Animal lovers are blasting a New Jersey restaurant owner for adding chicken and fish to the menu of her vegan eatery in an effort to get new customers.
Ashley Coyne, the owner and operator of the vegan and gluten-free restaurant Goodbeet in Haddon Township, announced a “plot twist” on social media last month that ignited anger in the plant-based community, according to NJ Advance Media.
“We’re keeping our menu the same but adding the option to add local, organic, pasture-raised chicken or wild caught Jail Island salmon on to any bowl along with a platter option for a protein and two sides,” Coyne wrote in an Oct. 19 post on Instagram.
She noted that other restaurants have been adding vegan options to their menus — a change that picked up pace around the time of the COVID outbreak.
Calling the spread of vegan options to traditional restaurants “amazing progress,” Coyne wrote that “it also meant that vegan restaurants weren’t such a destination anymore since you could go places where everyone could enjoy the meal they actually want.”
“We want to be that place,” she wrote.
Coyne told NJ Advance Media that while she wasn’t surprised by the criticism, she was taken aback by its ferocity.
“I knew there would be backlash about the animal products,” Coyne was quoted as saying.
“But I thought they’d be happier that we were fighting to stay alive opposed to just throwing our hands up and closing.”
One commenter on Instagram replied sarcastically: “We’re adding the option to add carcasses slaughtered against their will or dead fish with hippie words to make you feel good about it on to any bowl.”
Another Instagram user replied: “I hope you close for good.”
“Here’s the plot twist — your most loyal customers hate you now,” another angry social media user wrote.
“Really disappointed in this. Especially in the excitement in which you’re delivering the new,” a different account chimed in.
Others, however, were supportive of the move while calling out the negative comments.
One Goodbeet patron said they will continue to eat at the restaurant since moving to nearby Collingswood, NJ.
Another frequent customer who drives to Haddon Township from nearby Philadelphia to eat at Goodbeet called the comments “totally ridiculous.”
“Love your restaurant! Always have and always will! Ignore the haters girl!” wrote another supporter.
Coyne told NJ Advance Media that her eatery, like all businesses in the restaurant industry, has been under pressure due to rising costs of food and labor.
Adding meat options was necessary due to stiffening competition in the healthy food sector, according to the restaurateur.
“We’re competing with Chopt down the street now, Wonder just opened, Cava — all of these places have vegan options,” she said.
“They also have options for people that want meat, so people are going there if they have someone in their party that doesn’t love vegan food.”
Coyne has also had to grapple with surging utility costs and significant increases in the cost of rent.
Since 2019, food and labor costs have increased by about 35% each, while utilities are up 18% and occupancy costs by 14%, according to the National Restaurant Association.
As of August, the Consumer Price Index for food was up 3.2% year-over-year, while restaurant menu prices were up 3.9% compared to last year, outpacing grocery price inflation, according to the US Department of Agriculture.
The Post has sought comment from Coyne.
