Veganuary

by David Klemt David Klemt No Comments

Las Vegas Vegan Culinary School Slated for April Opening

Las Vegas Vegan Culinary School Slated for April Opening

by David Klemt

This has been a big year for veganism already.

Multiple sources have named vegan food as a hot (and therefore lucrative) “trend” to watch this year.

The Michelin Guide France awarded a star to an entirely vegan restaurant in France for the first time in history.

And now, news out of Las Vegas is further making this Veganuary one for the books.

Global destination that it is, Las Vegas does its best to appeal to the greatest number of people possible. There are close to two dozen restaurants considered wholly vegan, and hundreds of other venues have vegan-friendly options. For several years now, every restaurant at Wynn Las Vegas has had vegan options on their menus.

The fact that Las Vegas is picking up steam as a vegan-friendly hotspot can be attributed to a few factors.

One, destination cities are about delivering on top-notch experiences. Vegas is no exception—amazing experiences keep people coming back. Two, if it’s trending, it’s very likely available somewhere in Vegas. The more popular it becomes, the more widely available it is throughout the city. And three, Las Vegas operators aren’t in the habit of letting a lucrative opportunity slide by them. People are willing to pay money for vegan food? Then vegan food they shall have!

Vegas Vegan Culinary School & Eatery is slated to open in April 2021. Located in the Arts District of Downtown Las Vegas, the venue will operate as a vegan deli, coffee shop, weekly meal delivery service, space for events and fundraisers, and brick-and-mortar and online culinary school.

According to Vegas Vegan’s Instagram page, demo at their location began around the middle of this month. A post from two days ago shows buildout progress.

This type of project moving from concept to buildout is a big deal for the city, culinary students, vegans, and those curious about the vegan diet. It’s also a big development for vegan food in general.

It’s certainly too early to declare 2021 food trend predictions accurate, of course. However, the opening of a dedicated vegan culinary school and restaurant certainly hints at vegan food ramping up in popularity this year. The same can be said for vegetarian and plant-based diets as well.

Moving forward, it’s going to be important and profitable for operators to have at least a few vegan-friendly F&B menu options. To fail to do so is to alienate vegans, and in this industry alienation equals lost revenue, something no operator can afford.

For those uncertain about what food items to add to their main, delivery and takeout menus, Grubhub listed the below as their top five vegan orders of 2020:

  1. Tofu spring rolls (263 percent more popular in 2020 than 2019)
  2. Plant based burger (251 percent more popular in 2020 than 2019)
  3. Black bean taco (242 percent more popular in 2020 than 2019)
  4. Vegan chocolate cake (211 percent more popular in 2020 than 2019)
  5. Vegan ramen (183 percent more popular in 2020 than 2019)

Succeeding with vegan or other diet-specific items comes down to thoughtful consideration of what will be authentic to a particular restaurant or bar. Just slapping anything vegan on the menu is simply not good enough.

Image: Free To Use Sounds on Unsplash

by David Klemt David Klemt No Comments

0.0 to 0.5 Beers to Know for Dry January and Beyond

0.0 to 0.5 Beers to Know for Dry January and Beyond

by David Klemt

As consumers become more conscious of their drinking habits, alcohol-free beer options are becoming more appealing.

Interest in NA beers grows during Dry January, but shifting consumer habits show that it’s wise to offer alcohol-free options year-round.

Putting both quality non-alcohol and true-zero beers on your menu as part of everyday operations is just good business. Doing so makes guests who have given up alcohol permanently or temporarily will feel included and they’ll remember that your business offered them a complete and enjoyable experience.

Below are several options that will help you develop the NA portion of your menu thoughtfully, split into two categories: 0.5 or lower and true zero.

0.5 or Lower Beers

Mikkeller: The world-famous, revered Danish brewer prepared for Dry January by curating a bundle of five 0.0 to 0.3 beers. Mikkeller Limbo Riesling and Drink’in the Sun are 0.3, and Kinder Series Xtra Grapefruit, Weird Weather and Limbo Raspberry complete the five-pack.

