Serving ALL of Your Guests | Meredith Marin

In this episode of the Sustainable Hospitality Podcast, we sit down with Meredith Marine, the visionary founder and CEO of Vegan Hospitality, to discuss the growing importance of catering to vegan guests in the hospitality industry. As the demand for plant-based options continues to rise, Meredith shares her insights on how hotels and restaurants can seamlessly integrate vegan offerings into their menus and create a more inclusive dining experience for all guests.

Meredith's unique background in social work and community organizing has given her a keen understanding of the challenges faced by vegan travelers and the importance of accessibility in the hospitality sector. She discusses her motivations for starting Vegan Hospitality, the world's largest professional vegan consultant network, and how her company is helping businesses navigate the transition to vegan-friendly practices.

Throughout the episode, Meredith shares practical tips and strategies for implementing vegan options, from menu engineering and staff training to marketing and guest satisfaction. She also delves into the intersection of veganism and sustainability, explaining how plant-based dining can help reduce environmental impact and contribute to a more sustainable future for the hospitality industry.

Whether you're a hotel owner, restaurateur, or simply passionate about creating a more inclusive and sustainable hospitality experience, this episode is a must-listen. Join us as we explore the exciting world of vegan hospitality with Meredith Marin and discover how embracing plant-based options can revolutionize your business and delight your guests.

Tune in now and learn how you can start serving ALL your guests with the help of Vegan Hospitality!

 Quote: “The biggest mistake I see companies make is assuming there’s no demand for vegan options because they are not getting requests.”

Show Notes:

www.veganhospitality.com

https://www.linkedin.com/build-relation/newsletter-follow?entityUrn=7065991663868948481 

Check out some of Vegan Hospitality’s clients: 

Bucuti & Tara Beach Resort - Caribbean’s first carbon neutral resort, and made it to TripAdvisor’s 2024 top 25 hotels in the world list. They have electronic menus and the guest just needs to click Vegan to access all of the vegan options on the ipad menu. 

Boardwalk Boutique Hotel - They have a “Do Good” program that encourages guests to participate in sustainability and animal welfare initiatives - they make it easy for guests to compost their in-room food waste. They connect guests with local animal sanctuaries for donations and volunteering.

Manchebo Beach Resort & Spa - They have a full vegan menu, with innovative dishes, such as lychee ceviche, crispy tofu and truffle risotto, grilled vegan fish filet, spicy buffalo cauliflower wings, and several vegan desserts including a Caribbean snickers bar. Their staff is also extremely knowledgeable and welcome toward vegan guests, as we can see from the reviews they receive.

#foodjustice, #aruba, #veganlifestyle, #deforestation, #climatechange, #inclusivity, #esg,

#consumerdemand, #consumerpreferences, #guestexpereince, #professionaldevelopment

#guest satisfaction #stafftraining, #caribbeanvacations

Transcript

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Welcome back everyone to

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another episode of the

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Sustainable Hospitality Podcast.

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I'm one of your hosts, Amy Wald.

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And today we have Meredith

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Marine and she is doing

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really groundbreaking work

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in the hospitality industry.

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We're gonna tell you all about,

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she's a hospitality

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entrepreneur with a

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background in social work.

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and community organizing.

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And she is the founder and

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CEO of Vegan Hospitality,

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which is the largest

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worldwide professional

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vegan consultant network.

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That is amazing.

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Hi, Meredith.

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How are you?

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I'm great.

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How are you?

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I'm good.

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Thank you.

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Thank you so much for being here.

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You know, today we are going to discuss,

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Meredith,

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your motivation for this endeavor,

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where this sparked from and

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how really incorporating

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vegan menus not only is

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meeting that demand,

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but meeting the demand and

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enhancing sustainability

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commitments and also the growing,

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booming wellness tourism

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industry right now.

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We're also gonna talk about

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the intersection of, as I just mentioned,

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whoops,

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food and the explosion of wellness travel,

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and then really some

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practical tips on how you can get started,

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how you can start thinking about that.

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And of course,

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we will not leave out how you can help

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hotels and maybe tourism

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destinations start

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incorporating this and

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maybe even certify.

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So let's get into it, Meredith.

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How did this all come about

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and did your work in the

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past help you with this or

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was this a complete pivot from that?

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Tell us all about it.

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Wow, thank you for asking.

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You know,

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I never thought I would be in

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hospitality.

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I didn't go to culinary school.

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I didn't have the

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traditional entry into hospitality.

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I started, like you said,

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as a social worker.

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I have a master's in social work.

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And I did have an interest

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in food as a social worker.

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So I did my social work thesis on food.

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what is happening in the

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school system around school

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lunch in America and how

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food affects our mood and

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affects child behavior

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around the nutrition that

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is being offered to students.

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So I had this interest in

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food and food justice,

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and I worked in New York

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City early in my career

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doing community organizing

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around school wellness and

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community wellness.

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And that did lead me to do

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some cooking demonstrations

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for chefs and for local

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restaurants and community members.

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So I had a bit of a

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background that allowed me to transition,

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but

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It wasn't something that I

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had set my sights on.

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So what happened for me is

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that I ended up moving from

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New York City to this

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beautiful Caribbean island of Aruba,

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where I live today.

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And that's because of my family.

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I met my husband when I was on vacation.

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So I have already a background in tourism,

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but that's a personal background,

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not a professional background.

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But it greatly influenced my

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life and my trajectory.

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And when I moved to Aruba,

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I became a professor at the

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university in the social work department.

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So I was teaching social work,

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community organizing,

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community empowerment, advocacy,

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psychology.

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And at the same time,

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I was living my own life as

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a vegan person,

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trying to get my needs met.

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And also as a new mom and

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having a vegan family in a

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country that really wasn't

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aware of what the word

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vegan meant or what

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even vegetarian as far as

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what's being served within

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the hospitality industry.

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So in order to just

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personally get my own needs met,

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I needed to advocate for

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myself and I needed to be

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very clear on what those

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needs were and actually be

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able to explain them to

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other people in simple ways that would

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allow me to live a life that

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was in line with my values.

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So that looked like calling

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restaurants in advance just

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in order to go out to eat.

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Sometimes it looked like

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explaining to the chefs

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where to buy vegan food,

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so where to buy tofu,

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and then how to cook it,

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and then communicating with

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the servers when I arrived

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to make sure that I got the right food.

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speaking to the servers and

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speaking to the chefs after

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I ate to thank them, give them feedback.

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And this went on for months.

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So trying to figure out how

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do I navigate this

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lifestyle where I don't

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have to cook three meals a day,

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every single day.

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What if I get tired one day, you know,

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I have a family,

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maybe I wanna go out to eat

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like everybody else.

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And through this process,

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I built a lot of

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relationships within the industry.

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I like to say that I think

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we're all in hospitality,

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whether we're on one side

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of the coin or the other,

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we're either working as

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professionals or we're the customer.

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And both of those sides of

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that coin is super

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important in what happens

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in the industry and driving

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the industry forward.

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So I had these experiences.

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And at the same time,

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I decided to start a

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movement in Aruba to build

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community around the vegan

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lifestyle because I didn't

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know any other vegans.

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I actually didn't know

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anyone other than my

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husband and his family.

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And

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Really wanted to meet like-minded people.

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I have been vegan for eight

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years and I was vegetarian first.

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I went vegetarian 20 years

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ago in my first year in college.

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So I've been living this

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lifestyle a long time and

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really wanted to find

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people that could help me

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with finding vegan products

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and really support the movement.

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So I started this movement.

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It got really popular,

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not just amongst the people

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that live in Aruba,

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but tourists because it's a

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very touristic, tourism-friendly place.

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So I would have people

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messaging me asking me

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where to eat and how do

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they find the vegan food

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that I'm finding when I was

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having chefs make it for me off menu.

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Fast forward to me giving a

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presentation at the

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National Restaurant

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Association in Aruba to

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these owners of restaurants,

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to these chefs,

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and explaining from the

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customer perspective what's

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going on for us when we are

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served the same pasta

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marinara at every restaurant,

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or when we are getting

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these mistakes coming out

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of the kitchen and having

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to send the food back.

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And explaining the

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difference between vegan, vegetarian,

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and gluten-free,

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because these are often

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messed up in places where

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there is not a lot of

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education or training

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around dietary requests and allergies.

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Through that conversation

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with the Restaurant Association,

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through this presentation,

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I presented from the

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customer perspective.

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And at the end of this presentation,

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I had a line of restaurant

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owners and chefs standing in front of me,

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handing me their business card,

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asking me for help.

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And as a social worker,

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I truly believe that

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it's the community that

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should help themselves, right?

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I didn't want to come in as

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some American coming to

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another country and we're

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going to change your

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country and change your scene.

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And so I said, you know,

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this is for you to do.

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I'm encouraging you to label your menus.

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I'm encouraging you to

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create these dishes.

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They said, you know,

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we want to attract vegan guests.

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We see people are requesting this.

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We see this as a great market to get into.

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We don't know how to do it.

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And

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You do.

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And we need your help.

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So I said yes.

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When the first restaurant

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owner asked me to come and

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evaluate his menu and give him feedback,

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I said yes.

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And when he asked me to go

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to the supermarket and buy

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some tofu and teach the

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chefs how to use it because

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they had never seen tofu before,

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I said yes.

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And when he asked me to

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create an event to launch

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their new vegan menu, I said yes.

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And because of all that, yes,

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so much happened over the

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course of the next few years.

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Aruba became recognized as

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the most vegan friendly

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island in the Caribbean after

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me being in 15 or so

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kitchens in my first year of consulting.

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And we were able to organize

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with the tourism board a

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vegan press trip for

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influencers to come and

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promote the island as vegan friendly.

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I was on magazines and

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really just so much

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happened within such a

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short span of time.

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People started asking me,

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how did you do this?

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And how can I do this in my city,

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in my country?

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So I then started a program

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to train other vegans

00:07:45.908 --> 00:07:46.889
around the world to do this

00:07:46.910 --> 00:07:48.211
kind of work and to support

00:07:48.250 --> 00:07:49.190
the local industries in

00:07:49.211 --> 00:07:49.791
their communities.

00:07:50.831 --> 00:07:52.293
That's where we're at now

00:07:52.333 --> 00:07:53.413
with having this large

00:07:53.473 --> 00:07:54.713
network of vegan consultants.

00:07:54.793 --> 00:07:55.733
I've trained people in over

00:07:55.733 --> 00:07:57.774
25 countries and we just

00:07:57.934 --> 00:07:59.153
together launched the first

00:07:59.574 --> 00:08:01.115
hotel certification for

00:08:01.454 --> 00:08:03.035
hotels that welcome vegan guests.

00:08:03.315 --> 00:08:04.776
So it's been a very exciting

00:08:05.156 --> 00:08:07.317
whirlwind of the past seven

00:08:07.336 --> 00:08:08.396
years or so of my entry

00:08:08.437 --> 00:08:09.677
into the hospitality industry.

00:08:09.697 --> 00:08:11.697
Gosh, I love,

00:08:11.958 --> 00:08:14.218
that is so fascinating because, you know,

00:08:14.338 --> 00:08:15.399
sometimes

00:08:17.591 --> 00:08:20.214
know services are born out

00:08:20.495 --> 00:08:23.257
of a consumer need um so as

00:08:23.298 --> 00:08:24.459
you were mentioning you

00:08:24.858 --> 00:08:26.021
know you have this need you

00:08:26.261 --> 00:08:27.641
are a tourist you are a

00:08:28.202 --> 00:08:29.863
hotel guest a restaurant

00:08:30.365 --> 00:08:32.326
guest and so therefore you

00:08:32.346 --> 00:08:35.210
were able to help them and

00:08:35.250 --> 00:08:36.671
it really allows you I think to

00:08:38.644 --> 00:08:41.905
craft your offering so well

00:08:42.145 --> 00:08:44.167
tailored to that client

00:08:44.287 --> 00:08:46.448
because you've had to go in

00:08:46.609 --> 00:08:47.489
on the ground floor and

00:08:47.509 --> 00:08:49.110
really figure out what it

00:08:49.291 --> 00:08:51.932
is that would make them successful.

00:08:53.393 --> 00:08:54.974
Really, really fascinating.

00:08:55.033 --> 00:08:56.335
Congratulations.

00:08:56.794 --> 00:08:57.274
Thank you.

00:08:57.336 --> 00:08:58.456
The method that I now call

00:08:58.476 --> 00:08:59.817
high-impact hospitality

00:08:59.857 --> 00:09:01.198
consulting was created

00:09:01.719 --> 00:09:03.061
through the work with the clients,

00:09:03.421 --> 00:09:04.782
through asking them what do they need,

00:09:04.861 --> 00:09:05.682
and them telling me,

00:09:05.923 --> 00:09:07.244
you need to go show us how

00:09:07.264 --> 00:09:08.024
to use these products.

