurger Co team have finally left our jobs behind and we are now full time on this amazing journey.

The last couple of years has seen huge changes in our lives and we’ve been inspired by so many truly great people. We’ve always felt like we didn’t quite fit in the corporate worlds we were living in and we started to realise that we saw things a little differently. When we started selling our Vurgers last Summer, we quickly realised that we really weren’t alone in thinking like this and that there were so many people absolutely desperate for change. Tired of having to choose between taste and vegan food, and absolutely desperate for a simple, accessible and exciting new plant-based restaurant with a truly mainstream appeal. No judgment, no weird ingredients, no junk food and truly welcoming to all.

In celebration of us all, and the change that we believe is coming, we thought we would share some of Steve Jobs’ (and his advertising team!) most eloquent words, which have since been shared millions of times but somehow they still give us a lump in our throats!

Here's to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They're not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can't do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.

 Thank you, thank you and thank you again. You have made this possible and we cannot wait to show you what we’ve got planned. Sit tight, stay tuned and look forward to the future….. it’s coming!

The Vurger Co Team xo

But......Where do you get your Protein?

With #veganuary in full swing and record numbers turning green for a month at least, there’s no better time to demystify the question we hear the most – ‘’But where do you get your protein’’

We have gone above and beyond to seek the scientific facts to back up all of the below and aim to go beyond the edit of what people feel is the biggest flaw of following a plant based lifestyle.

Inclusion over exclusion

From the very beginning, The Vurger Co has been fully focused on inclusion. We have worked very hard to create a destination which focusses purely on great quality, natural food, which is accessible to all and above all else, is delicious. Our menu is 100% vegan, it’s true, but we’ve chosen to encourage as many people as possible to enjoy our food and we’ve been so happy over the last 7 months to see just that – with no labels attached. 

Over the course of our pop ups, we have spoken to so many people who were actively on the hunt for great plant-based options. Some had recently watched documentaries and were urgently trying to figure out what to eat. Some were joining vegan/vegetarian friends to see what all the fuss is about with plant-based food. Some were in the process of reducing their meat intake and upping their plant intake, and just looking for some tasty options to suit their changing lifestyles. For us, it’s these stories which make us the happiest because it means that we are slowly but surely helping to change perceptions of what plant-based food is really all about. Simplicity, nature and flavour – that’s really it!

So what is ‘plant protein’ and is it different to ‘protein from meat’ ?

The answer is simply, absolutely not! The body is designed to mix and match the nine essential amino acids you need from different plant sources. Your body doesn’t actually care of the source, as long as it’s there! We understand protein is a critical part of human health, but great sources can be found in so so many other places other than what we as humans are made to believe!

So what are some of the best veggies, seeds, nuts and grains for protein?

As you can see the sources of Protein derived from plants is so vast ! When we set about planning the menu for The Vurger Co, we just knew that we needed to pack a whole lot of protein into each patty. 

The ingredients that contain a whole load of Protein are:-

Lentils – 9g per 35g serving   | Mushrooms – 3.9g per cup  - SHROOMELT - 15g protein approx derived from lentils and mushrooms

…………………………………….               

Black Beans – 7.6g per 35g | Brown rice – 6.5g per 190g | Avocado – 4g - BBQ NUT - 12g protein approx derived from these ingredients

........................................            

Quinoa - 8 grams a cup | Chickpeas- 6g per ½ cup | Cashews- 5g per ¼ cup- QUIN-WAHH!- 9g protein approx derived from these ingredients 

……………………………

Broccoli – 2g per ½ cooked cup  | Kale – 0.7g per cup - SPRINKLE OF GREEN - 9g protein approx derived from these 2 ingredients alone

…………………………….

Each and every plant powered protein ingredient noted above is included in our menu and we’ve estimated the protein values based on the gram calculation inside each Vurger. I think you’ll agree – why would we want anything else when our Vurgers contain just as much good sources of protein?

Made simply, crafted elegantly and cooked naturally

So there you have it, when veggie burgers are made with the best ingredients, all lovingly cooked and made simply with vegetables, legumes, seeds, nuts and grains we see no real reason why you would need anything else!  So whether you’re ready to ditch meat altogether, or whether you want to start with ditching it one day a week, welcome along, we really look forward to showing you how incredible plant power really is!

See you really soon,

The Vurger Co team x