An
expanding market…
In 1945
the number of vegetarians in the UK was 100,000.
The figure
now stands at between 3 - 4 million.
Vegetarians
aside, almost half the population are actively reducing their meat
consumption and 20% of families regularly choose vegetarian options
when eating out.
The vegetarian
food market is estimated to be worth over £11.1 billion annually, while
the vegetarian specific catering market is worth over £800 million.
Anyone involved
in the catering industry, at whatever level, needs to be aware of this
growing demand and how to meet it.
What
is a vegetarian?
A vegetarian
is a person who eats no meat, poultry, game, fish, shellfish or crustacean
and also avoids the by-products of the slaughterhouse such as gelatine,
rennet and animal fats.
Most vegetarians
are lacto-ovo vegetarians. This means that free-range eggs and dairy
products are acceptable to them.
A vegan
is a person who eats no animal products. A vegan diet is purely plant
based.
Vegetarians
do not eat fish.
Why do
people go veggie?
Many choose a vegetarian diet because they object to animals being killed for
food and want to reduce animal suffering.
Others choose
vegetarianism for health, environmental or religious reasons.
Increasingly
people are being attracted to vegetarianism because of the quality
and taste of vegetarian food.
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