00:09:08.225 --> 00:09:09.145
Now we realized, okay,

00:09:09.186 --> 00:09:09.706
we need to train the

00:09:09.745 --> 00:09:11.668
servers to upsell these products,

00:09:11.748 --> 00:09:13.389
to explain these products to the guests.

00:09:13.429 --> 00:09:14.389
We need to create

00:09:14.431 --> 00:09:15.471
ingredients booklets so

00:09:15.510 --> 00:09:16.192
that the guests can

00:09:16.211 --> 00:09:17.673
understand if they have allergies,

00:09:17.712 --> 00:09:18.394
what's in the food.

00:09:18.813 --> 00:09:20.456
We need to plan events around this.

00:09:20.495 --> 00:09:21.937
We need to do marketing and partnerships,

00:09:21.956 --> 00:09:22.758
so everything.

00:09:23.097 --> 00:09:25.578
really was born out of the actual work.

00:09:25.958 --> 00:09:27.239
And I call this high impact

00:09:27.278 --> 00:09:29.460
consulting because I'm not

00:09:29.500 --> 00:09:30.240
working with people to

00:09:30.279 --> 00:09:31.440
create one vegan option.

00:09:31.679 --> 00:09:33.541
So I like to work with restaurants,

00:09:33.581 --> 00:09:34.841
resorts that are willing to

00:09:34.880 --> 00:09:36.181
create really excellent

00:09:36.201 --> 00:09:37.400
vegan culinary programming

00:09:37.621 --> 00:09:38.501
that allows the vegan

00:09:38.522 --> 00:09:39.461
guests to have the same

00:09:39.562 --> 00:09:40.682
quality experience as the

00:09:40.701 --> 00:09:41.461
traditional guests.

00:09:41.962 --> 00:09:43.023
And that's because the vegan

00:09:43.043 --> 00:09:44.883
guest usually once was the

00:09:44.923 --> 00:09:45.602
traditional guest.

00:09:45.923 --> 00:09:46.583
Like I said, you know,

00:09:46.624 --> 00:09:48.183
I went vegan when I was 18.

00:09:48.183 --> 00:09:50.284
I had 18 years of eating meat and dairy.

00:09:50.304 --> 00:09:51.784
I actually come from a family of butchers.

00:09:52.284 --> 00:09:54.029
So I am very aware of what

00:09:54.070 --> 00:09:55.354
I'm missing out on in the sense,

00:09:55.394 --> 00:09:56.275
which I don't feel I'm

00:09:56.317 --> 00:09:58.061
missing in any way now.

00:09:58.772 --> 00:10:01.092
But sometimes I feel that

00:10:01.332 --> 00:10:03.193
chefs are expecting vegan

00:10:03.234 --> 00:10:04.193
customers to come in with

00:10:04.234 --> 00:10:05.654
very special requests or

00:10:05.855 --> 00:10:07.335
different or feelings, you know,

00:10:07.434 --> 00:10:08.556
like they have special needs.

00:10:08.956 --> 00:10:09.456
But actually,

00:10:09.495 --> 00:10:10.556
they might have been not

00:10:10.576 --> 00:10:11.856
vegan the year before when

00:10:11.897 --> 00:10:12.817
they visited your resort.

00:10:12.937 --> 00:10:13.878
And now this is their first

00:10:13.898 --> 00:10:14.857
year they've gone vegan and

00:10:15.317 --> 00:10:16.198
they don't really know what to do.

00:10:16.239 --> 00:10:18.038
And they want you to walk them through it,

00:10:18.099 --> 00:10:18.799
you to walk them through

00:10:18.820 --> 00:10:19.840
what is an excellent vegan

00:10:19.860 --> 00:10:20.879
culinary experience.

00:10:21.059 --> 00:10:22.860
And you can have an integral

00:10:22.921 --> 00:10:24.402
role to play in their journey,

00:10:25.022 --> 00:10:26.101
in their wellness journey

00:10:26.142 --> 00:10:26.962
or in their sustainability

00:10:27.003 --> 00:10:27.802
journey or in their

00:10:28.163 --> 00:10:28.722
ethical journey,

00:10:29.003 --> 00:10:29.464
the way that they've

00:10:29.504 --> 00:10:30.484
decided to live their life.

00:10:31.825 --> 00:10:33.764
And I think this is so interesting because,

00:10:33.784 --> 00:10:34.004
you know,

00:10:34.044 --> 00:10:35.066
this is the sustainable

00:10:35.125 --> 00:10:36.746
hospitality podcast, right?

00:10:36.866 --> 00:10:38.606
So maybe some people out

00:10:38.626 --> 00:10:39.207
there are thinking,

00:10:39.248 --> 00:10:40.727
what does vegan food have

00:10:40.768 --> 00:10:42.589
to do with sustainability?

00:10:43.089 --> 00:10:43.609
And, you know,

00:10:43.749 --> 00:10:45.629
sustainability is kind of the umbrella,

00:10:45.710 --> 00:10:46.029
right?

00:10:46.551 --> 00:10:47.451
Depending on

00:10:48.072 --> 00:10:49.474
what your value proposition

00:10:49.573 --> 00:10:50.774
is as an organization,

00:10:50.816 --> 00:10:51.937
where your culture is,

00:10:52.017 --> 00:10:53.239
where your location is,

00:10:53.639 --> 00:10:55.261
that really drives your

00:10:55.461 --> 00:10:56.764
sustainability initiatives

00:10:56.803 --> 00:10:57.585
and your strategy.

00:10:57.905 --> 00:10:58.886
And so maybe this is

00:10:58.966 --> 00:11:01.530
something that you foresee adopting,

00:11:01.551 --> 00:11:03.634
and it doesn't mean that you leave out

00:11:05.115 --> 00:11:06.875
the rest of the marketplace,

00:11:06.936 --> 00:11:08.255
but it means that you are

00:11:08.296 --> 00:11:10.317
paying attention to that customer.

00:11:10.817 --> 00:11:12.738
And now you have opened

00:11:12.778 --> 00:11:14.198
yourself up to be able to

00:11:14.339 --> 00:11:15.859
bring in that demand as well.

00:11:15.938 --> 00:11:17.919
So it's just an additional

00:11:18.100 --> 00:11:21.081
offering that you can make.

00:11:21.120 --> 00:11:22.302
You mentioned something that

00:11:22.322 --> 00:11:23.361
I want to touch on too.

00:11:23.381 --> 00:11:25.062
You mentioned food justice.

00:11:25.802 --> 00:11:28.364
And again, this being about sustainability,

00:11:28.504 --> 00:11:29.803
I'm curious to know,

00:11:31.784 --> 00:11:32.765
And for those people out

00:11:32.806 --> 00:11:34.187
there that don't know what

00:11:34.326 --> 00:11:35.388
food justice is,

00:11:35.447 --> 00:11:37.389
because it's kind of a new terminology,

00:11:38.610 --> 00:11:40.211
would you maybe explain

00:11:40.231 --> 00:11:41.493
really quickly what that is?

00:11:41.653 --> 00:11:43.653
And then where do you see

00:11:43.835 --> 00:11:45.655
this intersecting,

00:11:46.015 --> 00:11:48.337
vegan offering intersecting

00:11:48.378 --> 00:11:49.259
with food justice?

00:11:50.235 --> 00:11:51.356
What an interesting question.

00:11:51.376 --> 00:11:52.817
I don't think anyone has

00:11:52.898 --> 00:11:54.099
asked me about food justice

00:11:54.759 --> 00:11:57.120
in 10 years since I was in

00:11:57.160 --> 00:11:58.241
my social work program.

00:11:58.261 --> 00:11:59.743
And it's something I'm so

00:11:59.783 --> 00:12:00.583
passionate about.

00:12:00.844 --> 00:12:03.125
So food justice has a lot of

00:12:03.145 --> 00:12:03.927
different aspects and I

00:12:03.966 --> 00:12:04.966
won't cover everything here,

00:12:05.126 --> 00:12:06.948
but essentially food

00:12:06.969 --> 00:12:08.070
justice centers around

00:12:08.110 --> 00:12:09.730
accessibility to food.

00:12:09.951 --> 00:12:12.732
So people, no matter what your race,

00:12:12.812 --> 00:12:14.495
ethnicity, level of income,

00:12:14.575 --> 00:12:15.796
social economic status,

00:12:16.235 --> 00:12:17.216
you should have access to

00:12:17.256 --> 00:12:18.437
food that nourishes your body.

00:12:18.577 --> 00:12:19.778
And that's really the center of it.

00:12:20.219 --> 00:12:21.259
There are communities we can

00:12:21.320 --> 00:12:23.221
call food deserts, perhaps,

00:12:23.462 --> 00:12:24.923
where they don't have

00:12:25.004 --> 00:12:26.125
access to the same kind of

00:12:26.164 --> 00:12:28.126
foods that other maybe more

00:12:28.168 --> 00:12:29.149
wealthy communities have.

00:12:29.188 --> 00:12:29.808
They maybe don't have

00:12:29.849 --> 00:12:31.571
grocery stores with fresh produce,

00:12:31.730 --> 00:12:32.792
or maybe there's not

00:12:33.653 --> 00:12:34.995
pricing accessibility for

00:12:35.034 --> 00:12:36.196
the kind of income that

00:12:36.416 --> 00:12:37.518
certain groups of people are

00:12:38.298 --> 00:12:39.658
experiencing in those neighborhoods.

00:12:39.879 --> 00:12:41.359
So it can be really

00:12:41.399 --> 00:12:42.379
challenging for people to

00:12:42.440 --> 00:12:43.179
nourish their bodies,

00:12:43.220 --> 00:12:44.841
nourish their families in

00:12:44.900 --> 00:12:46.100
certain neighborhoods where

00:12:46.360 --> 00:12:48.042
they are being marginalized

00:12:48.381 --> 00:12:50.082
and they don't have this

00:12:50.202 --> 00:12:51.123
just food system.

00:12:51.543 --> 00:12:52.524
So that's one aspect.

00:12:52.563 --> 00:12:53.464
There's also the farming

00:12:53.543 --> 00:12:54.524
aspect and what is

00:12:54.565 --> 00:12:55.365
happening in the lives of

00:12:55.404 --> 00:12:57.206
these farmers and the large

00:12:57.245 --> 00:12:58.086
companies that have

00:12:58.125 --> 00:12:59.386
monopolies over seeds and

00:12:59.726 --> 00:13:00.668
There's a lot going on with

00:13:00.707 --> 00:13:02.668
farming that can contribute

00:13:02.688 --> 00:13:04.070
to injustice in the food system.

00:13:04.110 --> 00:13:05.311
There's a lot going on in

00:13:06.052 --> 00:13:07.152
animal agriculture that

00:13:07.172 --> 00:13:08.472
creates injustice and

00:13:09.313 --> 00:13:10.735
environmental harm to

00:13:10.835 --> 00:13:11.615
certain communities.

00:13:11.696 --> 00:13:13.537
And many times these are the

00:13:13.557 --> 00:13:14.778
more poor communities that

00:13:14.898 --> 00:13:15.918
have the slaughterhouses,

00:13:15.958 --> 00:13:17.159
that have the farming, that has

00:13:17.960 --> 00:13:19.561
environmental concerns

00:13:19.600 --> 00:13:20.620
around the water runoff,

00:13:20.681 --> 00:13:21.601
around the chemicals being

00:13:21.682 --> 00:13:22.422
used in farming,

00:13:22.481 --> 00:13:24.383
and they come with health hazards.

00:13:24.543 --> 00:13:26.644
So there is so much that we

00:13:26.683 --> 00:13:28.605
could talk about with food justice.

00:13:29.004 --> 00:13:29.325
For me,

00:13:29.424 --> 00:13:31.446
my vegan project initially in the

00:13:31.485 --> 00:13:32.307
beginning was around

00:13:32.346 --> 00:13:33.746
inclusivity and making sure

00:13:33.787 --> 00:13:35.227
that everyone had a seat at the table.

00:13:36.208 --> 00:13:37.469
You can say that I'm in it

00:13:37.509 --> 00:13:38.269
for the animals in the

00:13:38.309 --> 00:13:39.110
sense that I would love for

00:13:39.169 --> 00:13:40.350
animals to not be harmed.

00:13:40.390 --> 00:13:40.910
And every time

00:13:41.451 --> 00:13:42.630
Someone's choosing a vegan dish.

