Cop mother and daughter scold vegan customers at their cafe after they changed their menu to include animal products in a desperate attempt to stay afloat
- Yiayia’s Garden scrapped vegan menu
- Returned to using animal products to keep the business going
- The staff faced vile insults from vegans
A family-run cafe has become the target of vicious abuse after the business was forced to abandon its vegan menu to avoid going out of business.
Natalie Yuannakopoulos and her mother, Fay, run Yiayia’s Garden in Haberfield, a Sydney suburb, but ran into financial trouble after switching their menu to vegan-only.
When Natalie – a vegan – ran the café with her mother, she was uncomfortable with the use of animal products and so they decided to remove meat from the menu.
The cafe was already struggling though six months later, the company was leaking money and was on the verge of closing.
Not enough customers were tempted by the vegan menu, so the mother-and-daughter duo decided to return to a more traditional menu, but only serving ethically sourced produce.
But the menu change was not well received by everyone, as the family was abused by vengeful vegans.
Natalie and Faye Yuannakopoulos’ family-run cafe has been criticized online after being forced to put meat on their menu because they went out of business after former customers insulted them for their decision (photo Faye (left) and Natalie (right)
“Words like murderer and rapist and things like that were thrown at me,” Natalie recalled A current situation.
“They say everything I ever said was fake, that I never cared about animals, and that I sell my soul for money.”
The company was criticized both on social media and on the company’s Google reviews for turning its back on animal liberation in pursuit of profit.
“Ethical slaughter does not exist, no matter how many times you lie to convince yourself that you are not turning your back on your morality for profit. Cya,” read a comment on social media.
“I used to support this company because it supported the fight for animal liberation, but that’s no longer the case, so I’m definitely not coming back here,” reads a Google review of the company.
“Very disappointing, the animals will have to pay the price for the profit you make,” said another person on social media.
Fay said the verbal harassment took a heavy toll.
“It really upset me that people can be so cruel and horrible,” she said.
“Things like ‘you put profit before animals, I hope you go out of business, you should be ashamed of yourself,'” Natalie added.
Their vegan customers were out to slander their name and reputation online
The cafe is slowly getting back to business, reopening on February 21 and the family say they are confident they are going to turn things around.
“A huge thank you to everyone who has already left us messages of support,” they wrote on Facebook after the TV clip aired.
“It’s been a really tough year for our business, and to top it off, the attacks have left us feeling pretty demoralized and lonely at times…so it feels like a big, warm hug from Australia right now.”
Natalie said she is no longer a vegan after the ordeal.
The cafe is slowly getting back to business, reopening on February 21 and the family say they are confident they are going to turn things around
