Sunderland's first dedicated vegan cafe Good Apple celebrates 10 years in the city

The Good Apple has seen many changes in the city centre since it opened its doors in Derwent Street in 2013, from the rise of coffee shop culture in the city to the difficulties of navigating a pandemic.

But owner Donna Chan’s passion for filling a gap in the market in her home city has borne fruit and Good Apple is still going strong a decade later.

The businesswoman started the venture after returning to Sunderland in her late 20s after studying for her Fine Art degree in Manchester and travelling.

She noticed Sunderland was lacking in vegetarian and vegan options so readily available in bigger cities and took on her parents’ existing unit to bring something new to the city.

Good Apple started as a vegetarian cafe, but as people’s appetite for vegan food increased, it became fully vegan in 2020.

Today, it has a dedicated team of five staff, including chef Robin Kennedy, and has a loyal customer base, many of whom have been visiting since 2013.

"Moving to Manchester was an eye-opener as there was such a variety of foods and coffee shops, but when I returned to Sunderland I noticed it hadn’t changed that much,” said Donna.

She added:"At the time around 50% of my friends were vegetarian and there wasn’t many places to eat that catered for that, or independent coffee shops. Pop Recs started that same year, 2013, and that was also something quite different at the time.

"So I wanted to open a cute coffee shop where people could hang out and also get vegetarian food. It really took off and we got great feedback from the beginning. We have regulars since day one and they’ve become great friends as well as customers.”

Donna says there’s also been great support from surrounding businesses, with Derwent Street home to a string of long-running independents such as Reynolds, Dr Funkenstein and Designer Childrenswear.

Vegan breakfasts have become one of the most popular items on the menu, which also includes soup and sandwich deals and specials such as bravas hash bowl and poke bowls.

There’s also a range of speciality teas and drinks available as well as vegan cakes such as blondies, brownies and courgette and lemon cake.

:: The Good Apple cafe is open Tuesday to Friday from 10am to 3pm and 10am until 3.30pm on Saturdays.