00:13:42.750 --> 00:13:44.152
I feel wonderful about it

00:13:44.211 --> 00:13:45.971
because I know they're not eating animals,

00:13:46.052 --> 00:13:47.773
but really my initial

00:13:47.913 --> 00:13:49.352
concern and the platform of

00:13:49.393 --> 00:13:50.413
my company is to make the

00:13:50.433 --> 00:13:51.874
vegan lifestyle accessible

00:13:51.913 --> 00:13:53.173
and acceptable around the world.

00:13:53.735 --> 00:13:54.134
And yes,

00:13:54.195 --> 00:13:55.654
it started in Aruba and now we are

00:13:55.695 --> 00:13:56.095
global.

00:13:56.174 --> 00:13:58.076
So the goal is to make

00:13:58.235 --> 00:13:59.895
veganism accessible in that

00:13:59.936 --> 00:14:01.236
people can afford and

00:14:01.356 --> 00:14:02.856
access fresh produce,

00:14:03.297 --> 00:14:04.937
vegan alternative proteins

00:14:04.998 --> 00:14:05.697
if they want that,

00:14:05.937 --> 00:14:06.898
and that anyone who wants

00:14:06.937 --> 00:14:08.019
to have a vegan meal when

00:14:08.038 --> 00:14:08.759
they're going out to eat

00:14:09.278 --> 00:14:10.841
can access that so that

00:14:10.900 --> 00:14:11.581
essentially you're not

00:14:11.662 --> 00:14:12.822
forced to compromise your

00:14:12.842 --> 00:14:14.024
values or your health or

00:14:14.043 --> 00:14:16.006
your sustainability desires

00:14:16.167 --> 00:14:18.129
when you go out to eat and

00:14:18.328 --> 00:14:20.191
the Acceptability portion

00:14:20.230 --> 00:14:21.932
of it is that we are

00:14:22.033 --> 00:14:23.193
treated just as anyone else

00:14:23.293 --> 00:14:24.456
so that our requests are

00:14:24.495 --> 00:14:26.258
normalized and that is

00:14:26.837 --> 00:14:27.739
in what on one hand is

00:14:27.798 --> 00:14:29.179
actually maybe even harder

00:14:29.221 --> 00:14:30.381
than the accessibility part

00:14:30.461 --> 00:14:32.102
and it comes along with it

00:14:32.484 --> 00:14:33.985
so it involves training and

00:14:34.105 --> 00:14:34.826
when I'm working with

00:14:34.885 --> 00:14:35.886
restaurants and resorts

00:14:36.307 --> 00:14:37.448
we're not only working on

00:14:37.489 --> 00:14:39.129
menus there is a huge staff

00:14:39.169 --> 00:14:40.351
training component and

00:14:41.131 --> 00:14:42.052
yesterday I actually just

00:14:42.092 --> 00:14:43.274
did a live staff training

00:14:43.414 --> 00:14:45.317
at a resort for their f b team

00:14:45.937 --> 00:14:47.097
And a lot of the information

00:14:47.158 --> 00:14:47.937
was new for them.

00:14:48.318 --> 00:14:49.899
And we get into a lot of

00:14:49.938 --> 00:14:51.519
detail around how the food

00:14:51.659 --> 00:14:52.600
on their menu is actually

00:14:52.640 --> 00:14:53.861
being made and processed.

00:14:54.201 --> 00:14:56.062
And just because you work in

00:14:56.082 --> 00:14:57.484
hospitality doesn't mean

00:14:57.524 --> 00:14:58.484
you have access to the

00:14:58.524 --> 00:15:00.384
details that maybe a vegan

00:15:00.404 --> 00:15:01.905
of 10 years would have access to.

00:15:02.307 --> 00:15:03.386
So these professional

00:15:03.427 --> 00:15:04.347
development opportunities,

00:15:04.427 --> 00:15:05.447
they not only help the

00:15:05.488 --> 00:15:07.269
customers that benefit from them,

00:15:07.509 --> 00:15:08.370
but actually they change

00:15:08.409 --> 00:15:09.230
the lives of the staff

00:15:09.270 --> 00:15:10.671
members that participate in

00:15:10.691 --> 00:15:11.511
these kind of programs.

00:15:13.173 --> 00:15:13.974
I love all of that.

00:15:14.153 --> 00:15:15.355
It's so amazing.

00:15:15.455 --> 00:15:15.855
And, you know,

00:15:15.934 --> 00:15:17.035
food justice is one of those

00:15:17.076 --> 00:15:18.636
things that I think the

00:15:18.697 --> 00:15:20.619
majority of us living in

00:15:20.639 --> 00:15:24.160
the United States who have

00:15:24.181 --> 00:15:26.822
a lot of privilege and who

00:15:26.883 --> 00:15:29.205
are very fortunate can't even imagine.

00:15:29.225 --> 00:15:31.506
And it literally rips my

00:15:31.547 --> 00:15:32.548
heart out to think that.

00:15:33.128 --> 00:15:33.408
You know,

00:15:34.048 --> 00:15:35.250
food is something that every

00:15:35.409 --> 00:15:36.831
single one of us,

00:15:37.130 --> 00:15:38.291
us human beings on the

00:15:38.331 --> 00:15:39.812
planet should have access to.

00:15:40.231 --> 00:15:42.991
And then to be able to have it inclusive,

00:15:43.052 --> 00:15:44.173
if somebody does choose

00:15:44.332 --> 00:15:46.852
this for their lifestyle and their values,

00:15:47.373 --> 00:15:50.234
that they are able to have

00:15:50.293 --> 00:15:51.453
that accessibility.

00:15:51.734 --> 00:15:53.153
But gosh,

00:15:53.955 --> 00:15:54.995
I was going to try to keep this

00:15:55.054 --> 00:15:57.514
shorter this time for our audience,

00:15:57.575 --> 00:15:58.596
but there is so much you're

00:15:58.615 --> 00:15:59.676
talking about that I love.

00:16:00.395 --> 00:16:02.158
because not only does this

00:16:02.258 --> 00:16:04.419
enhance a guest's

00:16:04.539 --> 00:16:06.461
experience because now they

00:16:06.642 --> 00:16:08.702
know that they can access

00:16:08.802 --> 00:16:11.326
everything at a hotel but

00:16:11.365 --> 00:16:12.086
the professional

00:16:12.145 --> 00:16:13.847
development element of it

00:16:14.087 --> 00:16:16.169
is huge I mean we are

00:16:16.230 --> 00:16:18.030
living in a time where

00:16:18.912 --> 00:16:21.033
now employees are choosing

00:16:21.554 --> 00:16:23.197
employers based on their

00:16:23.216 --> 00:16:25.239
values and what their offering is.

00:16:25.418 --> 00:16:26.980
And even like you're saying,

00:16:27.020 --> 00:16:28.022
professional development

00:16:28.081 --> 00:16:29.482
and their ability to grow

00:16:29.503 --> 00:16:32.866
as a professional and as a human being.

00:16:32.966 --> 00:16:35.929
So, so many great things there.

00:16:36.049 --> 00:16:36.269
All right.

00:16:36.330 --> 00:16:37.350
Let's move on, though,

00:16:37.390 --> 00:16:38.412
for the sake of time.

00:16:38.432 --> 00:16:38.471
So

00:16:42.405 --> 00:16:44.726
How do you think

00:16:44.787 --> 00:16:47.248
incorporating a culinary

00:16:47.307 --> 00:16:48.509
program like this,

00:16:48.528 --> 00:16:49.850
the vegan culinary program

00:16:50.610 --> 00:16:52.331
can contribute to sustainability,

00:16:52.551 --> 00:16:54.111
reduce the environmental

00:16:54.211 --> 00:16:56.173
impact of your restaurant or hotel?

00:16:56.513 --> 00:16:57.493
Talk to us about that

00:16:57.572 --> 00:16:59.673
because this is huge.

00:17:00.114 --> 00:17:03.155
You can reduce so much of your footprint.

00:17:03.216 --> 00:17:04.416
There's just so many

00:17:05.096 --> 00:17:06.897
positives to making sure

00:17:06.938 --> 00:17:08.258
that this is something that

00:17:08.377 --> 00:17:09.358
you are offering.

00:17:10.136 --> 00:17:10.356
Yes.

00:17:10.538 --> 00:17:11.719
So if anyone listening is

00:17:11.778 --> 00:17:13.221
not familiar with the

00:17:13.342 --> 00:17:14.844
connection between food and

00:17:14.864 --> 00:17:16.005
the environment and the

00:17:16.065 --> 00:17:18.307
environmental impact of livestock farming,

00:17:18.689 --> 00:17:20.330
I do encourage you to start

00:17:20.531 --> 00:17:21.593
Googling that because

00:17:21.873 --> 00:17:22.594
there's so much there.

00:17:22.615 --> 00:17:23.756
We could talk for hours on this.

00:17:24.116 --> 00:17:25.699
And I can touch on a couple of links.

00:17:27.381 --> 00:17:28.500
Livestock farming is

00:17:28.661 --> 00:17:30.422
responsible for about 15%

00:17:30.422 --> 00:17:31.301
of the greenhouse gas

00:17:31.481 --> 00:17:33.323
emissions and beef and

00:17:33.343 --> 00:17:34.962
dairy are the biggest offenders.

00:17:35.103 --> 00:17:36.262
So if you are looking to

00:17:36.323 --> 00:17:37.263
make adjustments to your

00:17:37.304 --> 00:17:38.223
culinary programming,

00:17:38.644 --> 00:17:39.423
you really want to look at

00:17:39.483 --> 00:17:40.684
how much beef and dairy is

00:17:40.765 --> 00:17:41.484
on your menu and

00:17:41.505 --> 00:17:43.785
specifically beef or veal as well,

00:17:44.305 --> 00:17:45.326
because cows are

00:17:45.445 --> 00:17:46.925
contributing to this

00:17:47.685 --> 00:17:48.747
greenhouse gas emissions

00:17:48.807 --> 00:17:50.007
and also to methane emissions.

00:17:50.166 --> 00:17:51.326
So if we want to make an

00:17:51.366 --> 00:17:53.087
impact on lowering CO2

00:17:54.087 --> 00:17:56.269
and methane through the menu changes,

00:17:56.469 --> 00:17:57.449
then we want to look at

00:17:57.568 --> 00:17:59.169
reducing portion sizes of

00:17:59.328 --> 00:18:00.730
beef or veal or eliminating

00:18:00.750 --> 00:18:01.430
them completely and

00:18:01.470 --> 00:18:02.890
replacing them with plant based options,

00:18:02.910 --> 00:18:03.810
which we do see the more

00:18:03.851 --> 00:18:05.010
sustainable hotels doing.

00:18:05.351 --> 00:18:06.070
And I do believe that's

00:18:06.090 --> 00:18:07.152
going to be a trend in the future.

00:18:07.172 --> 00:18:08.731
You're going to probably see

00:18:08.751 --> 00:18:09.872
it mandated in the future

00:18:10.172 --> 00:18:11.073
and certain industries

00:18:11.153 --> 00:18:13.073
around beef just not being

00:18:13.093 --> 00:18:14.193
on the menu anymore because

00:18:14.213 --> 00:18:15.253
of what it's doing to the environment.

00:18:15.874 --> 00:18:17.615
We have just industrial

00:18:17.694 --> 00:18:19.036
animal farming as a whole

00:18:19.056 --> 00:18:21.217
is contributing to deforestation.

00:18:21.497 --> 00:18:22.497
So many of your listeners

00:18:22.557 --> 00:18:23.657
are probably aware that

00:18:24.038 --> 00:18:25.239
we're growing a lot of soy,

00:18:25.259 --> 00:18:26.118
a lot of corn.

00:18:26.358 --> 00:18:27.400
We're growing animal feed

00:18:28.039 --> 00:18:30.820
and that is causing deforestation.

00:18:30.901 --> 00:18:32.142
We're cutting down rainforests.

00:18:32.201 --> 00:18:33.362
We're clearing land.

00:18:34.022 --> 00:18:35.262
And because of that,

00:18:35.383 --> 00:18:36.364
we're having a lot of.

00:18:36.844 --> 00:18:37.824
environmental impacts.

00:18:38.164 --> 00:18:39.585
And we can talk through

00:18:40.305 --> 00:18:41.766
what's happening in so many

00:18:41.786 --> 00:18:42.526
different ways, right?

00:18:42.546 --> 00:18:43.386
We've got loss of

00:18:43.807 --> 00:18:45.227
biodiversity because of that.

00:18:45.307 --> 00:18:46.748
So animals are losing their habitat,

00:18:46.788 --> 00:18:47.407
wild animals.

00:18:47.428 --> 00:18:48.709
So there's so much that

00:18:48.749 --> 00:18:50.669
contributes to the

00:18:50.888 --> 00:18:52.430
degradation of the environment,

00:18:52.490 --> 00:18:53.369
which is just not a

00:18:53.430 --> 00:18:54.550
sustainable food system.

