2024-02-09 17:09:01
Less meat and dairy on the menu is an important way to combat animal suffering in livestock farming. Sixteen caterers have now endorsed the objective of the Wakker Dier foundation. ‘In a company restaurant you can easily introduce people to a different way of eating.’
The organically designed company restaurant with barista bar of the Triodos Bank is certainly not representative of the average canteen. The high glass wall all around offers a view of the De Reehorst estate in Driebergen-Rijsenburg. The large buffet, with glass jars of fermented vegetables as decoration, would not look out of place in a hip grand café.
From 12 o’clock, employees form a line, trays in front of the stomach, an appraising glance at the dishes on display. Today on the menu: pumpkin soup, spicy chickpea stew with harissa or couscous salad with roasted vegetables. And of course there are sandwiches and the salad bar. “Today we would also offer a meat dish, but the meat has not been delivered,” says restaurant manager Mychel Jansen.
One of the most sustainable caterers
Jansen works for caterer Vermaat, but you don’t see that anywhere else, as is usual. Vermaat has five hundred locations throughout the country, making it one of the largest Dutch catering companies. “Companies hire us, but we never mention our own name,” explains Vermaat’s sustainability manager Pauline Rosenberg. “Not even in what we call ‘conceptual restaurants’, such as Rijks restaurant in Amsterdam or Hemel en Aarde in Utrecht.”
Based on detailed emissions figures and food mileage figures, Vermaat dares to call itself one of the most sustainable caterers in the country. It was therefore a piece of cake for the company to comply with the call from the Wakker Dier foundation to serve at least 60 percent vegetable proteins by 2030. “Our policy goes further than that. We aim for 80 percent plant-based,” says Rosenberg.
Don’t Eat Animal Day
“Caterers are relatively progressive,” acknowledges spokesperson Collin Molenaar of Wakker Dier. “Ten or fifteen years ago, they were the first to join our call to make October 4 ‘Eat No Animal Day’.”
Part of the motivation to offer a more plant-based menu comes from the demand from the companies that hire the caterers, Molenaar knows. “Especially at a company like Triodos. But in recent years, sustainability requirements have become much stricter across the board.”
About 60 percent of the proteins in an average Dutch meal are of animal origin, according to the Wakker Dier spokesperson. Meat, eggs and dairy are an important part of our diet. “We ask caterers to endorse our goal of reversing that ratio to 60 percent vegetable and 40 percent animal. They then make that promise in black and white, with the obligation to make their progress public annually.”
Offering a menu with 40 percent animal proteins in six years does not sound like a radical step. Why doesn’t a foundation like Wakker Dier, which strives for higher animal welfare in livestock farming, raise the bar a little higher? “We realize that the protein transition takes time,” Molenaar answers diplomatically. “Bending the ratio to 60-40 is realistic, but a lot of work still needs to be done. Caterers are more likely to be an ally in this than, for example, supermarkets. When you serve a delicious lunch as a caterer, it doesn’t matter to the guests whether it is vegetarian or not.”
Vegan nonsense
An anecdote from restaurant manager Jansen at a previous client shows that this is slightly more nuanced. “Offering more plant-based food is often a matter of just doing it,” is his experience. “We did not explicitly state at the time that we were replacing the classic sausage rolls with a plant-based variant. A guest says to me at one point: ‘I’m so glad you’re not participating in that vegan nonsense’. Then I could tell him that he had been eating vegetarian sausage rolls with us for two years. Those are nice moments.”
What exactly is in the display cases or on the buffet of a company restaurant is up to the client, Rosenberg emphasizes. “We share our vision with a company and advise on it, but ultimately our client decides what his employees are offered.” The sustainability manager sees that governments in particular are keen to move towards plant-based, but that their employees are still often attached to their familiar eating patterns.
“There have been government institutions that chose to make their lunches completely vegetarian and caused a lot of commotion. Such a choice does not always go down well with the guests. It works better to offer people a choice.”
Even a sustainable leader like Triodos offers its employees a meat or fish option twice a week. If it is delivered on time, that is.
Push in the right direction
The fact that sixteen caterers have endorsed Wakker Dier’s objective means that the majority of Dutch company restaurants play a role in the protein transition. Wakker Dier regrets that two large catering companies are still missing from the list. “Companies such as Sodexo and ISS are part of an international group,” explains Molenaar. “They quickly say: ‘the head office is not allowed.’”
In a written response, ISS stated that it considers the protein transition to be an important part of the solution to CO22reduce emissions’. The company signed the Coolfood Pledge, a global agreement in line with the reduction targets of the Paris climate agreement. Sodexo could not be reached for further explanation.
The next step in Wakker Dier’s mission: entice supermarkets to stop stunting with meat and make their range more plant-based. “Thanks to their choices, supermarkets have a major influence on the eating habits of the average Dutch person. Some supermarkets feel a greater social responsibility than others. We try to give those left behind a push in the right direction.”
“What you eat here often offers inspiration if you also want to cook vegetarian at home. The chef makes everything himself, so you won’t easily find meat substitutes here. And if, like me, you cook at home for teenagers who mainly want pasta, you will already have a large portion of vegetables here.”
“I eat a lot more varied here than on a day working from home. There I often just grab two sandwiches with cheese. I am always surprised by the variety here, no lunch is the same. You really come here for fun.”
“We are really not all vegetarian here. But I never hear criticism about the share of vegetable proteins. I often hear the comment that everything should be vegetarian. But we are also a mission-driven organization.”
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