Information For Restauranteurs

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The growing market for plant based dishes

Industry success stories

What vegetarians / vegans look for

GOOD and BAD alternative ingredients

Places to find inspirational and creative dishes

Further Resources for Chefs and Restaurant Managers

The growing market for plant based dishes

While the popularity of plant based diets has waxed and waned throughout contemporary history, industry markers illustrate a current and ongoing up-trend far surpassing any previous periods of vegetarian popularity. It now appears that the plant-based diet in the US is stepping out from the shadows of subculture and into the mainstream. A new reality of the current food industry is an increasingly aware customer-base. While this can present challenges, it is also a strong growth opportunity.

Establishments interested in developing new vegetarian menu items have much to gain, and the lower cost of and longer shelf life of plant ingredients leaves little to lose.

To detail the hard numbers of the plant-based market segment, I refer to the following studies:

Vegetarian Foods in the United States - ResearchAndMarkets - 2005

The Market for Vegetarian Foods - Vegetarian Resource Group

Healthy Eating 2008 - Market Assessment

Industry success stories

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Chipotle expanding it's vegan-chicken offerings to more pilot stores - 2009

What vegetarians / vegans look for

While a topic like this is bound to be somewhat opinion-based and anecdotal, I hope to use my experience as a long-time vegan to help provide some insight on how to please those who eat a plant-based diet.

When shopping for restaurants to patronize, we're more likely than the average consumer to peruse restaurant websites. We'll often spend a fair bit of time comparing different restaurants based upon their menus and how likely they seem to be able to accommodate us. This means a few things:

Vegetarians are much less likely to visit restaurants that don't have a website.

It's reassuring to see a dedicated vegetarian section on the menu; even if it's somewhat sparse, it speaks to the establishment having a working knowledge of how to cook for a vegetarian.

Noting on the menu that you can accommodate vegetarians or that many items can be prepared vegetarian will attract vegetarians.

Preparing something vegetarian means more than omission. I cannot stress this enough: Merely omitting the meat items is slighting the customer; We notice, and we remember. This means you will lose repeat business. Encourage a bit of creativity in your wait/cook staff, as well as communication with your customers. Chances are, the chef will have some great ideas for substitutions or alternative dishes. When I get the feeling that I'm at a capable restaurant, I often ask the chef to toss something together for me around a primary item such as a portabello or eggplant, and very rarely have I been let down. If you have a chef who loves food, chances are, he's surprise and impress.

Considerations to prevent cross-contamination are appreciated, but we're not expecting miracles. While it's reassuring to know that surfaces/implements were wiped down between the cooking of different dishes, we're usually just happy to have the item come out devoid of obvious animal contaminants, such as small meat chunks that belie the same pan being used for an animal dish, then a veg dish. The vast majority of vegetarians & vegans I've met have been friendly and patient. Often we're simply grateful to find a flexible establishment that's trying to make us feel welcome.

Be aware of the not-so-obvious animal-based items we avoid. A good example would be to omit fish sauce from a Pad Thai dish ordered as prepared vegetarian. Other items to withhold or substitute: mayonnaise, meat-base broth, gelatin, etc.

GOOD & BAD alternative ingredients

The availability of alternative ingredients for food service is growing beyond vast. Both independent start-ups such as Daiya, and established companies such as Gardein and Cargill are all jumping into the market of meat, cheese, and other analogs. Quality, cookability, and taste can vary quite a bit, as well as suitability for vegans, or those with food sensitivities to soy, wheat, and eggs.

Since finding suitable and tasty alternatives can be a challenge for chefs new to cooking vegetarian options, Pittsburgh Vegan .Com maintains an up-to-date list of the good, the bad, and the ugly. This list will include top picks in each area, cooking/prepping tips, and rationale behind our endorsement or avoidance of a given product. This information aims to be as unbiased as possible, and since we do not accept corporate donations, you can rest assured that taste is king on PGHV.