New Vietnamese vegetarian food shop opens in Bedford's cultural quarter

A new, independent and family-owned shop promoting vegetarian food has opened in the heart of Bedford's cultural quarter.

Called Lotus, the shop in Castle Lane also sells music as well as handmade Vietnamese gifts.

According to Tom Rouvray, the shop's ethos is eco-friendly, animal friendly and community oriented

He said: "We are not just out to make a profit, but invested in getting to help create a better Bedford, both environmentally and culturally."

As well as being the only shop in Bedford selling Vietnamese food, Lotus also stocks foods from Vietnam, Korea, Japan, China, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines and Indonesia.

The music section is mainly focused on jazz, classical, rock and pop, easy listening and soul and Motown.

Tom added: "Although we originally opened last year, we could not invest enough to get the shop ready to do business due to funding issues, and then re-launched at the beginning of this year, but then the pandemic hit us, so we've never had a chance for a proper launch."