00:18:54.631 --> 00:18:56.310
It's not a sustainable way to feed people.

00:18:56.751 --> 00:18:59.192
So we do see some of the top resort chains,

00:18:59.231 --> 00:18:59.653
some of the more

00:18:59.673 --> 00:19:00.853
sustainable hotels moving

00:19:00.893 --> 00:19:02.034
toward more sustainable options,

00:19:02.074 --> 00:19:03.493
whether that is through animal farming,

00:19:03.534 --> 00:19:05.474
for example, going local or

00:19:06.075 --> 00:19:07.496
through, you know,

00:19:07.915 --> 00:19:10.778
even having their own animals on site.

00:19:11.198 --> 00:19:14.039
We see them trying to buy

00:19:14.119 --> 00:19:15.201
more plant-based foods,

00:19:15.260 --> 00:19:16.520
especially from local farmers.

00:19:16.580 --> 00:19:18.903
So we can see lots of progress.

00:19:19.923 --> 00:19:21.944
What I encourage the resorts

00:19:22.005 --> 00:19:23.486
to do and what I do through

00:19:23.665 --> 00:19:24.465
our new certification

00:19:24.486 --> 00:19:25.846
program is to create

00:19:26.267 --> 00:19:27.267
a strategy and really

00:19:27.307 --> 00:19:27.968
include this in your

00:19:28.008 --> 00:19:29.347
strategic planning initiatives.

00:19:29.928 --> 00:19:31.348
Look at what you've changed

00:19:31.388 --> 00:19:32.489
over the past five years

00:19:32.949 --> 00:19:35.009
around your culinary programming,

00:19:35.089 --> 00:19:36.349
how it's become more sustainable,

00:19:36.430 --> 00:19:37.009
how you've been more

00:19:37.029 --> 00:19:37.930
inclusive for vegan or

00:19:37.950 --> 00:19:39.230
vegetarian guests and think,

00:19:39.770 --> 00:19:40.371
what do you want to do for

00:19:40.391 --> 00:19:41.871
the next five years and

00:19:41.991 --> 00:19:42.912
create these commitments?

00:19:43.092 --> 00:19:44.471
So we see commitments being

00:19:44.511 --> 00:19:46.073
made around animal welfare.

00:19:46.452 --> 00:19:47.032
For example,

00:19:47.673 --> 00:19:49.054
many hotel chains have cage

00:19:49.094 --> 00:19:49.854
free commitments where

00:19:49.874 --> 00:19:50.773
they're no longer buying

00:19:51.713 --> 00:19:53.015
eggs from caged hens.

00:19:53.055 --> 00:19:54.154
They're buying cage free eggs.

00:19:54.611 --> 00:19:56.251
And that's a slight shift in

00:19:56.291 --> 00:19:57.432
improvement in animal welfare.

00:19:57.452 --> 00:19:58.753
Now, we would, of course, prefer,

00:19:59.134 --> 00:20:00.234
my company values are we

00:20:00.275 --> 00:20:01.734
don't need animal foods,

00:20:01.795 --> 00:20:03.836
so why do we purchase them at all?

00:20:04.477 --> 00:20:05.758
But we want to encourage any

00:20:05.837 --> 00:20:07.098
small changes that are being made.

00:20:07.179 --> 00:20:08.779
So we have shifts in animal welfare.

00:20:08.819 --> 00:20:10.760
We can have shifts in sustainability.

00:20:10.941 --> 00:20:12.182
And one thing we also see

00:20:12.221 --> 00:20:13.823
trending is actually

00:20:13.843 --> 00:20:14.603
putting emissions

00:20:14.682 --> 00:20:16.223
calculations on menus or

00:20:16.324 --> 00:20:18.226
even just putting an LE,

00:20:18.566 --> 00:20:19.665
which is for low emissions,

00:20:19.727 --> 00:20:20.987
so that we can nudge

00:20:21.067 --> 00:20:22.327
customers to choose the low

00:20:22.387 --> 00:20:23.648
emissions types of products

00:20:24.048 --> 00:20:24.509
of meals.

00:20:24.930 --> 00:20:27.070
So we can actually have more

00:20:27.090 --> 00:20:28.131
of these customers who are

00:20:28.211 --> 00:20:29.152
interested in more

00:20:29.172 --> 00:20:30.692
sustainable tourism and hospitality.

00:20:31.232 --> 00:20:32.814
And by virtue of inviting

00:20:32.834 --> 00:20:34.034
those kinds of customers to

00:20:34.054 --> 00:20:34.954
our properties,

00:20:35.335 --> 00:20:36.895
we are then going to lower the emissions.

00:20:37.576 --> 00:20:39.037
We can see making

00:20:39.297 --> 00:20:40.157
plant-based milks by

00:20:40.198 --> 00:20:41.538
default at all the coffee shops.

00:20:41.597 --> 00:20:43.358
For example, if we're not promoting dairy,

00:20:43.378 --> 00:20:44.640
if we're having dairy as an option,

00:20:45.079 --> 00:20:46.601
rather than having oat milk as the option,

00:20:46.641 --> 00:20:47.942
have oat milk as the default,

00:20:48.362 --> 00:20:49.442
then we're going to reduce

00:20:49.502 --> 00:20:50.182
emissions there.

00:20:50.762 --> 00:20:51.844
We have purchasing power in

00:20:51.864 --> 00:20:53.785
the industry and those purchases matter.

00:20:54.085 --> 00:20:55.705
And I really do believe

00:20:55.746 --> 00:20:56.886
there is a responsibility,

00:20:56.926 --> 00:20:58.827
especially from the leading chains,

00:20:58.968 --> 00:21:00.628
that if they start making

00:21:00.689 --> 00:21:01.509
switches like this,

00:21:01.630 --> 00:21:02.589
we're going to see a more

00:21:02.630 --> 00:21:03.871
sustainable industry and

00:21:03.891 --> 00:21:04.932
we're going to see it quicker.

00:21:05.251 --> 00:21:05.932
We know we're going to see

00:21:05.971 --> 00:21:07.232
it because it has to happen

00:21:07.272 --> 00:21:08.273
for the future of our planet.

00:21:08.673 --> 00:21:10.275
But we can have some leaders

00:21:10.375 --> 00:21:11.976
really be catalysts in this change.

00:21:13.436 --> 00:21:15.358
And they're the ones that

00:21:15.398 --> 00:21:17.300
create those trends, right?

00:21:17.441 --> 00:21:19.163
So when the big guys do it,

00:21:19.323 --> 00:21:22.586
everybody falls in line to some degree.

00:21:22.605 --> 00:21:26.109
And you're right, it's not going anywhere.

00:21:26.170 --> 00:21:27.770
It's only going to grow.

00:21:28.652 --> 00:21:30.574
And consumer preference is

00:21:30.874 --> 00:21:34.017
really driving a lot of these changes.

00:21:34.136 --> 00:21:37.319
So I think your timing is perfect.

00:21:38.101 --> 00:21:42.481
So, all right, let's move on to, you know,

00:21:42.521 --> 00:21:45.042
the wellness demand in the

00:21:45.163 --> 00:21:46.242
industry right now.

00:21:46.262 --> 00:21:48.742
It is absolutely huge.

00:21:49.824 --> 00:21:52.884
Tell us about how you see

00:21:53.044 --> 00:21:56.565
this helping to drive that movement.

00:21:57.224 --> 00:21:59.605
And it is a part of that movement, right?

00:22:00.855 --> 00:22:01.375
Absolutely.

00:22:01.395 --> 00:22:02.756
I was actually just invited

00:22:02.816 --> 00:22:05.916
to join a large hotel chain

00:22:05.936 --> 00:22:06.797
a couple of weeks ago to

00:22:06.957 --> 00:22:08.116
chat with their chef around

00:22:08.196 --> 00:22:09.416
creating a wellness offering.

00:22:09.557 --> 00:22:11.278
And I think that a lot of

00:22:11.317 --> 00:22:12.798
these hotels are looking to

00:22:13.018 --> 00:22:14.198
make their wellness menus

00:22:14.337 --> 00:22:16.439
into vegan menus because it

00:22:16.479 --> 00:22:17.638
just checks more boxes.

00:22:17.999 --> 00:22:19.578
Vegan menus are actually the

00:22:19.618 --> 00:22:20.939
most inclusive menus.

00:22:21.059 --> 00:22:21.980
I know that sounds strange

00:22:22.000 --> 00:22:23.039
because it sounds very niche,

00:22:23.140 --> 00:22:24.539
but everyone can eat fruits

00:22:24.559 --> 00:22:25.200
and vegetables.

00:22:25.319 --> 00:22:26.660
Most people can eat fruits and vegetables.

00:22:26.700 --> 00:22:27.861
So it's actually more

00:22:27.901 --> 00:22:29.260
inclusive even than vegetarian.

00:22:29.901 --> 00:22:31.082
because vegetarians can eat

00:22:31.301 --> 00:22:32.602
vegan food vegans won't eat

00:22:32.643 --> 00:22:33.782
vegetarian food because of

00:22:33.843 --> 00:22:34.824
the cheese eggs and honey

00:22:35.263 --> 00:22:36.384
so we want to think how can

00:22:36.403 --> 00:22:37.625
we be the most inclusive

00:22:38.125 --> 00:22:39.526
and the more plant-based by

00:22:39.566 --> 00:22:40.487
default we can make our

00:22:40.507 --> 00:22:41.826
menus the more inclusive we

00:22:41.926 --> 00:22:43.208
are so instead of having

00:22:43.347 --> 00:22:44.188
vegan customers or

00:22:44.208 --> 00:22:45.909
vegetarian customers remove

00:22:46.209 --> 00:22:47.930
items from menus and pay

00:22:47.970 --> 00:22:49.290
the same we can have

00:22:49.351 --> 00:22:50.372
plant-based menus and then

00:22:50.392 --> 00:22:51.672
we can have add-ons be the

00:22:51.711 --> 00:22:52.512
meat and the cheeses and

00:22:52.532 --> 00:22:54.614
those other items that people want and

00:22:55.594 --> 00:22:58.156
That is really great for lots of guests,

00:22:58.237 --> 00:22:59.617
for the wellness oriented guests,

00:22:59.698 --> 00:23:00.838
for the guests with allergies,

00:23:00.878 --> 00:23:01.398
because of course,

00:23:01.778 --> 00:23:02.900
many of the top allergens

00:23:03.079 --> 00:23:04.801
are animal based foods.

00:23:05.281 --> 00:23:06.002
So we want to really

00:23:06.042 --> 00:23:07.523
consider how can we not

00:23:07.544 --> 00:23:08.744
just cater to these niche

00:23:08.785 --> 00:23:10.066
audiences of wellness and vegan,

00:23:10.105 --> 00:23:11.067
but actually streamline

00:23:11.086 --> 00:23:12.667
things in the back end in

00:23:12.708 --> 00:23:13.828
our operations so that it's

00:23:14.108 --> 00:23:15.009
easy for the hotel.

00:23:15.509 --> 00:23:16.851
I find that hotels that are

00:23:16.871 --> 00:23:17.632
prepared for these

00:23:19.133 --> 00:23:20.173
customers and guests in

00:23:20.213 --> 00:23:21.775
advance just have a much

00:23:21.875 --> 00:23:23.537
easier time rather than

00:23:23.616 --> 00:23:24.738
having to take these as

00:23:24.798 --> 00:23:25.959
requests and the manager

00:23:25.999 --> 00:23:27.619
sitting there on email, okay,

00:23:27.720 --> 00:23:28.601
email the chef, email,

00:23:28.641 --> 00:23:29.422
make sure that the chef

00:23:30.241 --> 00:23:31.544
bounces around to every restaurant.

00:23:31.584 --> 00:23:32.884
I've seen at all inclusive resorts,

00:23:33.305 --> 00:23:33.885
a head chef,

00:23:34.306 --> 00:23:35.987
like literally following the vegan guests,

00:23:36.027 --> 00:23:36.647
which restaurant do you

00:23:36.667 --> 00:23:37.367
want to eat at tonight?

00:23:37.407 --> 00:23:38.348
I'm going to go cook for you

00:23:38.388 --> 00:23:39.150
at this restaurant.

00:23:39.529 --> 00:23:40.770
And that is chaos.

00:23:40.951 --> 00:23:42.833
So we don't need to do that anymore.

