Crussh Fit Food & Juice Bars, with 35 stores across London, has today turned its Soho store (Broadwick Street) 100% plant-based for the entire month of January as part of Veganuary.
The Soho pop-up boasts over 70 vegan recipes, with highlights including the High Street’s first vegan feta ‘cheese’.
Crussh aims to highlight how plant-based food can be simple and really delicious, encouraging people to think about their meat intake and consider reducing it in a way that works for them.
Turning one store completely plant-based allows the chain to see how consumers respond to a fully vegan Crussh, and whether this may be a sustainable business model for the future.
Already a destination for vegans, Crussh stores across London and the South East boast a food & drink range that is already over 45% plant-based (an increase from 22% in Jan 2017), currently selling over 50 vegan products at all of its sites, including best-sellers Jackfruit Tinga Fit Bowl, served with sweet potato mash, guacamole & fresh slaw and an Avocado, red pepper & cashew nut tapenade wrap. Over 70% of the Crussh food range is vegetarian.
Always pioneering in the health & wellness market, Crussh, London’s original green juice retailer, was first to introduce dairy-free porridge to the high street, launched back in early 2000s, and, most recently, was the first launch a vegan ‘cheese’ toastie, in Jan 2018. Crussh currently offers the broadest range of alternative milks on the high street, at all of its locations – soya, almond, coconut and oat.
Highlights of the fully plant-based menu at Crussh Broadwick Street include smoothies: Protein Gains smoothie made fro soya milk, raspberries, tofu, banana, agave & a plant protein booster, Choco Flax smoothie mae with oat milk, oats, banana, ice, cacao, dates, flax seeds.
Savoury eats are: Vegan ‘cheese’, mushroom & chestnut sourdough spelt toastie, Sourdough spelt toastie with vegan ‘cheese’, mushroom & porcini tapenade, roasted chestnuts & spinach, Black rice & avocado vegan sushi, and Avocado, black sushi rice, shredded carrot, spinach & nori seaweed.
For sweet treats there is Courgette & lime cake, Vegan courgette, pistachio & lime cake with a vegan 'cream cheese' frosting, Chocolate fudge brownie, and Vegan chocolate brownie with a fudge style frosting.
The Instagram-worthy vegan pop-up will bring nature inside with plants hanging from walls and ceilings throughout the store. London-based illustrator, Mark Harrison, has been commissioned to create a series of illustrations celebrating the Power of Plants, which are being used throughout all Crussh stores for the next few months.
Helen Harrison, Head of Marketing, Crussh, commented, ‘We’re really excited to be turning our Soho store vegan for the month of January, it’s something we’ve talked about for a while and it felt like the right time to give it a go! One of the biggest trends we’ve seen this year is the growth in veganism and we know that moving to a more plant-based diet can have such a positive impact on both the health of individuals and the planet.
‘The offering in our Soho store, and across the business, is really focused on maintaining the integrity of vegan food, keeping it pretty simple, really delicious, and staying true to our food values at Crussh.'
Harrison continued, ‘Creating the menu was far easier than we initially thought, as we already have a wide vegan range across the business. There are of course some new additions to the menu, such as 6 new smoothies, all made with a plant-based milk, as well as a new vegan cake range, including a carrot cake and courgette & lime cake.
'Re-designing the store has been a lot of fun and we can’t wait to hear what people think. And if people love it, there’s no reason why it couldn’t remain vegan permanently – it’s really up to our customers!’
The Soho vegan store forms part of the brand’s ‘Powered by Plants’ campaign, an initiative that will see eight new vegan products launch across all Crussh branches, celebrating plants in all their glory. These include: Butternut, harissa & vegan 'feta' wrap, Red pepper & corn chowder, Lemon tart pot, Banana & coconut cacao spread bagel, and freshly pressed Power Greens Juice.