BrewDog: The manifesto for this awesome brewer states that BrewDog is “determined to make a stand for independence, a stand for quality and stand for craft.” This extends to their alcohol-free beers. There are six BrewDog alcohol-free beers, one of which, Ghost Walker, is a collaboration with metal band Lamb of God.

Partake Brewing: Founder and CEO Ted Fleming created Partake Brewing in response to the lack of quality, drinkable alcohol-free beers on the market. Fleming gave up alcohol more than ten years ago but missed drinking a good beer. The Canadian craft brewer has been making inroads into the United States, providing Americans with a high-quality NA beer choice. There are five styles in the Partake Brewing portfolio: Blonde, Pale, IPA, Red, and Stout.

Athletic Brewing Co.: Bill Shufelt, the founder of Athletic Brewing, explains on the Connecticut company’s website that he chose to lead an alcohol-free lifestyle but still enjoyed going out to bars and restaurants. What he didn’t enjoy were the subpar alcohol-free beers that were the only options at most places he visited. So, he filled that void with Athletic Brewing, which currently offers six non-alcohol brews.

Surreal Brewing Company: Husband and wife team Tammer Zein-El-Abedein and Donna Hockey, who live an alcohol-free lifestyle, felt excluded by the lack of quality beer choices available. So, they did something about it: they created their own craft NA beer company operating in California. There are currently seven brews in the Surreal Brewing Company portfolio: Natural Bridges Kolsch, Creatives IPA, Juicy Mavs Hazy IPA, Milkshake IPA, Chandelier Red IPA, 17 Mile Porter, and Pastry Porter.

WellBeing Brewing: This Missouri-based brewer has a singular focus—brewing craft alcohol-free beer. Founder Jeff Stevens, similar to other founders and CEOs of brewers who gave up drinking alcohol, still liked going out to bars and live-music venues. He also ran into a similar problem: NA beers that didn’t offer an enjoyable experience. WellBeing Brewing currently offers five non-alcohol beers, three of which are vegan and therefore work for Veganuary: Heavenly Body Golden Wheat, Hellraiser Dark Amber, and WellBeing Victory Wheat Sports Brew (with electrolytes). Intentional IPA and Intrepid Traveler Coffee Cream Stout round out the portfolio.

Clausthaler: German brewer Clausthaler claims the title of most-awarded non-alcohol beer brewer. Clausthaler offers five alcohol-free options that taste, smell and look like beer: Original, Unfiltered, Dry Hopped, Lemon, and Grapefruit.

Lagunitas IPNA: A 0.5 beer, Lagunitas IPNA is brewed with Citra, Mosaic & CTZ (Columbus, Tomahawk, Zeus) hops so the alcohol-free offering is still as hoppy and full-bodied as its traditional counterparts.

Coors: Launched toward the end of 2019, Coors Edge replaced Coors Non-alcoholic and is intended to taste like Coors Banquet.

0.0 Beers

Budweiser 0.0: Brewed with two-row and six-row barley malt, Budweiser Zero achieves true zero-alcohol status and weighs in at just 50 calories and 11.5 grams of carbs.

Heineken 0.0: It took years, according to Heineken, to get the recipe for Heineken 0.0 just right, which uses the brewer’s famous A-Yeast.

Bitburger Drive: A completely alcohol-free brew from a brewer that adheres German Beer Purity Laws, Bitburger Drive is 0.0 pilsner.

Image: Alex Knight from Pexels

by David Klemt David Klemt No Comments

The 2021 Food Trends to Know for Veganuary

The 2021 Food Trends to Know for Veganuary

by David Klemt

Strange or even inappropriate as it may seem, it’s time to review food trend data and predictions because we’re hurtling toward 2021.

January also plays host to two monthlong traditions that impact F&B operations: Dry January and Veganuary. For this post, we’re focusing on the latter.