00:23:42.913 --> 00:23:44.473
We can have my company or

00:23:44.493 --> 00:23:45.414
other companies like mine

00:23:45.474 --> 00:23:46.435
come and do professional

00:23:46.476 --> 00:23:47.277
trainings where we can

00:23:47.737 --> 00:23:49.337
evaluate what you're doing in the back end,

00:23:49.657 --> 00:23:51.118
help you streamline things in the kitchen,

00:23:51.358 --> 00:23:53.078
make sure there's minimal

00:23:53.098 --> 00:23:53.940
cross-contamination

00:23:53.960 --> 00:23:55.079
opportunities in the back,

00:23:55.420 --> 00:23:56.361
make sure your servers are

00:23:56.401 --> 00:23:57.800
trained to speak to guests

00:23:57.881 --> 00:23:58.942
about these offerings,

00:23:59.122 --> 00:24:01.843
and sell them as wellness offerings,

00:24:01.903 --> 00:24:03.223
sell them as vegan offerings,

00:24:03.263 --> 00:24:04.483
sell them as vegetarian offerings,

00:24:04.523 --> 00:24:05.785
sell them as sustainable offerings.

00:24:05.884 --> 00:24:07.586
It's really allergy-friendly.

00:24:07.766 --> 00:24:08.645
It's really quite a large

00:24:08.665 --> 00:24:09.465
group when you think about

00:24:09.526 --> 00:24:10.946
all the various components

00:24:10.987 --> 00:24:12.067
customer segments that are

00:24:12.106 --> 00:24:13.307
actually interested in this

00:24:13.367 --> 00:24:14.508
kind of eating.

00:24:14.969 --> 00:24:15.949
And you touched on wellness

00:24:15.969 --> 00:24:17.108
and I'll share one statistic.

00:24:17.169 --> 00:24:19.069
So last year in 2023,

00:24:19.069 --> 00:24:20.330
there was a study done by

00:24:20.431 --> 00:24:22.230
two European universities.

00:24:22.352 --> 00:24:23.332
And you can actually look at

00:24:23.352 --> 00:24:23.932
the University of

00:24:23.971 --> 00:24:25.252
Copenhagen's website and

00:24:25.272 --> 00:24:26.113
you'll find this study.

00:24:26.553 --> 00:24:28.394
They surveyed 7,500 people

00:24:28.473 --> 00:24:29.733
in 10 European countries

00:24:29.835 --> 00:24:30.615
about their diets.

00:24:31.194 --> 00:24:32.497
And they found that 51

00:24:32.497 --> 00:24:33.817
percent of people claimed

00:24:33.837 --> 00:24:35.179
they were actually reducing

00:24:35.219 --> 00:24:36.580
their annual meat consumption.

00:24:36.661 --> 00:24:37.521
So they looked back at their

00:24:37.541 --> 00:24:38.403
year and they were like, yes,

00:24:38.462 --> 00:24:40.065
this year we reduced our

00:24:40.105 --> 00:24:40.765
meat consumption.

00:24:41.326 --> 00:24:42.346
And the biggest reason they

00:24:42.406 --> 00:24:44.108
cited for that was their health.

00:24:44.429 --> 00:24:46.230
So about half of those 51

00:24:46.230 --> 00:24:46.971
percent of those people

00:24:47.051 --> 00:24:48.493
said they made that choice

00:24:48.614 --> 00:24:49.173
for their health.

00:24:50.000 --> 00:24:51.682
so this is something that we

00:24:51.721 --> 00:24:52.603
really need to think about

00:24:52.803 --> 00:24:54.384
if half half of the people

00:24:54.505 --> 00:24:55.305
right are trying to reduce

00:24:55.345 --> 00:24:57.307
meat for their health we

00:24:57.326 --> 00:24:58.788
need to consider how can we

00:24:58.828 --> 00:25:00.309
make our menus and our

00:25:00.329 --> 00:25:02.011
programming more accessible

00:25:02.172 --> 00:25:03.413
so that people can come and

00:25:03.472 --> 00:25:04.515
have a great vacation and

00:25:04.994 --> 00:25:06.096
feel healthy and feel good

00:25:06.135 --> 00:25:07.497
and not feel guilty or feel

00:25:07.518 --> 00:25:08.417
like they have to go home

00:25:08.498 --> 00:25:09.980
and go on a diet we want

00:25:10.019 --> 00:25:11.662
people to have choice and

00:25:12.142 --> 00:25:14.184
We also want the programming

00:25:14.585 --> 00:25:15.365
that we offer for our

00:25:15.405 --> 00:25:17.648
customers to match our company values.

00:25:17.849 --> 00:25:20.212
So if I'm at a Marriott, for example,

00:25:20.292 --> 00:25:21.674
my value is embrace change.

00:25:22.075 --> 00:25:23.136
So if I have that as a core

00:25:23.156 --> 00:25:24.097
value for my company,

00:25:24.590 --> 00:25:25.872
I want to think about, OK,

00:25:26.051 --> 00:25:27.693
how are my menus embracing change?

00:25:28.193 --> 00:25:29.714
And some of these resorts

00:25:29.734 --> 00:25:30.756
are doing a great job with it,

00:25:30.915 --> 00:25:31.797
and some aren't yet.

00:25:32.278 --> 00:25:33.318
And we need to take a look

00:25:33.358 --> 00:25:34.680
at that from the upper

00:25:34.720 --> 00:25:36.320
level strategically and think,

00:25:36.661 --> 00:25:37.561
how are we matching our

00:25:37.602 --> 00:25:38.563
values to the way that we

00:25:38.583 --> 00:25:39.324
treat our customers,

00:25:39.364 --> 00:25:40.505
whether it's inclusivity,

00:25:40.585 --> 00:25:41.865
sustainability as a value,

00:25:41.905 --> 00:25:43.547
which many companies have,

00:25:43.807 --> 00:25:45.169
embracing change, people first,

00:25:45.548 --> 00:25:47.309
These are all values that we

00:25:47.349 --> 00:25:48.769
see very in alignment with

00:25:48.829 --> 00:25:49.891
having excellent culinary

00:25:49.911 --> 00:25:51.131
programming for vegan guests.

00:25:51.310 --> 00:25:52.471
So this is something I'm

00:25:52.511 --> 00:25:53.332
really passionate about

00:25:53.392 --> 00:25:54.291
doing as well as just

00:25:54.332 --> 00:25:55.413
making sure companies feel

00:25:55.432 --> 00:25:56.472
like they're not adding

00:25:56.512 --> 00:25:58.493
something different or unique or niche,

00:25:58.513 --> 00:25:59.473
but actually they're just

00:25:59.513 --> 00:26:00.454
further aligning their own

00:26:00.515 --> 00:26:02.315
values with their company's

00:26:02.355 --> 00:26:02.974
own programming.

00:26:03.756 --> 00:26:04.256
Absolutely.

00:26:04.296 --> 00:26:05.556
They're just enhancing

00:26:05.757 --> 00:26:06.856
really their commitments

00:26:07.336 --> 00:26:09.317
and their offering and really

00:26:10.247 --> 00:26:10.507
you know,

00:26:10.527 --> 00:26:12.409
really validating what they're

00:26:12.509 --> 00:26:15.171
doing because there's so

00:26:15.191 --> 00:26:16.992
much concern with greenwashing.

00:26:17.073 --> 00:26:18.614
And when you can take your

00:26:18.653 --> 00:26:19.755
commitments to this,

00:26:20.556 --> 00:26:21.237
and I don't want to say

00:26:21.317 --> 00:26:22.196
level because this

00:26:23.038 --> 00:26:24.519
shouldn't be looked at like

00:26:24.579 --> 00:26:27.721
it's a monumental undertaking, right?

00:26:27.882 --> 00:26:29.084
I mean, I think, of course,

00:26:29.144 --> 00:26:30.924
it takes strategy, it takes time,

00:26:31.085 --> 00:26:31.566
and it takes...

00:26:32.185 --> 00:26:33.686
you know, some capital costs,

00:26:33.967 --> 00:26:36.048
but this is just, um,

00:26:36.288 --> 00:26:39.108
making sure that your messaging is,

00:26:39.328 --> 00:26:40.888
is really aligning with

00:26:40.929 --> 00:26:41.730
what you're doing.

00:26:41.950 --> 00:26:44.090
And I think, you know, that's proof,

00:26:44.471 --> 00:26:44.691
you know,

00:26:44.790 --> 00:26:47.132
I came across like statistic as well.

00:26:47.991 --> 00:26:48.692
And that was, um,

00:26:50.313 --> 00:26:53.634
that 88% of the American

00:26:53.653 --> 00:26:56.015
Express 2023 global travel

00:26:56.055 --> 00:26:58.215
trends report say they plan

00:26:58.276 --> 00:26:59.477
on spending the same or

00:26:59.596 --> 00:27:01.696
more on wellness vacations

00:27:02.178 --> 00:27:03.478
compared to previous years.

00:27:03.478 --> 00:27:06.618
72% said that they're more

00:27:06.719 --> 00:27:08.319
focused on self-care than

00:27:08.359 --> 00:27:09.420
they were a year ago,

00:27:09.799 --> 00:27:11.580
and 57% intend to take

00:27:11.641 --> 00:27:13.721
extended vacations focused on wellness.

00:27:14.182 --> 00:27:15.782
so I mean that's proof right

00:27:15.843 --> 00:27:19.425
now that this is um you

00:27:19.465 --> 00:27:20.247
know it's all

00:27:20.307 --> 00:27:21.827
interconnected and this is

00:27:21.907 --> 00:27:23.108
definitely a part of that

00:27:23.148 --> 00:27:27.333
wellness trend so um so you

00:27:27.353 --> 00:27:29.173
know what do you see let's

00:27:29.394 --> 00:27:30.494
let's move into like some

00:27:30.575 --> 00:27:32.676
practical things as people

00:27:32.737 --> 00:27:33.758
are listening and they're

00:27:33.798 --> 00:27:35.138
thinking about their

00:27:35.239 --> 00:27:36.000
offerings and their

00:27:36.079 --> 00:27:38.240
kitchens and how they can enhance them

00:27:39.001 --> 00:27:40.564
What kind of mistakes do you

00:27:40.683 --> 00:27:42.605
see people make when

00:27:42.625 --> 00:27:43.548
they're trying to make this

00:27:43.627 --> 00:27:46.131
transition or maybe ad hoc

00:27:47.031 --> 00:27:49.674
and not fully making the commitment?

00:27:51.359 --> 00:27:52.401
Yeah, that's a great question.

00:27:52.421 --> 00:27:54.021
I think the biggest mistake

00:27:54.082 --> 00:27:55.742
comes even before they are

00:27:55.762 --> 00:27:56.583
making this transition.

00:27:56.623 --> 00:27:57.884
The biggest mistake that I

00:27:57.943 --> 00:27:59.984
see is companies assuming

00:28:00.025 --> 00:28:01.346
that there's no demand for

00:28:01.445 --> 00:28:02.606
vegan options because

00:28:02.646 --> 00:28:04.188
they're not getting requests.

00:28:04.907 --> 00:28:06.630
And this is usually the

00:28:06.690 --> 00:28:08.009
initial conversation I have

00:28:08.150 --> 00:28:09.991
with my clients around,

00:28:10.711 --> 00:28:12.093
what is your vision for

00:28:12.634 --> 00:28:13.614
serving vegan guests?

00:28:14.295 --> 00:28:15.596
And what would make a vegan

00:28:15.615 --> 00:28:17.376
guest know that you could serve them?

00:28:17.577 --> 00:28:19.118
So if you are not getting requests,

00:28:19.219 --> 00:28:20.460
most likely it's because

00:28:20.819 --> 00:28:21.500
they're going somewhere

00:28:21.580 --> 00:28:22.621
else where they know that

00:28:22.641 --> 00:28:23.682
they can be served and

00:28:23.721 --> 00:28:25.042
that's a segment you're missing out on.

00:28:25.463 --> 00:28:26.904
And it's because maybe you don't have

00:28:27.484 --> 00:28:28.965
labeled vegan options on your menu.

00:28:29.066 --> 00:28:30.566
So maybe you are able to

00:28:30.605 --> 00:28:31.626
accommodate vegan guests

00:28:31.767 --> 00:28:33.067
and you're doing it upon request.

00:28:33.767 --> 00:28:35.528
And that is a great place to start.

00:28:36.167 --> 00:28:36.989
But like I shared before,

00:28:37.028 --> 00:28:39.068
it's not very efficient for your staff.

00:28:39.690 --> 00:28:41.349
And it's also not accessible

00:28:41.450 --> 00:28:42.471
to customers because not

00:28:42.490 --> 00:28:43.431
everybody's going to ask.

00:28:43.730 --> 00:28:44.692
We're going to Google and

00:28:44.711 --> 00:28:45.592
look through menus and

00:28:45.612 --> 00:28:46.771
choose our vacation based

00:28:47.031 --> 00:28:49.492
on what we see looks like

00:28:49.512 --> 00:28:50.933
we could get a good experience.

