Vegan eatery Café Thrive in Southampton celebrates five years

The ‘non-preachy’ Café Thrive in Hanover Buildings marked the special occasion on September 2.

The popular café specialises in vegan cakes, junk food, healthy meals, specials, and much more.

A nice cafe, not just a vegan cafe

Owner Sarah Abbott said: “When myself and my business partner Adam Taylor opened five years ago we didn’t want to be known as the ‘vegan café’, we wanted to be the nice café people come to.

Cafe Thrive staff members. From L to R: Front of house manager Lee Passelle and cafe owner Sarah Abbott (Image: Maya George, Newsquest)

“We wanted to offer an alternative and make vegan food accessible and not be preachy about it.

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“It is somewhere for people to come and have a coffee and a really great burger which they may not realise is vegan.

“It's a great opportunity for people to try something new.”

'Five years is an achievement'

On celebrating the café’s fifth birthday, the 36-year-old said making it this far is a massive achievement.

She said: “With everything that has happened, five years seems like an awfully long time ago and the world was in a different place.

Vegan cakes in Cafe Thrive, Southampton (Image: Maya George, Newsquest)

“But we made it to half a decade and that is an achievement in my eyes, especially when shops are closing left right and centre.

“There will always be a place for eating out.”

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In the last five years alone, Sarah and the team have frequently changed the menu, introduced weekly specials (“to keep things interesting,” Sarah adds), raised money for charities, and hosted events for Valentine’s Day and Halloween.

The café always welcomes new customers too.

Sarah opened the Thrive in 2017 after moving to the city, from Poole, to launch nearby health store Rice Up, which she is no longer involved in.

She said: “Every week we get people coming in who, until that moment, never knew we were here, which is great.

“We still welcome new people after five years which is amazing really.”

What does the future hold?

So what comes next for Café Thrive as it continues to gain momentum?

Well, simply staying afloat during these challenging times.

Sarah said: “Obviously, with prices going up we have to work hard to stay afloat so we can still attract customers through the door.

Cafe Thrive's chocolate orange milkshake and Lord of the Rings burger (Image: Maya George, Newsquest)

“For now, we want to concentrate on doing the best we can for this café.

“I am cautious about opening another one as I want to focus on this.

“When I worked at Rice Up, people definitely wanted something like Café Thrive and I thought I could do it.

“I had a good idea of what people wanted and it has been received it well and they keep coming back, so I’ll take that as a win.”

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