Indian Restaurants are all set to introduce Vegan Menu! Are you?

FSSAI Food Safety and Standards for Vegan Food, Amendment Regulations 2021

FSSAI has issued its first ever draft for Vegan Food Safety and Labelling Standards. The draft regulation includes the definition of Vegan food, introduction of a new logo to identify Vegan products, proper labelling, licensing and compliance details for food manufacturers.

• The draft starts by defining Vegan food as “those foods or food ingredients that have not made use of any ingredients, additives and processing aids of animal origin including milk and milk products, fish, poultry and meat, egg or egg products, honey or honey bee products, materials of insect origin or ingredients that are clarified using animal sourced products.”

• The regulations also outline that food products or ingredients to be called VEGAN, shall not have involved animal testing, and that this will be included in the final product safety evaluation to ensure proper licensing for vegan products. 

• Furthermore, the Food Business Operator shall submit an application with all necessary details related to plant/machinery/premises to the Authority. Inspection and verification of the premises will be done using various analytical tools by concerned Food Safety or Designated Officer.

The products that adhere to these standards will be labelled with the new FSSAI-Vegan logo. This will help consumers identify products that are 100% vegan and cruelty-free.

How Veganism is the next new hot trend in India?

This pandemic has bought a substantial change in people’s food preferences.

With increasing consciousness and awareness about health, environment and animal welfare, people have become more thoughtful of what they consume. More and more number of people are adopting veganism or at least going “part-time vegan.”

Earlier this year, through Veganuary campaign (global plant-based movement) it was found that India stood third after a tie between the US and UK and Germany, and was the only Asian country to make it to the list. Moreover, 6 cities in India-Bengaluru, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai, Pune and New Delhi, are listed in the top 15 cities with the most sign-ups for Veganuary.

More celebrities and influencers converting into veganism and increase in  availability of vegan products in Indian market is driving the change. “Drawing inspiration from Virat Kohli and Serena Williams, foodies are now eating plant-based food for their fuel. They want to try the butters and mock meat and have been coming back for more. Even a regular kirana store now wants to stock mock meat and vegan cheese. They say there’s a demand and they are keen to explore,”

Previously, vegan food was not that great in taste, with health taking the centre stage. Whereas now, it is astonishing to see how popular the vegan dishes are getting, even among non-vegans. A survey from e-commerce platform CashKaro showed a 100% increase in orders for vegan products last year.With increased demand, India is now home to many brands producing vegan meet, egg and dairy alternatives.

Should Your Restaurant Add Vegan Menu Options?

The business potential for veganism seems so promising that many big names have already started to incorporate vegan-friendly options into their menu, with massive success. For instance, Bengaluru’s Nuage Patisserie and Delhi’s Rose Cafe have vegan menus. The Oberoi, Gurgaon’s new Plant-Based Menu is a Vegan’s dream come true.

Several entrepreneurs have also setup a business around it, like Goa based sustainable start up Wakao Foods offers plant-based fairly sourced Ready to Cook and Ready to Eat products; The first offering being the innate jackfruit meat which has found its way on many restaurant menus. Epigamia launched four new flavours of vegan yoghurt. Baskin Robbins India, one of the world’s biggest ice-cream chain launched two new vegan ice-cream flavours and it turned out to be a hit in several Indian households.

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In order to benefit from the trend, your restaurant doesn’t have to become completely plant-based. You can start off by adding few vegan dishes to your menu. This would significantly help in:

1. Growing your customer base
2. Boosting sales
3. Retaining existing customers
4. Getting more group bookings

With growing popularity of plant-based food in India, maybe it is time for your restaurant to revamp the menu & add vegan items to the list. As it brings massive opportunities and a chance to capture a growing share of the market.

How do you plan to take advantage of this opportunity?