Frequently asked questions
Who are you?
My name is Stefan, and I live in Southeast Michigan. I have been vegan since 2016, and I was inspired to start this business because I want to help expand veganism and make it more accessible at a variety of restaurants and businesses all over my home state and beyond. You can read more about me on the about page!
What is vegan hospitality consulting?
It is a set of services and trainings to help your restaurant or business best cater to vegan customers.This includes a series of hands-on sessions and instructions, such as:
Menu consultation and evaluation
Ingredient sourcing
Preparation / cooking techniques
Staff training
This technique was pioneered at Vegan Hospitality. I was trained professionally in their consultant training program, so I follow the best practice standards laid out by VH.
Who are your clients?
Our consulting services are mostly aimed toward small and independently owned restaurants. However, larger hospitality groups and some chain restaurants are possible clients as well. Great Lakes Vegan Consulting works closely with restaurant owners, chefs, and managers as well as kitchen cooks waitstaff to train them in best practices of preparing and serving wonderful vegan food.
What areas / locations do you serve?
Great Lakes Vegan Consulting is headquartered in Ann Arbor, Michigan and aims to serve primarily the Ann Arbor and Detroit areas and the State of Michigan as a whole. Here in Ann Arbor and the sprawling Metropolitan Detroit area of about 4 million people is a wide market that I am focusing most on currently. However, I am open to consult with any business or restaurant within the state of Michigan, northern Ohio, northeastern Indiana, southern Ontario in Canada, and beyond if it is a good fit.
Why would my restaurant or business be interested in this?
Demand for vegan food grew by 987% between 2012 and 2017. In a 2021 survey, the NSF found:
• 88% of Food Industry practitioners expect demand for plant-based food to increase
• 74% thought consumers chose plant-based options to adopt a healthier lifestyle
• 60% thought consumers believed eating plant-based is more environmentally friendly
Source: NSF. (2021). Food Trends, Changes and Challenges [Brochure].
Veganism and interest in plant-based or plant-forward eating continues to grow worldwide at an increasing rate. More customers are inquiring about and demanding vegan food at restaurants and markets across Michigan, the United States, and the world. However, there are still challenges. Restaurants have not kept pace and vegans are often left to go only to vegan restaurants (if they’re even around their area) or to not go out at all. This leaves money on the table. Your restaurant could be losing out on thousands of dollars in sales.
For example, let’s assume your restaurant adds vegan options. Say you serve 10 vegans per day plus 10 more people they’d be seated with. At an average of $25 per person, for one week that totals $3,500, which comes out to around $14,000 per month. With margins as low as they are, can your restaurant literally afford to miss out on this lucrative opportunity? Catering to vegans is just smart business. 💰
Example source: Vegan Hospitality
We don’t get many requests for vegan options. So why would I bother with this? It’s not a priority.
You won’t see demand for vegan food if your menu doesn’t cater to them because most vegans won’t even go to your restaurant in the first place. We live in the internet and social media age where vegans spend time scouring menus in advance. If they don’t see anything for them or see confusing or misleading labeling, they’re not going to bother coming. Also, vegans have the power of the veto vote. In a group of their friends or family when deciding on where to eat out, if your restaurant doesn’t have any options, they all will decide to go somewhere else. So not only are you missing out on one person’s business, you’re missing out on that entire group’s!
Once your menu has clearly labeled and appealing options, you will notice that vegans visit (and bring their friends and family too!) and spend good money. If you work with Great Lakes Vegan Consulting, we will host a launch party and actively promote your new menu on social and local media, driving customers straight to your tables. This will also facilitate powerful word-of-mouth spread of your restaurant.
As mentioned in the previous question, by not catering to vegans, you could be losing out on potentially thousands of dollars in sales.
We already have a bunch of vegetarian options. Isn’t that good enough? Can’t vegans leave the cheese off? What about honey?
