Vegetarian cooking is enjoying an extreme makeover: green food is no longer the crunchy preserve of a small minority. In fact, it is hitting the mainstream, as there are more vegetarians among us and even more flexitarians (people whose diet is mostly vegetarian but sometimes includes meat, fish, or poultry).
As reported by Statistic Brain, in the Unitade States, a total of 7.3 million people acclaimed that their diet was vegetarian, while 1 million reported that they were strictly vegan. Furthermore, around 23 million respondents reported that they follow a vegetarian-inclined diet.
Across the ocean, FAOSTAT figures showed that Europeans ate about 87 kg of meat per capita in 2009, compared to 95,5 kg in 1990.
As you can see, this flexitarian approach is definitely a growing trend!
Sustainability and meat reduction are two key-concepts of our time, so... we might just well ride this wave and show some support.
Add a vegan option to your Catering!
Vegetarians enjoy food just like everyone else. Thankfully, it is quite obvious that the vegetarian choices in restaurants are improving dramatically. Back in the days, the best deal a vegetarian could get would be a veggie lasagne or a simple lettuce salad.
Now, no matter where you go, meat-free options are endless and quite varied: it is relatively easy to find delicious casseroles, elaborated couscous salads or tacos filled with zucchini and jalapeños.So, whenever possible, add a veggie option to your catering! It is:
- Inclusive. When you offer meat-free options, you are including everyone. By not offering vegetarian choices, you might be excluding potential customers that won’t even get near your expensive ham…
- Wealthy. With people increasingly concerned about their health and weight, having some nice salads and fruit on your table will definitely drag their attention.
- And cool! Let’s face it: veggie is no longer a hippie thing. It is getting quite fashionable: research proves that the younger generations are slowly avoiding meat and adding more vegetables to their diets. Join the movement and you’ll be seen as a modern hoster!
As you can see, offering an innovative, healthy and colorful catering can really give you some extra points!
And - last piece of advice - don’t settle for a raw kale salad when you can have something as delicious (and beautiful!) as a sun dried tomato hummus. It has never been this easy to make exciting meatless meals. Besides, with such greal colors and textures, veggie food will surely have an appealing presentation, calling the attention (and appetite!) of everyone.