Animal rights charity Viva! and Emma Osborne, founder of Citizen Kind, have together launched a large-scale, two-year long initiative centred around sustainable dining called 50 by 25, which urges restaurants to make 50% of their menu plant-based by the end of 2025.
Restaurants, hotels, coffee shops, food brands, distributors, wholesalers, professional chefs, and delivery services will all play an important role in kicking off this UK-based campaign. Brands Wagamama, Beyond Meat, and Wicked Kitchen have already pledged their support, joined by celebrities such as plant-based chef Derek Sarno, co-founder of Wicked Kitchen, and the multi-award-winning French chef (turned vegan) Alexis Gauthier.
“We’re told by science that what we eat is one of the most impactful choices”
Wagamama’s menu is already 50% plant-based, and the 50 by 25 campaign is now calling for other restaurants to follow suit. As part of the initiative, Viva! plans to contact top-tier restaurants and urge them to replace meat-based dishes with animal-free options. Simultaneously, Viva! will assist smaller restaurants in transitioning to a plant-based menu.
“We’re told by science that what we eat is one of the most impactful choices we all have to reduce our footprint on the environment. In 2021, we made 50% of our menu plant-based, making it easier for our guests to support the planet, whilst spreading positivity, through our nourishing food, from bowl to soul,” comments Steven Mangleshot, executive chef at Wagamama.
Benefits for restaurants
With consumers increasingly interested in environmentally friendly dining, businesses offering plant-based options will experience higher revenues while committing to sustainability, explains the charity.
Additionally, restaurants can accomplish environmental, social, and governance (ESG) objectives by pledging to the campaign. This will especially benefit large, publicly traded companies, which must disclose their progress on ESG goals.
Derek Sarno comments: “Chefs are the master artists of flavour, with restaurants as their canvases. By crafting plant-based dishes that put taste and satisfaction front and centre, chefs and restaurants can profoundly shift eating habits and attract a new wave of devoted customers. These plant-based menu items aren’t just alternatives; they’re top picks.”
Alexis Gauthier says: “Our Michelin-starred French restaurant, Gauthier Soho, committed to be entirely plant based in 2021. The challenge French cuisine presents is one I am savouring and the creativity it has unleashed in me, has kept our diners entertained, happy and surprised. Knowing our work is breaking boundaries, whilst saving the planet and animals is so gratifying.”
For our planet
Additionally, the campaign will encourage consumers to choose more plant-based meals as scientists suggest that transitioning to a plant-based lifestyle has the potential to tackle climate change, the global health crisis, and animal exploitation.
Concurrently, the campaign aims to raise awareness of the impact of animal agriculture on the environment. Viva! argues that most Brits remain oblivious to its influence on environmental degradation and the power of vegan diets to halt its impact.
Juliet Gellatley, founder and director of Viva!, shares: “We know that eating a plant-based diet is the most impactful way to reduce emissions, prevent wildlife loss and soil degradation, as well as promote biodiversity. After all, we only have one planet!”
Steve Parsons, UK & Ireland Foodservice Manager at Beyond Meat, comments: “We’re delighted to support 50 by 25 and make dining more sustainable, one plate at a time. Fortunately, Brits can still enjoy their favourite meal while making a difference to the planet simply by shifting the protein at the centre of the plate to plant-based meat, no sacrifice required.”
Emma Osborne, is leading the partnership program so if you are a business that would like to support the campaign (it’s free!), drop her a line at [email protected] and see how you can get involved.
