Before we begin the new year, let’s quickly look back on the past one! A short update of everything vegan related in Amsterdam. Several super cool vegan places opened up last year but inevitably there were plenty of closures as well. Happy Cow currently lists 526 vegan and vegan-friendly places in Amsterdam, of which 53 are fully vegan.
More on restaurant openings below, let’s also take a look at supermarket products, animal rights activism in Amsterdam as well as the latest other developments!
Stroopwafels
Vegan stroopwafels going mainstream! You could always find vegan stroopwafels from Billy’s Farm in the organic store. And a few years ago famous Gouda-based stroopwafel company Markus launched a nice vegan one.
But this year they also got available at regular supermarkets Dirk / Dekamarkt, Albert Heijn, Jumbo (new recipe Bakker Joop Stroopwafels) and HEMA (momentarily sold out).
Kiosk vegan coffee
The availability of plant-based milk coffee options is still growing. The Kiosk stores at trainstations are slowly incorporating vegan milk in their menu. At the moment you can find it at their locations at Amsterdam CS (spoor 2), Amsterdam Amstel (spoor 3/4), Amsterdam Muiderpoort, Amsterdam Zuid and Amsterdam Bijlmer.
In the near future Amsterdam CS (middle tunnel) and Amsterdam Sloterdijk will follow.
Products
Nowadays vegan cheese options are abundant in the supermarket! But artisanal vegan cheeses were a bit harder to find after both Vegabond and the Willicroft store closed in 2023. Vega-Life picked up on that and now has a big fridge filled with A LOT of vegan cheeses from allover.
All the new vegan restaurants
Subcult is an all vegan neighbourhood bar in Amsterdam Noord. They are opened mostly daytime for coffee, alcoholic beverages, tostis, sweet baked goods and more.
Karma Kebab opened near Leidseplein, offering vegan kebab dishes and other fastfood.
A classic in town, Maoz Falafel opened their fifth location in Amsterdam at Haarlemmerstraat.
Vegan healthfood chain Wild & The Moon opened a fourth location in Amsterdam at Elandsgracht.
Local favourite Margo’s opened up a second location at Bellamyplein, offering all their vegan pastry as well as plenty of space to sit down.
Urban Bakers opened up a beautiful location to enjoy their baked goods in Amstelveen.
After a succesful pop-up in the beginning of the year, Tea Stories opened up at Haarlemmerdijk.
Started in Paris but now in Amsterdam as well. Vegan fastfood place Green Farmers recently opened at Westerstraat.
The kitchen space at OT301 is back in operation again! Culture kitchen and audio bar The Junction is serving vegan food on Fridays and Saturdays.
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Vegetarian bao bun place Larry’s has several vegan options on their menu. They opened at Kinkerstraat.
Places which closed this year are fastfood spots Flower Burger, The Sunny Burger and some locations of Vegan Junk Food Bar. Also Second Nature, Plant-Based Sushi, Vegan Bamboo Bar and Dr. Smooji closed. The pop-ups of Kool, and Siren at queer bar Pamela came to an end. Longtime vegetarian restaurant Betty’s closed after 35 years, as well as vegetarian store Wild Sage. Vegetarian lunchroom Theehuis De Roos closed because of bankruptcy, but recently started up again. Plant-forward fine dining restaurant Yerba closed this year.
Radion stopped altogether with their restaurant so their vegan restaurant is no more. Ramen Impossible unfortunately is no longer fully vegan. The restaurant of Mediamatic is closed temporarily since a while now. Primo Pasta has been closed ever since they announced in May they would move to a new location.
Activism
This year the Dutch Anti-Fur Movement had a big victory as part of an international coalition protesting the sale of fur in clothing stores. Fashion brand Max Mara stopped using fur after years of campaigning by various groups.
Anonymous for the Voiceless stepped up their vegan outreach game with ‘One Dam Month‘. They educated people about veganism for 30 days in a row at Dam square. New group Vegan Future of Amsterdam is doing outreach every two weeks at Museumplein.
In June international animal rights event National Animal Rights Day took place again at Museumplein. This year marked the 4th edition in Amsterdam.
In September there was a demonstration against bullfighting organised by International Vegan Strike Group and Comité Anti Stierenvechten.
The animal rights movement in the Netherlands is gaining momentum with smart campaigns and activists collaborating. In May the Animal Liberation Summit took place at Plantage Dok, Amsterdam East. A day filled with workshops about animal rights activism and opportunities to meet eachother.
Coming up
On Friday January 24th Vegan Future of Amsterdam is organising a meetup for vegan activists in Amsterdam. There will be short presentations by activists of Anonymous for the Voiceless, We The Free, Vegan Future of Amsterdam as well as myself. Afterwards there is time to hang out.
De Nieuwe Mensa is a new initiative to offer fully vegan meals to students of University of Amsterdam. They will start in January at location Roeterseiland!
This year marked the 10 year anniversary of this project Vegan Amsterdam. Stay vegan, stay active and let’s continue to build a strong community! Have a good one!
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