The Happy Pear
The Happy Pear are Irish twin brothers Dave and Steve Flynn.
In 2004 they opened a small fruit and veg shop which grew into four cafes, 40 products, six online courses, four cookbooks, a veggie farm, a coffee roastery and recently a podcast.4The Happy Pear. 2021. A Little About Us. Available: https://thehappypear.ie/about/ [Accessed 22 September 2021].
Amazingly, the pair went vegan within a week of each other in 2002, on other sides of the world and completely unbeknownst to each other. Since then they’ve been pioneers of the plant-based movement. On their website they state that their mission is “to help everyone to get healthier and be happier!” The duo believe this is possible by eating a plant-based diet and having a strong, supportive community around you.
Everything the twins do is driven by positivity. Although they are successful businessmen, their motives lie in creating positive social change.5The Journal. 2014. Meet the twins behind the happiest, healthiest restaurant in Ireland. Available: https://www.thejournal.ie/happy-pear-greystones-cafe-book-bord-gais-nomination-1774658-Nov2014/ [Accessed 22 September 2021]. They don’t believe in pushing veganism on people or shaming anyone, as they told The Irish Times:
“People get caught up in the titles. I remember being a righteous vegan for about a year,” says Stephen. “We found initially when we started doing the Happy Heart [their health-education course], we were a little bit righteous about it, and ‘You must do it’, and we realised it creates friction.”6Valentine, A. 2016. The Happy Pear: ‘When we started, people looked at us with pity’. Irish Times. Available: https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/people/the-happy-pear-when-we-started-people-looked-at-us-with-pity-1.2506772 [Accessed 22 September 2021].
They are well known for starting each day with a dive into the Irish Sea at sunrise.
“Health is a journey, there’s no destination, and there’s no right or wrong. Everyone has their own path to walk, and in our experience, we’ve found our lifestyle, and eating a plant-based diet, a diet that’s based more around health foods to be more advantageous to us, and connect us to things that we previously weren’t really connected to.”8Mullally, U. 2016. The unstoppable ascent of the Happy Pear. Irish Times. Available: https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/people/the-unstoppable-ascent-of-the-happy-pear-1.2652342 [Accessed 22 September 2021].
