DURLEY Chine’s environmental hub turned over £12,000 worth of food sales in eight months including the summer months, a new report has shown. 

Sales figures for the controversial £2.4m ‘eco hub’ on the seafront show £2,953 was taken in for vegan products and £9,060 for meat and non-plant based products. 

This figure spanned April 1 and December 31, 2023, according to a report looking at the viability of the council offering strictly vegan food on its menus. 

BCP Council’s eco hub hit national headlines in the summer of 2023 after the authority ditched its strictly vegetarian menu following feedback from hungry diners demanding meat. 

The report, written by BCP Council officers, said: “It would not be currently desirable to increase the vegan offer, since a vegan-only offer was trialled at the Durley Hub in 2023 and was unsuccessful with negative customer feedback. 

“Staff received many comments as to why only vegan products were available and some customers who wanted meat products would leave because we were just offering the vegan option.  

“Following this, some meat and non plant-based items were introduced to the menu.” 

It added that vegan products “currently cost more to purchase so reduce the profit margin”. 

The Prom Cafe in Pier Approach saw nine per cent of its sales being vegan compared to 91 per cent non-vegan sales.

According to BCP Council’s catering manager for commercial operations Maxime Froger, less than 10 per cent of the council’s menus across the seafront are vegan.

However, despite the “established demand for nonvegan products” at the Terrace Cafe at the Pavillion, a switch to a strictly vegan “would impact sales, increase costs and risk making the operation unviable”, the report added.

On the Woodpecker Cafe in Queen’s Park, the report highlighted the cost of vegan alternative products is typically 155 to 230 per cent more than non-vegan products. 

It said: “Slow sales on an increased vegan offering would also increase wastage, adding to cost of good. It would not be viable for Queen’s Park Catering to operate as a fully vegan outlet as this does not reflect the demographic of visitors or events bookings at Queen’s Park. 

“This would also have a significant negative impact on the attraction of Queen’s Park Golf Course as the offerings are closely tied.”