00:28:51.394 --> 00:28:52.715
So we're not going to trust

00:28:52.776 --> 00:28:53.916
that someone's going to say, sure,

00:28:53.957 --> 00:28:54.698
we'll figure it out.

00:28:54.778 --> 00:28:55.558
We'll put it together.

00:28:56.098 --> 00:28:57.421
What we want to do is really,

00:28:57.681 --> 00:28:58.402
when we're starting this

00:28:58.662 --> 00:28:59.363
thought experiment,

00:28:59.423 --> 00:29:00.223
think about it from a

00:29:00.644 --> 00:29:01.965
non-vegan customer perspective.

00:29:02.105 --> 00:29:02.846
Like if you were just a

00:29:02.886 --> 00:29:04.367
general public meat eater,

00:29:04.808 --> 00:29:06.009
would you go to a hotel or

00:29:06.029 --> 00:29:07.030
a restaurant where they were like,

00:29:07.251 --> 00:29:08.112
we'll make you something.

00:29:08.212 --> 00:29:09.032
We'll figure it out.

00:29:09.554 --> 00:29:10.154
Probably not.

00:29:10.214 --> 00:29:11.076
Probably that would not be

00:29:11.115 --> 00:29:12.557
acceptable for your average guest.

00:29:12.636 --> 00:29:13.397
So when we're looking at

00:29:13.458 --> 00:29:14.138
creating a similar

00:29:14.199 --> 00:29:15.400
experience for a vegan guest,

00:29:15.460 --> 00:29:17.461
we do need a proper menu for them.

00:29:17.682 --> 00:29:18.943
We do need to have staff

00:29:18.963 --> 00:29:19.944
that understands how to

00:29:20.005 --> 00:29:21.546
respond to their interests,

00:29:21.566 --> 00:29:23.147
their questions, their requests.

00:29:24.453 --> 00:29:25.315
If you're not showcasing

00:29:25.335 --> 00:29:26.116
your vegan options,

00:29:26.277 --> 00:29:27.598
then you are probably not

00:29:27.638 --> 00:29:30.001
going to see the return on

00:29:30.021 --> 00:29:33.027
the guests you'd like to bring in.

00:29:33.827 --> 00:29:34.970
And this just really

00:29:35.049 --> 00:29:36.310
involves creating a vegan

00:29:36.332 --> 00:29:37.532
guest strategy to make sure

00:29:37.593 --> 00:29:38.714
that the vegan guest is not

00:29:38.734 --> 00:29:39.435
an afterthought.

00:29:40.497 --> 00:29:41.557
But with restaurants and

00:29:41.618 --> 00:29:42.680
hotels that are actually

00:29:42.920 --> 00:29:43.661
making the effort,

00:29:43.941 --> 00:29:45.342
I think that the biggest

00:29:45.382 --> 00:29:46.604
thing they can do to start

00:29:46.743 --> 00:29:48.345
is to review their menu

00:29:48.384 --> 00:29:49.547
labels or actually just

00:29:49.807 --> 00:29:51.288
label their menus overall,

00:29:51.327 --> 00:29:53.089
because we still see that

00:29:53.170 --> 00:29:54.892
there are menus that are missing labels.

00:29:54.991 --> 00:29:56.073
There are menus that are

00:29:56.113 --> 00:29:57.515
just not engineered properly to

00:29:58.635 --> 00:29:59.596
give the right information

00:29:59.655 --> 00:30:01.817
that guests need to make these honest,

00:30:02.179 --> 00:30:03.199
transparent decisions about

00:30:03.219 --> 00:30:04.420
what they want to put into their bodies.

00:30:04.901 --> 00:30:05.621
So we want to make sure

00:30:05.641 --> 00:30:06.942
ingredients are listed properly,

00:30:07.022 --> 00:30:08.763
that menus are labeled properly.

00:30:08.824 --> 00:30:09.825
And it's not just for vegan,

00:30:09.865 --> 00:30:10.986
but also for gluten free

00:30:11.086 --> 00:30:12.067
and any other allergens.

00:30:13.099 --> 00:30:13.859
We don't want to use the

00:30:13.920 --> 00:30:16.101
word vegan in the names of the dishes.

00:30:16.201 --> 00:30:17.741
We see vegan a lot used as

00:30:17.781 --> 00:30:18.882
an adjective as if it's

00:30:19.301 --> 00:30:20.022
going to give us some

00:30:20.042 --> 00:30:21.083
information about the dish.

00:30:21.182 --> 00:30:22.523
So we might see vegan burger

00:30:22.624 --> 00:30:23.564
or vegan tacos.

00:30:24.023 --> 00:30:25.444
And what research shows is

00:30:25.525 --> 00:30:26.545
that kind of naming

00:30:26.684 --> 00:30:28.645
actually lowers the uptake

00:30:28.665 --> 00:30:29.925
of people ordering that dish.

00:30:30.346 --> 00:30:32.846
So we don't want to deter

00:30:32.886 --> 00:30:33.867
people from ordering vegan

00:30:33.887 --> 00:30:35.367
dishes at the same time as

00:30:35.407 --> 00:30:36.169
we're trying to be more

00:30:36.209 --> 00:30:37.469
inclusive of vegan guests.

00:30:37.868 --> 00:30:39.589
So what we really suggest is

00:30:39.990 --> 00:30:40.930
making sure that your dish

00:30:41.009 --> 00:30:42.191
names and descriptions are

00:30:43.000 --> 00:30:44.301
highlighting the flavors and

00:30:44.342 --> 00:30:45.482
the tastes and the textures.

00:30:45.563 --> 00:30:47.003
So we can say black bean

00:30:47.023 --> 00:30:48.965
burger versus vegan burger.

00:30:49.026 --> 00:30:50.606
We can say portobello

00:30:50.646 --> 00:30:52.188
mushroom barbecue taco

00:30:52.307 --> 00:30:53.469
rather than vegan taco.

00:30:53.749 --> 00:30:54.930
We want to entice customers

00:30:54.970 --> 00:30:55.971
to choose the food for the

00:30:56.030 --> 00:30:57.031
ingredients and the flavor

00:30:57.051 --> 00:30:57.711
and the experience,

00:30:57.731 --> 00:30:58.692
and not just by virtue of

00:30:58.752 --> 00:31:00.474
it happened to being plant-based.

00:31:00.954 --> 00:31:01.796
And we also want to make

00:31:01.836 --> 00:31:02.516
sure that if we are

00:31:02.576 --> 00:31:04.116
advertising something as vegan friendly,

00:31:04.238 --> 00:31:06.138
that it actually is 100%

00:31:06.138 --> 00:31:07.380
plant-based because we also

00:31:07.440 --> 00:31:09.501
see a lot of these vegan patties,

00:31:09.842 --> 00:31:10.762
vegan burger patties,

00:31:11.442 --> 00:31:12.846
on non-vegan buns with

00:31:12.905 --> 00:31:13.886
non-vegan mayonnaise,

00:31:13.967 --> 00:31:14.969
with non-vegan cheese.

00:31:15.209 --> 00:31:16.692
And that is very confusing.

00:31:16.852 --> 00:31:17.773
And it's a letdown for

00:31:17.814 --> 00:31:18.836
people to come and have to

00:31:18.915 --> 00:31:19.997
ask a bunch of questions to

00:31:20.137 --> 00:31:21.138
ultimately find out they're

00:31:21.159 --> 00:31:22.442
just going to have a patty with no bun.

00:31:23.200 --> 00:31:24.059
So we want to make sure we

00:31:24.119 --> 00:31:26.020
are really checking all the boxes.

00:31:26.401 --> 00:31:27.461
I mean, when I'm working with clients,

00:31:27.500 --> 00:31:28.500
we're checking boxes from

00:31:28.560 --> 00:31:29.622
bread basket to dessert.

00:31:29.642 --> 00:31:30.902
The vegan guests are not

00:31:30.942 --> 00:31:31.701
sitting there eating a

00:31:31.741 --> 00:31:32.762
fruit plate while the other

00:31:32.782 --> 00:31:34.462
guests are having chocolate cake.

00:31:35.042 --> 00:31:35.903
We're making sure we look

00:31:35.923 --> 00:31:37.584
through your wine menu, your drinks menu,

00:31:37.663 --> 00:31:39.003
to see which vegan-friendly

00:31:39.044 --> 00:31:40.305
wines you have because the

00:31:40.345 --> 00:31:41.505
finding process in many

00:31:41.545 --> 00:31:43.164
drinks includes animal products.

00:31:43.585 --> 00:31:44.365
We're looking to make sure

00:31:44.385 --> 00:31:45.346
when you're serving mimosas,

00:31:45.365 --> 00:31:46.226
your orange juice isn't

00:31:46.266 --> 00:31:47.385
fortified with omega-3

00:31:47.486 --> 00:31:48.446
because that would include

00:31:48.686 --> 00:31:49.606
anchovies and sardine oil.

00:31:50.047 --> 00:31:51.107
So there's a lot of details

00:31:51.147 --> 00:31:52.548
to look into that really

00:31:52.567 --> 00:31:54.608
require a consultant to

00:31:54.788 --> 00:31:56.130
look through whatever

00:31:56.170 --> 00:31:56.990
you're doing and check all

00:31:57.009 --> 00:31:57.810
the boxes with you.

00:31:58.691 --> 00:31:59.932
And another mistake would be

00:32:00.332 --> 00:32:01.332
just not training the front

00:32:01.372 --> 00:32:01.972
of house staff.

00:32:02.173 --> 00:32:03.732
So a lot of times we see menu updates,

00:32:03.813 --> 00:32:05.094
but we don't see front of

00:32:05.134 --> 00:32:06.294
house staff being included

00:32:06.414 --> 00:32:07.075
in understanding

00:32:07.515 --> 00:32:08.654
what exactly they're serving.

00:32:08.734 --> 00:32:10.395
So when I'm training my clients,

00:32:10.435 --> 00:32:11.215
I'm making sure that the

00:32:11.256 --> 00:32:12.977
front of house staff is not only aware,

00:32:13.017 --> 00:32:14.337
but actually gets to taste the food.

00:32:14.738 --> 00:32:15.978
And then they can be advocates.

00:32:15.998 --> 00:32:16.798
So they can say,

00:32:17.558 --> 00:32:18.598
you should order this tofu

00:32:18.618 --> 00:32:19.859
scramble because it's amazing.

00:32:19.880 --> 00:32:20.940
And it tastes just like eggs.

00:32:20.960 --> 00:32:21.880
We use black salt,

00:32:21.920 --> 00:32:23.181
which gives it a sulfuric taste.

00:32:23.421 --> 00:32:24.461
They can actually explain

00:32:24.480 --> 00:32:25.721
the culinary aspects of why

00:32:25.761 --> 00:32:26.442
this food is good.

00:32:27.382 --> 00:32:28.262
I once had an experience

00:32:28.282 --> 00:32:29.542
going to a hotel and trying

00:32:29.563 --> 00:32:30.462
to order vegan frozen

00:32:30.482 --> 00:32:31.784
yogurt that they had just come out with.

00:32:32.243 --> 00:32:33.064
And the person behind the

00:32:33.084 --> 00:32:33.704
counter said to me,

00:32:33.884 --> 00:32:34.664
you don't want to order that.

00:32:34.724 --> 00:32:35.224
That's vegan.

00:32:35.244 --> 00:32:35.904
It's not a good one.

00:32:35.924 --> 00:32:35.986
And

00:32:37.465 --> 00:32:38.126
I called over the chef

00:32:38.146 --> 00:32:38.727
because he's the one who

00:32:38.747 --> 00:32:40.208
had invited me to come try

00:32:40.228 --> 00:32:42.169
the vegan option and promote it for them.

00:32:42.189 --> 00:32:44.550
And I was like, excuse me,

00:32:44.570 --> 00:32:45.852
did you forget to train your staff?

00:32:45.912 --> 00:32:47.212
Because this is actually

00:32:47.252 --> 00:32:48.513
going to impact your bottom

00:32:48.534 --> 00:32:50.515
line and impact the customer experience.

00:32:50.595 --> 00:32:52.056
So we really,

00:32:52.096 --> 00:32:53.738
really need to remember that.

00:32:54.758 --> 00:32:56.138
We have to train everyone.

00:32:56.179 --> 00:32:56.378
I mean,

00:32:56.419 --> 00:32:57.939
we even train housekeeping to

00:32:57.979 --> 00:32:59.960
understand vegan cleaning products.

00:33:00.140 --> 00:33:01.320
We look at toiletries to

00:33:01.361 --> 00:33:01.780
make sure they're

00:33:01.800 --> 00:33:03.082
cruelty-free or at least

00:33:03.102 --> 00:33:04.241
that there's one vegan

00:33:04.301 --> 00:33:06.583
suite that is vegan friendly.

