The University of Cambridge cancelled a plant-based café based on the wrong sales data.

It is now silencing students who pointed out the mistake.

We urge the University to act with academic integrity and as a climate leader by admitting its error and resuming the sustainable plant-based menu.

What happened?

The Whale Café (New Museums Site, University of Cambridge) trialled a fully plant-based menu in October-November 2024 to demonstrate the University Catering Service's commitment to sustainability and lower its climate and biodiversity impact.

In May 2025, the Estates Technical Sub-Committee axed the new menu, claiming the trial had been unsuccessful based on “sales data and survey responses”.

In fact, sales rose during the trial.

The University reached the wrong conclusion because it analysed the wrong dates. The trial took place between 8 October 2024 and 7 November 2024, but the committee wrongly compared sales data from October 2024 vs October 2023. As a result, the first week of November 2024, which saw the highest weekly sales of the whole term, was not included in the analysis. Instead, the first seven days of October 2024 were included… when the Whale Café was closed!

What's more, a majority of visitors preferred the new plant-based menu. Despite the University's claims, survey data showed that most respondents preferred the fully plant-based offering.

Students communicated the mistakes to Graham Matthews, Director of Estates, expecting the University to be concerned about its data analysis failings. Instead, he replied that “the decision has been made” and “we will not be opening this up for further discussion”.

We urge the University of Cambridge to acknowledge errors in its analysis of the Whale Café trial, reverse its decision to cancel the plant-based menu, and support the University Catering Service to transition its venues to sustainable plant-based catering.

Transitioning to plant-based catering can substantially reduce greenhouse gas emissions, as well as decreasing land use for food production, enabling large-scale carbon sequestration and strengthening food security. By aligning its institutional practices with the best scientific evidence, the University would not only acknowledge the urgency of climate change mitigation but actively demonstrate evidence-based sustainability leadership.

Currently, the University of Cambridge ranks “third class” in the People & Planet sustainability rankings. For catering, one of the criteria for which Cambridge scored zero points was “having one plant-based or vegetarian food outlet on campus”.

Join us in demanding that the University of Cambridge act with academic integrity and as the climate leader it claims to be. Help amplify our demand for transparency and sustainability within major institutions.