In June 2022, Georgia Alexander opened a vegan restaurant in Augusta, but just one year later, she and her mother and co-owner, Diane Francis are struggling to keep the business afloat, thanks to mounting debts and rising food costs.
Alexander and Francis own Soca Vegan Kitchen, which serves a variety of Trinidad-inspired dishes and is located at 630 Crane Creek Drive, Suite 103, near Sprouts Farmers Market. Alexander recently started a GoFundMe with a goal of raising $500,000. As of Friday, she had received 10 donations totaling $735.
“We are asking for support from the community to help us pay off high-interest debt and cover operational costs, so we can continue to provide delicious, all-natural vegan cuisine to our customers,” said Alexander in her post on GoFundMe.
ABD spoke to her about the financial challenges they’re facing, and she said they specifically need help paying off loans they took out to cover their start-up costs.
“Business is going well; if we didn’t have the debts, we would be OK,” Alexander said.
Like other business owners, they have a laundry list of other expenses, including rent and payroll. While she and Francis don’t have to worry about the high cost of meat, the costs of other ingredients, including sugar, have steadily increased.
“I’m trying to keep my staff employed,” she said. “I pay them a decent wage, so they don’t have to work more than one job.”
Including Alexander and her mother, they have 12 employees, and she doesn’t want to lay anyone off. Alexander said running the restaurant without help would be nearly impossible.
She now wishes they had been better prepared financially and avoided going into debt.
“We should’ve started saving 20 years ago, but the dreams we had 20 years ago weren’t the same dreams we have today,” Alexander said.
She said without debt, they could also afford to spend more money on marketing. They’ve considered delivering advertising flyers about Soca to Augusta area businesses. Once their financial problems are resolved, Alexander plans to give back to the community by continuing to provide jobs, support CSRA farmers, and donate to local causes.
“You can’t do that without making money,” she said.
Alexander said the restaurant is one of the only sit-down vegan eateries in the CSRA.
“It’s not just for vegans,” she said.
The mother-daughter team has signed up to participate in a program for Black-owned vegan restaurant owners through the University of South Carolina. In that program, they’ll teach classes on cooking and healthy eating.
“We need to stay open because that program starts in September,” Alexander said. “It’s June, and we’re struggling; I’m not trying to close.”
Soca isn’t the only local vegan restaurant that has struggled to stay in business. Dawg! That’s Vegan, which served a variety of meatless burgers that tasted like the real thing, opened in North Augusta in Oct. 2021 and closed early last year.
For more information, visit socavegankitchen.com/ or gofundme.com/f/help-keep-our-restaurant-thriving?member=27512025&sharetype=teams&utm_campaign=p_na+share-sheet&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.
