How Coffee Shops and Baristas Can Win with Gluten-Free & Vegan Bakes

Classic banana bread, baked the Simple Bakes way, honest, comforting, irresistible, beautifully moist, and baked to flirt with your coffee.

Walk into almost any London coffee shop today and you’ll see oat milk, dairy-free lattes, and customers asking more than ever about ingredients. Yet when eyes move from the coffee machine to the cake counter, there’s often still a quiet pause:

“Is anything gluten-free?” “Do you have anything vegan?”

and too often the answer is hesitant.

But inclusive bakes are no longer niche. They are becoming mainstream.

In the UK, the number of people following a strictly vegan diet recently jumped by 1.1 million in a single year, bringing the total to 2.5 million adults, nearly 1 in 20. FoodManufacture.co.uk+1

At the same time, demand for plant-based and free-from bakery products is surging:

one recent report found a 56% increase in plant-based food orders at UK quick-service restaurants in 2024. Vegan FTA+1

For coffee shops, this is more than a trend, it’s a major opportunity.

At Simple Bakes, we believe that inclusive baking should never mean compromise. That’s why every product on our site comes with curated coffee and tea pairing suggestions. Because dietary choice doesn’t have to mean sacrificing flavour, texture or indulgence.

When inclusive bakes are baked with care, displayed with confidence, and sold with pride, cafés don’t just meet expectations. They exceed them.

Why Gluten-Free & Vegan Bakes Are a Major Sales Opportunity

Pasta Flora, sweet, tender, and always ready to steal your heart.

Let’s be practical. Today’s customers are:

• More health-aware

• More ingredient-conscious

• More socially inclusive

• More likely to visit in mixed groups with different dietary needs

When one person in a group is gluten-free or vegan, their choice often decides where the whole group eats.

If your counter offers:

• One dry-looking GF brownie in plastic…

  You’ll sell one slice, occasionally.

If your counter offers:

• Multiple beautiful, visibly indulgent gluten-free and vegan bakes…

  You’ll sell to everyone, not just those with restrictions.

And this is the key shift:

The best gluten-free and vegan bakes are no longer “alternatives”.They are choices people actively want.

This is exactly how Simple Bakes develops our inclusive range, not as substitutes, but as bakes created for flavour, texture, and coffee pairing first.

Why Baristas Make the Difference

Your display is important.Your recipes are important.But what your baristas say is what turns looking into buying.

Customers trust baristas.They read their tone instantly.

If a barista sounds unsure about a vegan or gluten-free option, the customer becomes unsure too. If a barista speaks with warmth and confidence, the bake feels exciting, not compromised.

What Baristas Should Never Say

Lemon and Poppy Seeds Cake. Bright, buttery and made to flirt with your flat white.

These phrases quietly kill sales:

• “That’s the only gluten-free one…”

• “It’s vegan, but it’s actually quite nice…”

• “It’s not as good as the normal one…”

• “I’ve never tried it, to be honest…”

Even when well intentioned, these lines suggest the bake is second best, and customers respond by skipping it.

What Baristas Should Say Instead

Here are Simple Bakes–approved selling lines, natural, warm, confident and proven to work in real cafés:

✅ For Gluten-Free Customers:

• “Our gluten-free brownie is one of our bestsellers, it’s rich, fudgy and pairs beautifully with coffee.”

• “That cake is completely gluten-free and baked to order, you wouldn’t know the difference.”

✅ For Vegan Customers:

• “Our vegan blondie is really popular, it’s soft, indulgent, and not overly sweet.”

• “That traybake is plant-based and made fresh, it’s lovely with a flat white or oat latte.”

✅ For Everyone:

• “That one happens to be gluten-free and vegan, it’s just a great cake.”

• “If you like something rich with your coffee, that’s a brilliant choice.”

Notice the difference?The focus is always on flavour, texture and experience first, not restriction.

Use Pairing to Increase the Spend

Pairing sells. Every time.

A barista doesn’t just sell a slice, they sell a moment:

• “That vegan brownie is gorgeous with a mocha.”

• “The gluten-free almond cake works beautifully with a flat white.”

• “If you’re having an oat latte, that traybake is a perfect match.”

At Simple Bakes, all of our gluten-free and vegan recipes are developed with coffee in mind, balanced sweetness, proper structure, and flavours that lift rather than overpower the cup.

How Display Increases Confidence & Sales

Raspberry traybake. Soft crumb, vibrant raspberries, silky cream cheese, perfectly crafted for the cake counter.

People buy with their eyes first.

Your gluten-free and vegan bakes should:

• Be mixed into the main display, not hidden at the end

• Look just as indulgent as everything else

• Be clearly labelled, without big warning-style signs

When customers see inclusive bakes presented with confidence, they assume, correctly, that they are just as good.

And when they trust your counter, they trust your recommendations.

Why Quality Matters More Than the Label

Customers today are extremely quick to spot:

• Dry textures

• Overly “healthy” flavours

• Dense, heavy gluten-free bakes

• Vegan cakes that feel like compromise

That’s why at Simple Bakes we develop our gluten-free and vegan recipes slowly and intentionally, testing for:

• Proper crumb

• Softness

• Moisture

• Balanced sweetness

• Coffee compatibility

So when a barista recommends one, they can do so with confidence, not hesitation.

The Business Result When This Is Done Well

Coffee shops that sell inclusive bakes properly consistently see:

• Higher average spend per customer

• Fewer “just a coffee” orders

• Stronger loyalty

• Better Google reviews

• More group visits

• Repeat customers who trust the counter

In short:

When everyone can order without compromise, everyone buys more.

How Simple Bakes Supports Coffee Shops

Chocolate Brownie. Double the chocolate, double the joy, the perfect companion to your flat white.

At Simple Bakes, we don’t just supply bakes, we help cafés sell them.

• Small-batch, baked-to-order production

• Reliable consistency week after week

• A full gluten-free and vegan range developed for flavour

• Café-friendly formats and portion sizes

• Bakes designed to pair beautifully with coffee

• Ongoing support with menu planning and seasonal ranges

• Every product on our site comes with curated coffee and tea pairing suggestions.

We believe inclusive baking should feel indulgent, confident and profitable — not complicated.

Final Thought

Gluten-free and vegan bakes aren’t a trend.They’re part of modern coffee culture.

And when cafés speak about them with pride, display them with care, and pair them with great coffee, they don’t just meet expectations.

They exceed them.

If you’d like to explore how Simple Bakes can support your café’s gluten-free and vegan offering, we’d love to talk.

Green and blue matcha traybake with rose petals and white chocolate. Matcha magic meets floral elegance, a treat as beautiful as it is delicious.