A VEGAN woman has been left “disgusted” after discovering there were no meat-free meals on offer during a recent trip to KFC.
Despite KFC’s strong association with fried chicken, a traditionally meat-based foodstuff, Vanessa Hensley and partner Aaron Saini headed to their local branch of the fast-food chain in Exeter earlier this month in the hopes of enjoying a vegan or vegetarian meal.
However, the pescatarian, who does not eat any meat other than fish, was told by staff there no meat-free options available that evening in a development that left Vanessa feeling empty in every sense of the word.
She told Devon Live: "We were all going to treat ourselves as a household to a family bargain bucket and also a vegetarian meal for myself.
"When my partner got to the till to order they said, unfortunately, we haven't got any vegan or vegetarian options on the menu anymore - I thought that was absolutely disgraceful.
"They didn't say a reason why - they were quite rude to my partner.
"I think it's disgusting because there are more and more people becoming vegan and vegetarian these days.
"We both left and said we'll go elsewhere for food - my partner said it's not fair so we ended up having fish and chips."
The experience left Vanessa “angered” and “upset”.
"I felt as though we vegetarians and vegans don't mean anything to them,” she said.
"I think if they don't have those options for people with certain dietary requirements that they should have signage to say 'we don't cater for those people'.
"For a takeaway and eat-in restaurant they're kind of losing out on money.”
Responding to the incident a spokesperson for KFC apologised for the incident.
“We never want our fans to leave feeling disappointed,” they aid.
"It’s always amazing to see how popular our Original Recipe Vegan Burger is, but due to less demand from people out and about at the start of this year, and our focus on running our restaurants responsibly with smaller teams, we prioritised the vegan burger in areas where it was a massive hit."
Unfortunately, it sounds as though they may have lost Vanessa as a customer forever, with the vegan telling Devon Live: “"I'm not going to KFC ever again."
See More: Fast Food, Kfc, Vegan