Veganuary may not have claimed “tradition” status just yet, to be honest, but it appears to be well on its way. The movement began in the United Kingdom in 2014 as a social and eco-friendly campaign intended to make the transition to adopting a vegan diet as easy as possible.

The movement has been growing each year with 2018 through 2020 seeing the biggest increases in participation. In 2017, a reported 50,000 people had signed up for Veganuary. That number jumped to a reported 170,000 in 2018; 250,000 in 2019; and 400,000 in 2020. According to the Veganuary campaign, 2020’s participation represented more than one million animal lives and the CO2 equivalent of 450,000 flights.

“Research shows that health is a significant driver for so many people going vegan, especially American consumers. But the reasons to test this lifestyle and decrease consumption of animal-based products are countless, from improving health, to reducing animal suffering, and helping to preserve the planet,” said Veganuary CEO Simon Winch in 2018. “Research shows that not only are there more people curious about going vegan, but more people are sticking with the lifestyle after taking part in Veganuary, which is great news! We are thrilled with the enthusiasm and growing response from Americans taking the pledge and will continue to do our part in making it as easy as possible to try vegan, for as many people as possible.”

Participants sign up for free and are challenged to stick to a vegan diet for the entirety of January. While Covid-19 vaccines have been approved, they’re not widely available to the general public. Many markets are still restricted to outdoor dining, delivery and pickup. It’s important that operators stay current with food and consumer behavior trends to remain top of mind and continue generating revenue.

We reviewed multiple sources to find common vegan-friendly food trends for operators to leverage when programming their 2021 menus.

Plant-based (Datassential, Delish)

One big difference between plant-based and vegan is that the latter’s focus on moral and ethical reasons for choosing the diet. Regardless, plant-based is expected to grow in popularity and therefore demand across the globe.

Tofu (Food & Wine, Whole Foods Market)

The great thing about tofu, a sentence I never thought I’d type, is that the back of house can get as creative as they want with it. Tofu “scrambles” (no eggs, just peppers, onions and sweet potato cubes), fishless tacos (breaded and brined tofu), and spaghetti with tofu riffs elevate this ingredient.

Mushrooms (Food & Wine, Whole Foods Market)

Portobello mushrooms, for example, are more than capable of starring in an array of dishes, replacing animal proteins rather easily. There’s also the fact that mushrooms are being used to make to-go packaging, giving eco-minded guests another reason to support a particular restaurant.

Chickpeas (Whole Foods Market, Martha Stewart.com)

“You can chickpea anything,” says Whole Foods Market. In fact, they claim it’s the cauliflower, taking several forms, like pasta and flour.

Hyper-local (Food & Wine, MarthaStewart.com, The New York Times)

The push for restaurants to source ingredients locally and highlight them on their menus isn’t expected to slow. These publications and more are recognizing supporting local as a “trend” (it’s more a movement at this point) that will get stronger in 2021.

Meal kits (Food & Wine, Delish, MarthaStewart.com, The New York Times)

These, as several publications have stated, are here to stay. Consumers got used to these when subscription services exploded in popularity. Some restaurants offered them pre-pandemic as a response to the meal-kit subscription craze, and they’ve become more prevalent since Covid-19 ripped apart the world. They’re a hit with consumers, so operators should consider vegan-friendly meal kits during Veganuary.

Home cooking classes (Datassential, Whole Foods Market, Delish)

Many of us probably feel like our entire lives are one big Zoom meeting at this point. Well, that’s not expected to change any time soon. A great way to connect with guests staying at home is to host cooking classes—with a focus on vegan cooking in January—and follow up with curated meal kits.

Datassential also identified baby carrots and ramen among their 2021 food trend predictions (and both are vegan-friendly), and carob, chicory root, “future” produce (specialty produce varities), and honeysuckle as flavor trends to follow next year.

Two trends that are not considered vegan? Avocados and fermented honey because the reliance on bees to produce and cultivate both are considered “exploitation” by vegans. Remember the moral and ethical difference between vegan and plant-based from above? There you go.

Image: Anh Nguyen on Unsplash

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