Qantas Doubles Down On Cost Recovery By Dropping Dietary Options As Virgin Opens Its Wings For Vegans & Vegetarians
smartcompany – The Australian national carrier is going ‘all animal meat’ only. Its competitor, Virgin says that’s OK , fly with us because we will cater to your special needs. Qantas has ditched vegetarian, kosher, halal and gluten-free passengers creating plenty of media interest.
Japan’s preoccupation with food and the global expansion of the alternative protein sector has it looking at all options for ‘old world proteins’ – beef, chicken, pork and lots of seafood alternatives.
GreenQueen – The promise of growing demand means innovators are hungry to launch alt proteins in Japan. In fact, the global market potential also has companies in Japan aspiring to expand their alt-products overseas.
Auckland’s, Omahu Rd Deli is seeing the demand for plant based deli cuts grow hand in hand with expanding planetary awareness.
Customer Demand Driving Development & Production
“We’ve had ‘meat eating’ customers do a blind tasting believing they were eating ‘old world protein – talk about surprised!! ”
Whilst there is a lot of innovation and product development well underway in NZ, one small Auckland based delicatessen aptly called the Omahu Rd Deli, is quietly powering ahead with its pastrami and pepperoni production. Proprietor and Chief ‘cook and floor sweeper’ is retired educational worker, Stephanie Bretherton.
With nothing more than a strong passion and the wisdom of years, Stephanie set out just 18 months ago to ‘change the planet’ in her own small way.
“It’s still very early days for us but we plan to continue working on growing our business over the next few years and see where it takes us.
At the farmers’ market (The Shed Collective Farmers’ Market) we have a steady new customer base as well as a growing number of regular repeat customers. We have seen an increase in demand through our stockists here in Auckland with regular orders coming through”.
Pastrami to live for!! ‘A journey of a thousand miles begins with one small step’.
Stephanie. Your products are so ‘animal meat like’ ?
“Our initial idea was to make a product that would appeal to those who DO eat meat and so provide an alternative source of protein that tasted delicious and saved the lives of animals. When you eat our products you are not tasting ‘meat’, you are tasting the herbs, spices and other ingredients which give them their depth of flavour. Our products provide a source of protein, free of animal products, which is versatile and can be used in a range of meals limited only by your imagination”, says Stephanie.
Based on our research Omahu Rd Deli’s are up there with the other deli products currently emerging in the plant-based sector. Only time will tell if the ‘vegan -alt.protein’ demographic fully supports this NZ based micro-operation.
As small as Omahu Rd Deli might be it lives each day with a heart full of promise right down to its packaging.
“Is your packaging sustainable
“Yes, the cardboard sleeve can go in with your recycling and the plastic rapper should be washed and added to your soft-plastics recycling. In the future we hope to use a compostable plastic wrapper but for now we rely on your own recycling conscience”
PFN – It’s OK. You are not going crazy. Yes the world is undergoing an amazing food transformation.
The idea of using carrot to recreate the taste, texture and fragrance of smoked salmon has been around a few years now but no-one, until now, has had the courage to effect a commercial proposition. Enter UpRootFood ,an Australian based startup taking its local market by carrot hook, line and sinker. The results are being described as nothing short of ‘eerily similar’ to the original fish version.
Uproot describes its ‘Smoked Not Salmon’ product :
“Amazingly, our Smoked Not Salmon is bursting with the woody, smoky flavour you love, yet it’s made from carrots! Our Smoked Not Salmon has a familiar taste and texture, is fortified with Omega-3 fatty acids and contains organic kelp, which gives an authentic fishy flavour boost”
Uprootfood is founded by the enthusiastic husband and wife duo, Nathan and Livia Tsivlin; Nathan a chef and restaurant owner with Australian wide experience in the food industry and Livia a Phd. in wildlife biology.
“We can see what is happening on Planet Earth and it is this and our love of animals and our enjoyment of sustainably wholesome plant-based food which is the inspiration behind Uprootfood and this product “, says Nathan.
Packaging bears an uncanny similarity with its sea-born salmon counterpart.
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