00:33:06.782 --> 00:33:08.344
And we look really at every

00:33:08.384 --> 00:33:09.724
detail so that we make sure

00:33:09.765 --> 00:33:11.285
that the vegan guest truly

00:33:11.325 --> 00:33:12.205
has the same quality

00:33:12.246 --> 00:33:14.126
experience as the traditional guest.

00:33:14.287 --> 00:33:15.487
And I'll share one more

00:33:15.527 --> 00:33:17.208
mistake and that's doing

00:33:17.228 --> 00:33:17.988
everything right and not

00:33:18.028 --> 00:33:18.788
telling anyone about it.

00:33:19.288 --> 00:33:20.570
We see places that are

00:33:20.711 --> 00:33:21.772
actually doing a great job

00:33:22.032 --> 00:33:22.855
and not promoting

00:33:22.894 --> 00:33:24.096
themselves as vegan friendly,

00:33:24.297 --> 00:33:26.099
not sharing with vegan travel agents,

00:33:26.259 --> 00:33:26.881
for example,

00:33:26.941 --> 00:33:29.345
that they have these changes being made,

00:33:29.805 --> 00:33:31.347
not sharing their motivation behind it,

00:33:31.969 --> 00:33:33.029
not making their staff

00:33:33.089 --> 00:33:34.071
ambassadors for this.

00:33:34.833 --> 00:33:35.953
So when I'm working with staff,

00:33:36.034 --> 00:33:36.953
I also like to share with

00:33:36.993 --> 00:33:38.375
them that they're part of the change,

00:33:38.414 --> 00:33:39.234
they're part of the future,

00:33:39.375 --> 00:33:40.575
and that every time they

00:33:40.595 --> 00:33:41.915
serve a plant-based meal or

00:33:42.236 --> 00:33:43.856
encourage a customer to try something new,

00:33:43.916 --> 00:33:44.876
they're actually doing

00:33:44.936 --> 00:33:46.057
something so great for the

00:33:46.097 --> 00:33:47.018
environment and for

00:33:47.337 --> 00:33:48.479
potentially the customer's health.

00:33:49.019 --> 00:33:50.220
Vegan doesn't always mean healthy.

00:33:50.359 --> 00:33:51.799
Vegan means no animals were used.

00:33:51.900 --> 00:33:53.280
So we have to also remember that.

00:33:53.980 --> 00:33:55.821
but we can use plant-based

00:33:55.862 --> 00:33:57.402
products that are health promoting.

00:33:57.701 --> 00:33:59.042
And of course we encourage

00:33:59.182 --> 00:33:59.962
places to do that,

00:34:00.022 --> 00:34:00.782
especially if they want to

00:34:00.824 --> 00:34:01.683
make their vegan offering,

00:34:01.703 --> 00:34:02.624
their wellness offering.

00:34:02.763 --> 00:34:04.605
So there are a lot of potential mistakes,

00:34:04.644 --> 00:34:05.565
just like in any field.

00:34:05.785 --> 00:34:06.826
And I wouldn't let the

00:34:06.865 --> 00:34:08.545
mistakes deter you from trying.

00:34:08.706 --> 00:34:09.186
I would say,

00:34:09.246 --> 00:34:10.646
seek out support if you need

00:34:10.666 --> 00:34:11.927
that kind of support and

00:34:12.507 --> 00:34:14.847
remember that it's okay to make mistakes.

00:34:14.907 --> 00:34:16.048
So if you do get a four-star

00:34:16.088 --> 00:34:17.248
review from a vegan customer,

00:34:17.289 --> 00:34:18.489
instead of a five-star review,

00:34:18.989 --> 00:34:19.730
you just want to take that

00:34:19.750 --> 00:34:20.949
feedback into account and

00:34:21.070 --> 00:34:22.090
figure out why that was.

00:34:22.670 --> 00:34:23.851
Oftentimes I see restaurants

00:34:23.871 --> 00:34:24.592
doing a great job,

00:34:25.172 --> 00:34:26.634
but then they forget about the dessert.

00:34:26.853 --> 00:34:27.914
And so the vegan customer is

00:34:27.954 --> 00:34:28.755
sitting there watching all

00:34:28.775 --> 00:34:29.655
their friends eat dessert,

00:34:30.235 --> 00:34:31.496
and then they give a four-star review.

00:34:31.597 --> 00:34:33.378
And the restaurant feels like, oh,

00:34:33.438 --> 00:34:34.358
we tried so hard.

00:34:34.418 --> 00:34:35.659
We made this extra effort to

00:34:35.679 --> 00:34:36.621
have this vegan menu.

00:34:37.101 --> 00:34:38.382
We deserve a five-star review.

00:34:38.561 --> 00:34:39.862
But if we really look at it,

00:34:40.583 --> 00:34:41.664
it was four star service

00:34:41.724 --> 00:34:42.786
because that vegan customer

00:34:42.826 --> 00:34:44.027
didn't have the same experience.

00:34:44.467 --> 00:34:45.268
So these are the things we

00:34:45.309 --> 00:34:46.451
want to consider as we're

00:34:46.471 --> 00:34:47.371
creating these programs.

00:34:47.552 --> 00:34:48.893
And it really is possible.

00:34:48.914 --> 00:34:50.054
It isn't that hard.

00:34:50.074 --> 00:34:51.577
It takes about three to six

00:34:51.617 --> 00:34:52.777
months to do this full

00:34:52.818 --> 00:34:54.019
program and do it properly.

00:34:54.639 --> 00:34:56.302
And for places that I shared,

00:34:56.362 --> 00:34:57.463
like we're certifying now,

00:34:57.523 --> 00:34:58.644
so we're certifying hotels

00:34:58.724 --> 00:34:59.646
that are doing it great.

00:35:00.327 --> 00:35:01.306
who are setting the standard

00:35:01.668 --> 00:35:03.027
for vegan friendly hospitality.

00:35:03.728 --> 00:35:04.108
For them,

00:35:04.509 --> 00:35:06.289
our certification process is very

00:35:06.329 --> 00:35:07.309
quick and smooth because

00:35:07.329 --> 00:35:08.490
they already have a baseline.

00:35:08.590 --> 00:35:09.451
So what we're doing is

00:35:09.851 --> 00:35:11.012
certifying properties that

00:35:11.452 --> 00:35:12.753
have vegan options that

00:35:12.793 --> 00:35:13.713
span the length of their

00:35:13.773 --> 00:35:14.693
average guests stay.

00:35:14.974 --> 00:35:16.373
So breakfast, lunch, dinner,

00:35:16.994 --> 00:35:18.135
or let's say your average

00:35:18.155 --> 00:35:19.255
guest stays for five days

00:35:19.476 --> 00:35:20.356
and you have options where

00:35:20.376 --> 00:35:21.657
they can choose from a menu

00:35:22.257 --> 00:35:23.077
For those five days,

00:35:23.458 --> 00:35:24.778
you're eligible for certification.

00:35:24.958 --> 00:35:26.099
We also require them to have

00:35:26.139 --> 00:35:27.280
dessert options that aren't

00:35:27.300 --> 00:35:29.563
just fruit and that really

00:35:29.603 --> 00:35:30.523
mirror the experience of

00:35:30.563 --> 00:35:31.384
the traditional guest.

00:35:31.844 --> 00:35:33.166
And that's the criteria and

00:35:33.186 --> 00:35:34.045
also plant-based milk

00:35:34.146 --> 00:35:35.768
options and taking into

00:35:35.807 --> 00:35:36.989
account cross-contamination

00:35:37.009 --> 00:35:37.469
in the kitchen.

00:35:37.568 --> 00:35:38.750
Make sure we're not frying

00:35:38.769 --> 00:35:39.731
the French fries in the same

00:35:40.210 --> 00:35:42.492
prior as the deep fried fish fingers.

00:35:43.032 --> 00:35:44.751
So once they meet that criteria,

00:35:44.811 --> 00:35:46.112
then they get access to our

00:35:46.152 --> 00:35:47.733
third party verified certification,

00:35:47.773 --> 00:35:49.094
but they also get access to

00:35:49.233 --> 00:35:50.313
our staff training program

00:35:50.653 --> 00:35:51.673
so that all of their staff

00:35:51.693 --> 00:35:53.114
can become ambassadors for

00:35:53.135 --> 00:35:54.954
their vegan friendly programming.

00:35:55.255 --> 00:35:56.735
Their staff gets certified as well.

00:35:56.976 --> 00:35:57.715
Our certification is

00:35:57.755 --> 00:35:58.775
compatible with LinkedIn,

00:35:58.876 --> 00:36:00.097
so their staff can then

00:36:00.137 --> 00:36:00.536
promote their

00:36:00.556 --> 00:36:01.737
certifications on LinkedIn

00:36:01.777 --> 00:36:02.797
and through their social media.

00:36:03.456 --> 00:36:04.617
And then they also have

00:36:04.677 --> 00:36:06.117
access to a consultant

00:36:06.157 --> 00:36:08.018
meeting with our strategic

00:36:08.039 --> 00:36:08.679
planning workbook.

00:36:09.119 --> 00:36:10.659
So a consultant meets with them,

00:36:10.858 --> 00:36:11.699
and then we'll walk them

00:36:11.739 --> 00:36:12.699
through this workbook so

00:36:12.719 --> 00:36:13.960
they can actually plan

00:36:13.980 --> 00:36:14.940
their vegan guest strategy

00:36:15.000 --> 00:36:15.559
for the future.

00:36:15.900 --> 00:36:16.621
So they look at what they're

00:36:16.641 --> 00:36:18.141
doing really well and think, okay,

00:36:18.201 --> 00:36:18.940
how do we want to even

00:36:18.981 --> 00:36:20.681
improve to really highlight

00:36:20.702 --> 00:36:21.541
what we're doing and

00:36:21.621 --> 00:36:23.021
attract more of this

00:36:23.061 --> 00:36:25.422
segment as it's a growing population?

00:36:25.443 --> 00:36:25.643
I mean,

00:36:25.682 --> 00:36:27.422
we know this is a growing movement.

00:36:27.563 --> 00:36:29.724
We know it's not going to get less.

00:36:29.744 --> 00:36:31.204
It's only going to get more as more people

00:36:31.784 --> 00:36:32.706
are understanding the

00:36:32.746 --> 00:36:34.007
effects of the plant-based

00:36:34.047 --> 00:36:35.228
diet on the environment and

00:36:35.268 --> 00:36:36.731
on their health and on animal welfare.

00:36:36.891 --> 00:36:37.954
So we do see that this is

00:36:38.373 --> 00:36:40.016
not so much a trend, but a transition.

00:36:40.237 --> 00:36:41.818
And my company is really

00:36:42.219 --> 00:36:44.143
just so proud to be able to

00:36:44.282 --> 00:36:45.083
help the hospitality

00:36:45.123 --> 00:36:46.025
transition in this way.

00:36:47.150 --> 00:36:48.630
And I want to add on to

00:36:48.690 --> 00:36:49.751
something you just said.

00:36:49.771 --> 00:36:51.090
The trend,

00:36:51.871 --> 00:36:54.152
it's going to become less of a

00:36:54.211 --> 00:36:55.233
trend and more of a

00:36:55.333 --> 00:36:57.753
mainstream because they do

00:36:57.873 --> 00:37:00.574
understand the impact that

00:37:00.594 --> 00:37:01.373
they're creating.

00:37:01.434 --> 00:37:02.755
But I think in addition to that,

00:37:03.114 --> 00:37:04.434
people are starting to

00:37:04.554 --> 00:37:07.775
understand that vegan food is delicious.

00:37:08.697 --> 00:37:10.617
We live in Columbus, Ohio.

00:37:10.657 --> 00:37:12.777
We have some incredible people.

00:37:13.137 --> 00:37:15.699
vegan restaurants that my husband,

00:37:15.820 --> 00:37:16.661
he is a meat eater,

00:37:16.860 --> 00:37:19.463
but he has no problem going there.

00:37:19.483 --> 00:37:21.304
And you do not feel like

00:37:21.324 --> 00:37:23.164
you're left out of anything.

00:37:24.106 --> 00:37:26.068
It's, it's just,

00:37:26.527 --> 00:37:27.548
it's such a great offering

00:37:27.568 --> 00:37:28.728
when it's well thought out

00:37:28.849 --> 00:37:29.889
and you have the right training,

00:37:29.909 --> 00:37:30.650
like you're saying,

00:37:30.990 --> 00:37:32.592
has to be a holistic approach.

00:37:33.172 --> 00:37:34.534
And the other thing you

00:37:34.554 --> 00:37:35.653
mentioned was about menus.

00:37:35.695 --> 00:37:37.715
And I had Jeremy Sampson on yesterday.

