Hayley Cooper, CEO – Wild Dreams Hospitality
Certified Vegan Hospitality Consultant
With veganism booming both internationally and locally here in South Africa, the safari lodges must recognize this fast-growing movement and are not only ‘’getting by’’ accommodating vegan guests but start attracting them to their lodges. Now is the time for innovation.
One major aspect of this is, of course, the food.
Consider this your step-by-step guide on how to start a vegan kitchen…
Step 1. Do some research to really understand your vegan customer, what their wants are, what their needs are, and why this is. If you do not understand them then you may be setting yourself up for failure before you have even looked at the food.
Step 2. You should review your current menus and see if you have any dishes that are already vegan that you were not aware of, or any that can be easily tweaked to be made vegan, think vegetable soup served on a winters night at your boma dinner, remove the cream or replace it with coconut cream & ensure you only use veggie stock – simple, that is now always going to be vegan.
Step 3. In addition to reviewing your standard menus look at all the ‘’extras’’ your lodge serves, such as, the cookies, rusks, cakes, muffins, game drive snacks and see what you can veganize here as standard. Think morning muffins, where typically you have one standard recipe which you change the flavour of daily, why not use an amazing vegan muffin recipe as standard instead.
Step 4. Create some excellent, nutritionally balanced vegan meals for your menu, they need to look and taste great and fit into the theme/style of your lodge.
Step 5. Label your menu clearly so that your vegan guests know exactly what they can and cannot eat. There can be no confusion, does your V = vegan or vegetarian? Do not forget to label your drinks menu too!
Step 6. Make sure you have protocols in place in the kitchen to avoid cross-contamination, such as, are you using the deep fryer to fry battered fish as well as your chips? Are you using the same chopping board that you cut up a steak on to cut up your tofu?
Step 7. Make sure both the kitchen staff and the FOH staff such as the servers, bar staff, hosts are trained in understanding vegan customers, what dishes on the menu are vegan, what ingredients are used, how each is cooked, and how to serve vegan customers. For example, are they going to offer vegan butter or olive oil/balsamic vinegar with the bread rolls, did they give them the bread rolls without the egg wash on?
Step 8. Advertise you are vegan-friendly! I cannot stress how important this is. Doing marketing about this and being as detailed as possible is critical. Use food photos to showcase your new vegan options, show photos of your staff being trained, talk about what you have in place to ensure your vegan guests have the same experience as your traditional guests, and if they come to your lodge, they will not need to worry about anything & can just relax, like everyone should when on holiday.
This may sound a bit daunting and if you need assistance creating a vegan-friendly environment in your lodge (above & beyond the food) then reach out to me for a free consultation.
hayley@wilddreams.co.za
