Emirates sees increased demand for vegan meals
New Emirates vegan dishes include a Zucchini tart, the result of a wider year-long development programme
Emirates has revealed a 154 percent increase in vegan meals served onboard between 2021 and 2022.
The airline, which is marking the "Veganuary", the international month-long initiative promoting the vegan diet, saw over 280,000 plant-based meals consumed in the past year. This included over 195,000 vegan desserts served in 2022 across all classes of travel.
Emirates has been serving vegan meals since the 1990s and currently offers more than 180 recipes catering to vegan passengers. Routes showing recent increasing interest in vegan meals include Beirut, Cairo, and Taiwan.
Vegan options are available to order and pre-order onboard, as well as in Emirates Lounges. Customers can request vegan meals on all Emirates flights and across all classes of travel up to 24 hours before departure. However, on high-demand routes, plant-based meals are also provided as part of the main menu options.
Emirates developed a new First and Business Class vegan menu in 2022 following a year of development in Emirates Flight Catering. A panel of highly skilled and experienced Emirates Flight Catering chefs worked closely with nutritionists to identify ingredients from existing popular dishes, which can be adapted to a vegan offering without compromising on flavour. They also focused on fusing flavours and ingredients from around the world to create a menu that will appeal to all passengers across the network, not just vegan customers. The menu was the focus of multiple presentations and tastings, featuring contributions from diverse cuisine specialists like Chinese, Indian and Arabic speciality chefs, to create a wide range of flavours and textures. The tasting panels included both vegan and non-vegan chefs and team members to ensure an inclusive approach.
The new vegan menu in First and Business Class features unique koftas, made with plant-based products from the world-renowned Beyond meat company. Vegan desserts have been created using organic dark chocolate with 60 percent raw cocoa ingredients, sourced from the Dominican Republic.
