What to expect from new vegan bakery Plantyful

The shop is the latest venture by Aimee Jackson and Francesco Accolla, the team behind popular Laurieston lunch spot Zilch Deli and artisan vegan cheese company Nutcrafter Creamery.

Far from strangers to the Glasgow vegan scene, the couple says that the opening of Plantyful is the next chapter in their mission to bring the city food that is nourishing for both body and soul.

Aimee said: “The space we’re in now is actually the bakery that we used to supply Zilch Deli, but now we’ve decided to put a counter in and open up to the public as well.

“We put out a whole range of baked goods every morning like croissants, cinnamon buns and Danish pastries as well savoury things like baguettes, sourdoughs and variations of spelt loaves with sun-dried tomatoes or olives.

“It’s really important to us that we produce as much as we can in house all the way from our deli ‘meats’ to our sandwiches.

“We had our soft launch last week and it went really well, the whole concept has been really well received by locals.”

It's a testament to the couples combined hospitality experience to see just how much is on offer daily at Plantyful.

There are vibrant salad bowls, authentic Italian bakes and a fridge full of plant-based alternatives to meats and cheeses which could easily tempt anyone to give veganism a go.

Team Plantyful say that their passion for prioritising health and wellbeing is what inspired them to set up shop in the city centre.

Aimee said: “I think Merchant City really lacks those sort of vegan, health food shop alternatives that offer something more than you can pick up at the supermarket.

“This part of the city is a bit of a desert when it comes to healthier options, but there are lots of residents and new housing developments being built close by.

“Our little patch has suddenly become fully occupied with other new businesses like Pyramid Skate shop or Bare Bones chocolate, so it’s a really nice area.

“What we want to provide for people is a place that they can pop down for a healthy salad box, a fresh warm croissant or a loaf for later in the day.”

“Or even just come in to talk!” Francesco added.

A friendly and welcoming atmosphere awaits you in the shop, and it's clear that the space is intended to be fully inclusive, no matter what your dietary habits.

Francesco said: “People who are vegan come to us because they’re aware of who we are or they follow us on social media.

“But there are a lot of people who just stumble upon us who aren’t vegan at all.

Aimee said: “Definitely, sometimes they don’t even realise until they go to order a coffee and we tell them we don’t serve dairy milk.

“I would say that you can tell that attitudes towards veganism have really started to change because no one has had a problem with it.

"They’re happy to use another milk without any fuss and will often tell us that they’re trying to cut down their meat consumption or maybe only eat fish.

“You don’t have to scream and shout that you’re vegan, and I think a lot of the time people don't even realise that we don't use animal products.

"They just come in, pick up something they think looks good from the counter and go about their day.

“Our shop is vegan because we are, but our main goal is to make good wholesome food.”

Both Francesco and Aimee have been vegan for over 20 years and are committed to proving that ditching animal products doesn't mean missing out on flavour. 

Their first business, Nutcrafter Creamery, has done just that going on to win multiple awards since it was founded by the couple in 2015.

Francesco said: “When we started making our cheeses as we wanted to use the same process you would with dairy.

“So we ferment them, add the flavourings and age them for 20-30 days until they’re ready to be eaten.

“It’s all the same traditional methods, the only difference is that we use cashews.”

It's a labour-intensive process, but this is a huge part of Aimee and Francesco's ethos towards always crafting with care never being scared to push boundaries.

Aimee said: “We just love to experiment. I think for us our biggest motivation in life is to constantly be trying to create something or to expand on what we’ve done already.

“The cheese business morphed into our little deli in Laurieston, which then morphed into Plantyful which is a bigger space allowing us to actually offer our customers fresh fruit and veg too.

Francesco added: “We like to go into more depth with everything we do. We love to think about the science behind food but we also know that eating is all about emotions and sharing experiences.

“That’s what we’re trying to bring to our customers, that wow effect.

“We want people to come into the shop and feel surprised like a child.”

It's this unwavering enthusiasm for what they do that has carried the couple to where they are today and is an attitude that Aimee is happy to live by.

She said: “If you don’t try and offer it then you’re never going to know.

“That’s just who we are and what we try to do.

“It’s so exciting to be able to just put yourself out there and give it a go.”

If you fancy giving Plantyful a go, then click here for more information.