The plant-based food trend is clearly here to stay, whether you like it or not! We go through the benefits of introducing plant-based options on your menu, and how to market them to your audience successfully.
There are three key factors in what's driving the shift in veganism:
Just exactly how many consumers? Research conducted by Roy Morgan in 2019 found 2.5 million people in Australia have diets that are either all, or almost all, vegetarian. That's 12.1% of the population, and the figure rose from 2.2 million in 2014.
And this is not just an Australian trend - according to a Nielsen survey, 39% of consumers in the U.S. and 43% in Canada stated that they aim to include more plant-based foods into their diet. The Economist reports one quarter of 25 to 34 year olds in the U.S. classified themselves as vegetarian or vegan in 2019.
Finally convinced that you should whack a few plant-based options on your menu? Great! Let's move on to how to successfully do this.
When it comes to picking names of a dish, it's just common sense to highlight the very best features. You wouldn't describe a fried chicken burger as a greasy pool of oil. You would want to use adjectives like juicy and crispy, and emphasise the flavour such as cajun-spiced or honey-glazed.
The same logic applies to plant-based dishes. The World Resource's Institute's Better Buying Lab has researched for two years to find language that boosts and suppresses sales of plant-rich foods.
Do not use:
These words all mean something negative to the average meat-lover. They are associated with restriction, a lack of flavour and ultimately an unsatisfying meal. So how can you combat these negative connotations?
Do use:
Emphasis on Look & Feel
The Better Buying Lab found that a dish's flavour, appearance and mouth-feel can dramatically affect a customer's preferences. Plant-rich foods come in a spectrum of colours, which is the single biggest cue people use to set their expectations on what the dish will taste like. Also be sure to utilise evocative words that inspire deliciousness - crunchy, creamy, indulgent, juicy, sticky... The list goes on!
The term 'plant-based' is basically just rebranding vegan eating for the mainstream. Lempert, a veteran food industry analyst, states " 'Plant-based' is as close as you can get to the farm. It's a really smart use of terminology". It's a gentle nudge to promote eating more vegetables, rather than the definitive vegan or vegetarian labels that can make meat-eaters feel like this is not a dish made for them.