How big is the vegan slice of the eating out pie?

When my predominantly vegetarian daughter had her pick of take-away meals on New Year’s Eve she chose Ready Burger in Crouch End, whose fully plant-based proposition aims to mirror that of McDonald’s with a similar looking menu and equally competitive pricing with its core Ready Burger a mere 99p.

New kid on the block: ReadyBurger in Crouch End, North London

In contrast, my son is not quite as interested in embracing the meat-free ethos, instead having contrarian tendencies to his sister and demanding meat at most mealtimes. He therefore joined his usually meat-lite parents to enjoy a beef Rendang dish among other meaty options from a local Malaysian restaurant.

Herein lies the issue with vegetarian restaurants; they appeal very strongly to a committed grouping but for many people they still remain off the radar and are not considered an option when spending money on a take-away or when dining out. Yes, vegetarianism and veganism is on the rise but it’s still a minority sport – albeit one that is growing, especially among younger people.

In the 25-34 age range as many as 45% of people said they had cut back on meat in recent months, according to Mintel, and the number of vegans rose by 40% last year (although still to only 3% of the population), based on research from Finder. My guess is that those people reducing their meat intake are most likely to cut their consumption at home whereas when dining out they splurge on the meat options. How many people watch their health by limiting their butter-spreading at home but then when in a restaurant they make up for it by “treating” themselves to slathering mountains of the full-fat version on their bread.

Amid the rise in non-meat consumption it was interesting to see the decision by Claridge’s hotel to close its Davies & Brook restaurant at the end of December when its partner chef Daniel Humm announced that he wanted to switch to a fully vegan menu to align it with his New York City–based three Michelin starred 11 Madison Park dining room. His change in stance was based on strong feelings: “Standing behind this mission, and what we believe in, is most important and is unfortunately not something we can compromise on.”

While his epiphany for plant-based food, and uncompromising position on the matter, has to be applauded it is invariably the job of Claridge’s as hotelier to compromise on behalf of its guests. As good as Humm’s food is the broad mix of Claridge’s residents – including many from the steak-chomping US – meant it had no choice but to part ways with the talented chef.

Mission driven: Daniel Humm, Davies & Brook

There is clearly a place for restaurants focused purely on plant-based foods and 11 Madison Park along with the likes of Alex Gauthier’s eponymous restaurant in London’s Soho attracts many people – undoubtedly helped by the fact these top chefs could magic up the food equivalent of a silk purse out of a meat-free version of a sow’s ear. But for other restaurants that are less of a destination and don’t have stars in the kitchen it will no doubt be a tough challenge to succeed when the cuisine only appeals to a specific chunk of the population.

What might help broadcast the vegan message is the recent deluge of activity we’ve seen from some of the biggest names in the quick service restaurant industry. In only the past few weeks KFC has brought its vegan chicken burger back permanently and is testing out its Beyond Fried Chicken for a limited period, McDonald’s has made its McPlant burger available in all its UK and Ireland restaurants following a successful trial, Shake Shack has made its Crispy shallot burger permanent in the UK, Burger King has launched vegan nuggets, and Wagamama has introduced a vegan fish and chips dish to its menu.

While such moves do indeed spread the message of vegan foods and introduce meat alternatives to a broader audience they also dramatically increase competition in the market. This further raises the question of whether there is yet a big enough slice of the eating out pie for pure vegan.

Glynn Davis, editor, Retail Insider

This piece was originally published on Propel Info where Glynn Davis writes a regular Friday opinion piece. Retail Insider would like to thank Propel for allowing the reproduction of this column.

restaurants that are pitched in the affordable, mainstream segment of the market.