Vegetarians can eat all vegan food. Vegans do not eat vegetarian food. Why not simplify? Instead of offering separate vegetarian and vegan options, just offer the vegan options. This is an easy way to cater to vegans, and they’ll appreciate the number of options available to them now. It’s possible to leave the cheese off, but sometimes it still get added accidentally creating a negative dining experience. Also, generally the dish costs the same amount, which means vegans are paying for food they won’t be served. Instead, if cheese is served, consider making that a side at a modest additional cost. Vegetarians will be just as satisfied with quality vegan dishes.
Honey is not vegan, although some who identify themselves as vegan will consume it. There are several substitutes such as agave, maple syrup, or stevia. If there is honey in your dishes, to serve vegans, consider removing it or swapping it with one of those substitutes.
We already offer one or two vegan options but they don’t sell well. Why is this? I don’t want to add more if they won’t sell.
Are these options labeled clearly and properly? I can’t tell you how many times I’ve found inaccuracies on menus or have had to decipher between confusing or unclear keys and symbols, such as figuring out if V is vegetarian or vegan, or what V/VE/VN/VG or a little 🌱 all mean.
Are these options the same quality of the other menu items or are they afterthoughts? When non-vegan friends and family order the decadent, diverse, appealing, and filling entree and the option vegans have to order is a sad, wilting salad or a bland plate of vegetables, of course they won’t sell well! They’ll also go and tell their other vegan friends about their less-than-stellar experience.
Vegans are hungry and want fairly priced and filling food just like everyone else. They want nutritionally balanced dishes that are creative, filling, and more exciting than a few steamed veggies tossed on a plate. They also don’t want to have to pick everything off or make tons of substitutions and be charged just the same. 🙅🏻♂️ This dining experience is not pleasurable and can be greatly improved. Great Lakes Vegan Consulting can help you solve this problem! We can help with clear menu labeling and creative dish concepts. See the next question also.
Impossible/Beyond Burgers and vegan cheese and the like are just too expensive and offering them doesn’t make financial sense for my business. Why should I sell expensive, perishable food that only a few people are going to want?
It is true these products can be expensive. However, there is a ton of vegan food out there that is more than just burgers, cheese, and fries. Historically and worldwide, most cuisine is actually vegan or at least only has animal-based meats and cheeses added on top or on the side. For example, Ethiopian and Indian cuisines are largely vegan by default, making heavy use of rice, beans, legumes, lentils, vegetables, and greens. These ingredients are widely accessible, affordable, and already the basis for a large number of different dishes. Prepared well, they’re also highly delicious. Remember too that vegans and non-vegans alike all enjoy these foods, so it won’t just be one or two people enjoying them but rather your entire customer base.
Even if your restaurant serves more animal meat and cheese based dishes, there are often swaps that can be made more cost-effectively. As another example, eggs can easily be substituted with common ingredients such as bananas or flax seeds.
When you work with Great Lakes Vegan Consulting, our goal is to maximize the use of your existing ingredients. Often times, even a few tweaks to existing dishes makes them vegan-friendly at little or no additional preparation cost.
We encourage thinking beyond the burger and drawing inspiration from not only your own existing menu but also whole-food dishes served around the world. Creative dishes offer a novel experience and delight to all customers.
We also highly encourage local sourcing and working with farms and small businesses down the street that may already offer the ingredients you need at a competitive cost to be a successful vegan-friendly restaurant.
How much does this cost?
We currently offer two packages: the full suite of hospitality consulting and a lite touch menu consultation. Please reach out to discuss pricing specifically, as it will depend on your restaurant’s individual situation and needs.
How long will this process take?
The full hospitality consulting typically takes around 6-8 weeks from strategy session to menu launch, depending upon availability of myself and your restaurant. Active engagement in the process is crucial to success, and the rewards your business reaps will be much more than worth the investment of time and money in this process.
What does the process look like?
See here for more details on our step-by-step process!
My business doesn’t have time for this right now as it isn’t a top priority, but we might in the future.
Don’t miss out! The vegan revolution is only beginning and is arguably moving faster than any movement in recent history. Delay may cost you thousands of dollars and leave you behind the 8-ball on one of the largest food and social revolutions in recent memory. Schedule your strategy session today. It’s absolutely FREE, so what do you have to lose?