Glasgow food delivery service Vegan Wheels launches trial in city

Vegan Wheels will allow customers to order from vegan cafés and restaurants in the city that are not usually available for home delivery.

Andy Yeung, owner of the plant-based cooperative venture, came up with the idea after he quit his job in a kitchen due to his stance on animal cruelty.

The 38-year-old said: "After I left, I was asked to work for Deliveroo. I thought about it because I love being on my bike.

"But I couldn’t do that in good conscience; I couldn’t start helping companies essentially make a profit from animal cruelty.

"So, I thought, ‘Why don’t I just start delivering on my own?’.

"Everyone wants to do something they’re passionate about; you want to justify your existence and do something meaningful," he added.

"For me, I really wanted to build a network within Glasgow’s vegan community."

Before giving his business model the green light, Andy carried out some research to see how popular a vegan-only delivery service would be.

He said: "Whenever I was in vegan cafés or restaurants, or even at the vegan section in the supermarket, I would ask people what their thoughts were on the concept.

"Surprisingly, pretty much all of them shared the same view. It was reassuring because, at times, I thought that maybe I was being a bit too militant.

"It’s clear that a lot of people don’t want to give their money to companies that mistreat animals."

The delivery service is currently in partnership with one city centre spot - The Glasvegan in St Enoch Square - but aims to seal the deal with more venues in the coming months.

Arita Bereza, owner of the café, said: "Vegan Wheels is a fantastic new project that combines everything we would want in a delivery partner.

"Every small business needs a hand in the beginning, and we're happy for Andy to use us as a test location.

Arita said that it has been a refreshing experience working with a small co-op rather than the big delivery services.

"Vegan Wheels has offered The Glasvegan a much better rate, personalised service and reliability, which is incredibly important," Arita added.

"The testing period has been great. Customers have had only positive feedback and we're not surprised.

"Andy and his team know what they're doing - and they do it with a smile."

The Vegan Wheels team, from left to right, Kristaps Mozulis, Andy Yeung and Emma McCrindle

Andy runs the business with the help of Kristaps Mozulis, 32, and Emma McCrindle, 33, who have decided that any profits made will be donated to an animal charity.

He also explained the reasons behind why he wanted to create a cooperative business rather than a more common alternative.

"I wanted to show that you can have a non-capitalist, economic model that doesn't mean sharing toothbrushes or using flowers for currency," Andy said.

"We kind of pride ourselves in the West on being democratic, but for some reason, we don't put it into action in the workplace.

"So, I guess I wanted to show that you can have a really successful business by doing just that."

As the environment is a growing concern for most vegans, Vegan Wheels have pledged to deliver all orders by only using bicycles.

Andy has already been approached by non-food-related businesses who are keen to work with the company because of its eco-friendy ethos.

"I'd love it to expand to the point where it’s not just food, but it’s vegan products more generally," he added.

"I think most people start their vegan journey because they care for animals - then they find out how bad animal agriculture is for the planet.

"It kind of goes hand-in-hand. There is no point in saving animals if they don't have a planet to live on.

"It’s good to see people being mindful and caring so much about our planet these days. There really are a lot of people that care."