A burger chain with branches across Cornwall has recreated all of its real beef and chicken burgers into meat-free versions following a surge in demand for more plant-based options.

Hub Box was one of the first to pioneer street food culture in St Ives, and now the eatery has partnered with the pioneers in the plant-based world, THIS™, to bring more meat alternatives to its ten restaurants across Cornwall, the south west and Cardiff, including Truro, Falmouth and its original St Ives branch.

THIS™ has built up a fanbase of vegans through creating plant-based foods that they say look and taste just like the real thing - to the point where real meat eaters also enjoy their meals.

The new partnership will see Hub Box use their Isn’t Bacon and Isn’t Chicken to bulk up their meat-free offering. 

The vegan menu, which launches today, promises the same taste of a Hub Box burger but meat free.

It will be served alongside the restaurant's existing meat options. 

Falmouth Packet:

Hub Box's 'Dirty Disco' but vegan

Plant-based imitations of Hub Box’s beef and chicken burgers include:

  • Beyond Bacon Double Cheese: Double Beyond Meat patty, double THIS Isn’t Bacon, double smoked cheese, smoky barbecue sauce, lettuce
  • Beyond Hub: Beyond Meat patty, THIS Isn’t bacon, smoked cheese, Hub sauce, red onion, lettuce
  • THIS Isn’t Buttermilk Chicken: THIS Isn’t chicken patty, garlic, mayo, lettuce
  • THIS Isn’t Kim Yum Chick: THIS Isn’t chicken patty, Korean barbecue sauce, chipotle mayo, lettuce
  • THIS Isn’t Hey FC: THIS Isn’t chicken patty, smoked cheese, smoky barbecue sauce, pickles, lettuce
  • THIS Isn’t Katsu: THIS Isn’t chicken patty, katsu sauce, pickled carrot, Kewpie mayo, coriander, lettuce
  • THIS Isn’t Dirty Disco: THIS Isn’t chicken patty, THIS Isn’t bacon, smoked cheese, guacamole, hot sauce, mayo, pickled red onion, lettuce

Hub Box has grown to ten venues since its original restaurant launched in St Ives in 2003, made up of: St Ives, Taunton, Truro, Bristol, Exeter, Falmouth, Pentewan, Plymouth, Portsmouth, and Cardiff.

Falmouth Packet:

The vegan 'buttermilk chicken' burger

Richard Boon, Hub Box CEO, said: “The effort we put into sourcing only the best produce has been a key ingredient to Hub Box’s success. We wanted to get our plant-based burgers as close to our real meat staples, whilst keeping the famous Hub Box taste.

"THIS™ was the standout option and we’re delighted to get the partnership underway, and give our customers more choice.”

The plant-based comany's co-founder Andy Shovel, who actually owned his own burger chain before co-founding THIS™, said: “Pete and I are ex-meat lovers who created THIS™ because we were always disappointed by the plant-based options in meaty joints. So it’s wicked to be launching in Hub Box – the plant-based dishes they’ve dreamt up with our products are lush and I’m pretty sure meat eaters won’t be able to tell the difference.”