Dutch animal rights group Wakker Dier has announced it is partnering with six corporate caterers — Albron, Cirfood, Compass Group, Food&I, Holie Pizza, and Vermaat Group — to help them sell a higher proportion of plant proteins.
As part of the collaboration, the companies are committing to three goals:
- Monitoring their protein sales, including the ratio of animal to plant proteins sold, from this year onwards. The results must be published publically at least annually.
- Selling at least 50% plant proteins by 2025, with no increase in total protein sales.
- By 2030, the target for plant protein sales will increase to 60%, again with no corresponding rise in total protein sales.
Ten other Dutch caterers — Appèl, Cater Concept, Hospitalents, Hutten, Markies Catering, Rootz Kitchen, SAB, Van Leeuwen Catering, Vitam, and Zo-vital — previously made the same commitment earlier this year.
Forming good habits
To celebrate, Wakker Dier has taken out an advertisement in trade magazines Misset Horeca and FoodClicks. It reads, “Cheers to six more caterers who are aiming for more plant than animal on the menu”, listing the companies that have just signed up along with those who made the commitment earlier in the year.
But while the companies that have joined represent the majority of major corporate caterers in the Netherlands, there are two notable exceptions — Sodexo and ISS. The absence of Sodexo is somewhat surprising, since the organisation has already made several sustainability commitments worldwide. In the UK and Ireland, Sodexo is aiming to make a third of its meals plant-based by 2025, while in the US the company has partnered with the Humane Society to make 50% of college campus menus plant-based by the same year. Wakker Dier hopes both Sodexo and ISS will still join the pledge.
“These caterers together make a huge impact for the animals,” said Collin Molenaar of Wakker Dier. “If people experience how tasty and easy it is to eat fewer animals, they can also continue that good habit at home.”
