Yeah, that's the difference I don't think they really looked at. if the quality of the vegetarian food is better than the meat offerings, that would definitely help drive sales.
Many people, instead, would expect the percentage of meat to vegetarian sales to remain constant, as they believe that meat-eaters wouldn't choose a vegetarian option. (And some people still don't consider it a lunch or dinner without some sort of meat.)
Restaurants are a reflection of what the population wants, not the driver. In order for there to be more vegetarian choices in a restaurant there has to be more demand for those items. Restaurants that don't do that go out of business.
Same things goes for grocery stores. They will sell ANYTHING a large enough chunk of consumers will buy. (I had that with granulated honey, we bought a lot of it, but the store wasn't selling enough to make it worth the shelf space, so it got dropped).
I agree! This has been bothering me ever since I stopped eating vegetarian. My ideal dish would have lots of tasty vegetables with a side of meat. Unfortunately I suspect that most customers would consider they're not getting their money's worth.
Yes, I'm a vegetarian myself and also would have appreciated a better selection in that regard. Both times I ended up having meals that were heavy in the potato and cheese departments. The buffet had some fruit and cooked vegetables as well, but nothing that was really a main dish by itself. Still, I didn't go hungry or anything.
I think it is more difficult to prepare good tasting vegetarian food, based on my experience also cooking with meat a couple of times a week.
In any case I am happy that more people are getting the chance to eat more food that they prefer.
I like to stay out of any organic food, vegetarian food, etc., food arguments. People should have the freedom to buy and eat the types of food they like.
I worry a little about keeping this freedom since the single political party in the USA the republicrats (also referred to as the Demopublicans) in servicing their main constituency (I am obviously talking about corporations), might try to curtail things like accurate packaging labels, etc. if that is what their corporate constituents want.
Fair, I could restate that not as 'no less tasty' but 'tasty in their own right'. Though there are also plenty of societies that are primarily vegetarian, as in South India, and I don't see them running for the nearest meat market due to the insane flavor advantages of a good cut of meat.
The issue that I have with vegetarian food is that it is usually double to triple the price of a normal meal with meat. I get it, it's trendy. In India it's the opposite, vegetarian food costs less.
My wife is vegetarian, so by extension I end up being very conscious of vegetarian options. It's generally pretty easy to find good for her, but I am pretty surprised how limited the options can be. I feel like it's a coin flip with newer restaurants - they either have a pretty wide selection, or like you mentioned, they go really heavy on the meat and offer few or no vegetarian options.
I looked at this a couple of years ago - the big handicap for me is that it looks difficult to guarantee vegetarian food. From what I could find you had a good chance of getting away with it, but nobody who'd guarantee "yes, we will feed vegetarians".
Thts the thing I just can't compare vegetarian food with meat food they are two different things. Sometimes I will eat the meat burger sometimes a veggie pattie just depends on what I am in the mood for.
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