Plant-Based Diets: Could You Offer a Meatless Menu?
Posted by Lockhart Catering
on 31 March 2017
Did your restaurant take part in Veganuary this year? Many restaurants supported their customers who had pledged to go meat-free in January by offering vegan options, or even an entirely a vegan menu.
We first talked about the growing interest in plant-based foods back in March 2015, when we covered the meat-free Mondays concept here on the blog blog - but since then, interest in vegan dining has only kept on growing.
More consumers than ever before are choosing to eat meat-free for both health and ethical reasons, and as a result many restaurants, coffee shops and bars are responding to demand by providing a far better choice of vegan dishes as part of their regular menus. What that means to most vegans is, they now have more exciting options to choose from than just a green salad and chips!
Today on the blog we’re looking at the reasons why you should consider offering a meatless menu, as well as highlighting some of the brands that are already doing it well. Plus, we’ll cover a few points you’ll need to consider if you’d like to be more inclusive of your customers who are vegan, or who are trying to eat more of a plant-based diet.
Plant-based eating: more than just a health food trend
Plant-based eaters are a growing group in the UK, which could in part be thanks to the annual Veganuary campaign, which encourages consumers to start the year by eating meatless for a month.
According to statistics from the organisers, 67% of those who responded to the end of Veganuary survey 2017 pledged that they’d be sticking with the dietary changes they’d made. 97% also reported that they felt healthier after following a vegan diet for just one month, and 87% even said that they lost weight.
Mintel’s Global Food and Drink Trends 2017 report also identified plant-based eating as a major global trend for this year, with more people taking a ‘flexitarian’ approach – meaning that they choose vegan or plant-based food and drink options more occasionally, rather than making a wholesale diet and lifestyle change.
Between September 2015 and August 2016 there was an 11% increase in ‘vegetarian’ food and drink launches and 4% in ‘vegan’, so it makes fiscal sense for restaurants and other foodservice businesses to pay more attention to the widespread interest in plant-based eating by offering more meat and dairy-free options on the menu.
The plant-based food takeover
Here in the UK, the number of vegans has risen by 350% in the last decade - that’s a lot of plant based spending power, and big brands and independents alike are starting to take notice.
So, after being long forgotten by most mainstream restaurants for many years, vegetarians and vegans (as well as those that dabble in the diet) are finding that rather than having a few token side dishes or appetisers to pick from, they are increasingly being offered a menu all of their own.
Restaurants at the fine dining end of the market are offering vegetarian or vegan tasting menus, whilst popular high street chains such as Zizzi, and Ask and even Wetherspoons have launched vegan-friendly menus along with lots of vegetarian options.
And it’s not just restaurants that are ‘growing’ their plant-based offerings - Pret a Manger recently announced that it will open a second vegetarian-only branch with plenty of vegan options on the menu.
However, Brits are powered by our brews and cake - so how is that market fairing when it comes to dairy-free treats? Popular London coffee shop, The Fields Beneath, recently announced that they would no longer be serving cows milk with its coffee, instead offering a range of plant-based alternative milks.
The plant-based trend has even infiltrated the tradition of afternoon tea and while you can order vegan afternoon teas at the likes of the Ritz, the Savoy and Claridges (with advanced notice), Egerton House Hotel has gone the whole hog (or not) and launched a vegan afternoon tea menu that’s available all the time.
Tips for plant-based menu inclusion
Newcastle vegan food blogger Emma, aka Canny Food was behind the launch of the city’s first ever Vegan Restaurant Week, which saw restaurants across the city run special vegan menus for a full week – and many chose to keep their menus on offer even after the week had ended. Speaking about the plant-based and vegan options in restaurants, she told us:
“It is often very simple to adapt dishes for those who are vegetarian or vegan, in my opinion. Rather than feeling special ingredients need to be purchased to accommodate those who are meat free, it is best to focus on the best quality produce you can find seasonally or create something based on what you have available already.”
Meat free cooking is about taking away elements that people chose not to eat, perhaps for religious or ethical reasons. It is possible to produce tasty food without meat, and many food outlets in Newcastle reported a huge increase in sales by promoting their vegan and vegetarian options during Vegan Restaurant Week."
But wherever you are in the country, if you’re noticing that more customers are making requests for vegan and vegetarian options at your restaurant, then it could certainly be time to start following the plant-based menu trend.
Introducing creative and appealing plant-based dishes will give them appeal to a wider customer base than just those that always follow a vegetarian and vegan diet, and here are a few tips to help you get started with creating a plant-based menu selection:
• Think about how your existing dishes can be adapted to be vegetarian or vegan-friendly, just by switching out some of the ingredients for tofu or other plant-based alternatives.
• Consider your drinks menu too – there are many good quality vegan and vegetarian wines, beers and spirits, and you could even add exciting vegan freakshakes to satisfy those with a sweet tooth!
• Keep health in mind when creating dishes, as a large amount of people are following a plant-based diet for health reasons, so will want to see options that are nutritious as well as filling and tasty.
• Look to local producers to source your fruit, vegetables and ingredients, and consider making your menu seasonal – this will not only make your choices more interesting but also ensure that they always taste their best.
• Remember that plant-based menus offer opportunities for you to start recycling and repurposing food, as we’ve covered in one of our most recent articles.
• Unless your restaurant is going entirely meat and dairy-free, it’s a good idea to use colour-coded utensils and chopping boards in your kitchen to help keep ingredients separate and prevent cross-contamination. Our ultimate guide to foodservice colour-coding helpfully explains this further.
Will you be joining the restaurants that are already offering vegan menus and plant-based dishes, or have you already successfully done so? We’d love to hear about the menu options that you have added, as well as the ones that customers have been enjoying most. Leave us a comment below or send us a tweet @BunzlLockhart to share your thoughts about meatless menus and plant-based restaurant dishes.
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