00:37:37.856 --> 00:37:38.896
the CEO of the Travel

00:37:38.936 --> 00:37:40.458
Foundation a few months back.

00:37:40.498 --> 00:37:41.619
And something he mentioned

00:37:41.659 --> 00:37:43.661
that I think this would

00:37:43.701 --> 00:37:46.882
have the same effect is when you,

00:37:46.963 --> 00:37:47.423
first of all,

00:37:47.563 --> 00:37:49.125
wording and messaging is so

00:37:49.204 --> 00:37:50.545
important as you're saying,

00:37:50.606 --> 00:37:52.206
not labeling something as vegan,

00:37:52.226 --> 00:37:53.288
because unfortunately

00:37:53.327 --> 00:37:54.068
there's a negative

00:37:54.108 --> 00:37:56.791
connotation to meat eaters probably,

00:37:57.411 --> 00:38:00.153
but also about where you

00:38:00.213 --> 00:38:01.994
are placing that menu item.

00:38:02.135 --> 00:38:03.175
Placement has

00:38:03.817 --> 00:38:07.559
a huge determinant on uptake.

00:38:08.420 --> 00:38:11.143
And if you even can, you know,

00:38:11.184 --> 00:38:13.186
make that the chef special of the day,

00:38:13.487 --> 00:38:13.686
you know,

00:38:13.706 --> 00:38:15.108
there was some statistic that if

00:38:15.168 --> 00:38:17.271
you made a vegan or a vegetarian meal,

00:38:17.351 --> 00:38:18.291
the chef special,

00:38:18.751 --> 00:38:19.452
it was 80% more likely to, um,

00:38:22.376 --> 00:38:25.239
be chosen so very very

00:38:25.318 --> 00:38:26.860
little shifts you know

00:38:26.981 --> 00:38:28.202
after the right things are

00:38:28.242 --> 00:38:30.164
put into place um will

00:38:30.224 --> 00:38:31.405
allow you to see that pull

00:38:31.465 --> 00:38:33.106
through reduction in cost

00:38:33.166 --> 00:38:35.590
reduction in water energy

00:38:35.690 --> 00:38:36.811
and all those good things

00:38:36.851 --> 00:38:38.273
that that go along with it

00:38:38.846 --> 00:38:40.067
I love that you mentioned that.

00:38:40.487 --> 00:38:41.407
I would call myself a menu

00:38:41.447 --> 00:38:43.150
engineering geek because

00:38:43.269 --> 00:38:44.351
I'm always up to date on

00:38:44.371 --> 00:38:45.351
the latest research on that

00:38:45.411 --> 00:38:46.032
because I train our

00:38:46.052 --> 00:38:47.974
consultants to engineer

00:38:47.994 --> 00:38:49.195
menus properly to make sure

00:38:49.235 --> 00:38:50.456
that the vegan options are

00:38:50.476 --> 00:38:51.657
profitable options because

00:38:51.677 --> 00:38:52.597
that's another incentive

00:38:52.637 --> 00:38:53.478
for these places to keep

00:38:53.498 --> 00:38:54.219
them on their menus.

00:38:54.239 --> 00:38:55.420
We want them to be profitable.

00:38:55.579 --> 00:38:57.661
And also vegan options can

00:38:57.722 --> 00:38:58.882
have higher profit margins

00:38:59.103 --> 00:39:00.505
if you're using plant-based

00:39:00.545 --> 00:39:01.666
products like lentils and

00:39:01.706 --> 00:39:03.507
beans and jackfruit and

00:39:03.547 --> 00:39:05.429
things that are much cheaper than meat.

00:39:05.949 --> 00:39:06.509
or dairy.

00:39:06.608 --> 00:39:08.389
So we really can think through this.

00:39:08.929 --> 00:39:10.550
I worked with a hotel a

00:39:10.610 --> 00:39:11.791
couple of weeks ago.

00:39:12.371 --> 00:39:13.190
They're now printing the new

00:39:13.210 --> 00:39:15.092
menu and we have an entire

00:39:15.132 --> 00:39:16.192
vegan section and it's just

00:39:16.231 --> 00:39:16.992
called specialties.

00:39:17.472 --> 00:39:18.333
That's the name of the section.

00:39:18.793 --> 00:39:19.273
And at the bottom,

00:39:19.313 --> 00:39:20.074
we have a note that all the

00:39:20.114 --> 00:39:20.974
specialties are vegan.

00:39:21.313 --> 00:39:21.934
So looking at,

00:39:21.954 --> 00:39:23.094
we have classic choices and

00:39:23.114 --> 00:39:24.414
specialties that are plant-based.

00:39:24.574 --> 00:39:25.916
And that's such an

00:39:25.976 --> 00:39:26.916
interesting way to do it,

00:39:26.996 --> 00:39:29.077
to guide people's eye towards specialties,

00:39:29.416 --> 00:39:30.416
but not necessarily call

00:39:30.456 --> 00:39:31.657
everything vegan this, vegan that.

00:39:31.777 --> 00:39:32.777
And what we also did is

00:39:33.657 --> 00:39:35.539
create just a lot of their

00:39:35.838 --> 00:39:36.900
dishes are just defaulted

00:39:36.980 --> 00:39:37.960
to plant-based so their

00:39:37.981 --> 00:39:39.722
pancakes are now just vegan

00:39:39.802 --> 00:39:40.822
so that's the only pancake

00:39:40.842 --> 00:39:42.003
on the menu is a vegan one

00:39:42.423 --> 00:39:43.344
and I've also seen this

00:39:43.403 --> 00:39:44.844
happening also at the major

00:39:44.885 --> 00:39:46.686
resorts is really not

00:39:46.786 --> 00:39:47.786
having the vegan products

00:39:47.847 --> 00:39:48.987
compete with the

00:39:49.128 --> 00:39:50.028
traditional versions of

00:39:50.068 --> 00:39:50.909
them so if you're going to

00:39:50.929 --> 00:39:52.050
make a caesar salad just

00:39:52.090 --> 00:39:53.311
make your only caesar salad

00:39:53.371 --> 00:39:54.512
the vegan one if you're

00:39:54.532 --> 00:39:55.972
going to do tacos make it a

00:39:55.992 --> 00:39:57.373
vegan shrimp taco because

00:39:57.413 --> 00:39:58.253
if someone wants taco

00:39:58.414 --> 00:39:59.775
they'll try that so not

00:39:59.835 --> 00:40:01.175
having two of everything but

00:40:01.576 --> 00:40:02.436
and having them all compete

00:40:02.476 --> 00:40:02.936
with each other,

00:40:03.077 --> 00:40:04.579
but really having vegan

00:40:04.619 --> 00:40:06.300
options become mainstream.

00:40:06.800 --> 00:40:07.541
I worked with a restaurant

00:40:07.621 --> 00:40:08.601
once where we made a vegan

00:40:08.621 --> 00:40:09.983
menu and their vegan crab

00:40:10.003 --> 00:40:11.204
cake was so successful that

00:40:11.244 --> 00:40:12.425
they ended up putting their

00:40:12.465 --> 00:40:13.407
vegan crab cake on their

00:40:13.447 --> 00:40:14.568
traditional menu and taking

00:40:14.588 --> 00:40:16.208
off the actual crab cake.

00:40:16.568 --> 00:40:17.911
So there's no crab cake.

00:40:18.210 --> 00:40:20.193
The only crab cake is the vegan crab cake.

00:40:20.572 --> 00:40:21.414
So these are things we're

00:40:21.434 --> 00:40:22.293
gonna just see more of in

00:40:22.313 --> 00:40:23.795
the future and it's very, very exciting.

00:40:24.304 --> 00:40:25.025
It is exciting.

00:40:25.125 --> 00:40:26.286
And when you were talking

00:40:26.326 --> 00:40:29.349
about the chefs making certain things,

00:40:29.708 --> 00:40:31.030
when you think about a chef

00:40:31.190 --> 00:40:32.612
and their creative nature

00:40:32.692 --> 00:40:33.693
and how much pride they

00:40:33.713 --> 00:40:36.675
take in their finished product,

00:40:36.695 --> 00:40:39.358
I am certain that they

00:40:39.538 --> 00:40:41.500
probably get so excited

00:40:41.539 --> 00:40:42.900
about these new creations

00:40:43.300 --> 00:40:44.382
they're making and these

00:40:44.541 --> 00:40:46.324
new offerings and what an

00:40:46.403 --> 00:40:48.385
element of pride they have.

00:40:49.226 --> 00:40:50.126
after doing that.

00:40:50.246 --> 00:40:55.027
So it's just such a great way to, you know,

00:40:55.047 --> 00:40:57.507
really enhance the offering

00:40:57.708 --> 00:40:59.869
from the guest perspective

00:41:00.168 --> 00:41:02.528
to your employees perspective, really.

00:41:03.469 --> 00:41:04.510
So Meredith,

00:41:04.809 --> 00:41:06.010
you've talked a lot about your

00:41:06.050 --> 00:41:06.989
certification.

00:41:07.010 --> 00:41:08.271
So as we wrap up, how...

00:41:10.010 --> 00:41:12.751
How let's talk about what

00:41:12.791 --> 00:41:14.692
does that process look like?

00:41:16.032 --> 00:41:18.032
And can you meet somebody?

00:41:18.193 --> 00:41:19.273
What if they've started

00:41:19.313 --> 00:41:20.534
their journey and

00:41:20.634 --> 00:41:23.114
something's just not working or, you know,

00:41:23.514 --> 00:41:25.255
explain to us how you go in

00:41:25.474 --> 00:41:26.815
and you really get an eye

00:41:26.914 --> 00:41:28.394
for what's going to going

00:41:28.434 --> 00:41:30.596
to help them turn this turn the style.

00:41:31.766 --> 00:41:31.967
Well,

00:41:32.248 --> 00:41:34.869
if you do represent a hotel that you

00:41:34.929 --> 00:41:37.210
feel is having positive

00:41:37.231 --> 00:41:38.630
culinary programming for vegan guests,

00:41:38.710 --> 00:41:40.012
that you do have vegan

00:41:40.052 --> 00:41:41.793
options that span the guest's stay,

00:41:41.853 --> 00:41:43.173
then I encourage you just

00:41:43.193 --> 00:41:44.255
to apply on our website.

00:41:44.295 --> 00:41:45.894
It's veganhospitality.com

00:41:45.914 --> 00:41:47.396
slash certified because

00:41:47.456 --> 00:41:48.356
it's free to apply.

00:41:48.697 --> 00:41:50.918
So you don't pay your annual

00:41:50.938 --> 00:41:52.418
membership fee until you

00:41:52.438 --> 00:41:53.360
get accepted to the program.

00:41:53.860 --> 00:41:54.599
So when you apply,

00:41:54.679 --> 00:41:55.820
it's essentially a free audit.

00:41:55.900 --> 00:41:57.041
And what we can do then is

00:41:57.081 --> 00:41:58.081
take a look at what you're doing.

00:41:58.121 --> 00:41:59.202
We go through your menus.

00:41:59.262 --> 00:42:00.342
We look at the statistics

00:42:00.362 --> 00:42:01.384
you provide for us about

00:42:01.423 --> 00:42:02.123
your average guest.

00:42:02.364 --> 00:42:04.445
And we're able to evaluate

00:42:04.505 --> 00:42:05.425
and let you know, OK,

00:42:05.465 --> 00:42:07.686
this meets our standards or it doesn't.

00:42:07.786 --> 00:42:08.927
And here's what you can do next.

00:42:09.047 --> 00:42:10.367
So we are also offering

00:42:10.407 --> 00:42:12.148
suggestions on how to improve.

00:42:12.730 --> 00:42:14.891
And we also offer free

00:42:15.090 --> 00:42:15.891
consulting sessions.

00:42:15.971 --> 00:42:17.152
So anyone can sign up for a

00:42:17.192 --> 00:42:18.592
free 30 minute session with

00:42:18.612 --> 00:42:20.052
myself or one of our consultants.

00:42:20.152 --> 00:42:20.893
I do like to pair

00:42:21.454 --> 00:42:22.335
the client with the

00:42:22.355 --> 00:42:23.456
consultant in the region in

00:42:23.476 --> 00:42:24.617
case they do decide to hire

00:42:24.657 --> 00:42:25.657
them for work because it's

00:42:25.697 --> 00:42:26.659
really nice to be able to

00:42:26.699 --> 00:42:28.179
come in person or at least, you know,

00:42:28.199 --> 00:42:29.601
speak the same language, right?

00:42:29.641 --> 00:42:30.822
If that's a barrier.

00:42:30.882 --> 00:42:33.184
So it's really nice to just

00:42:33.545 --> 00:42:34.224
submit the form on our

00:42:34.244 --> 00:42:35.746
website and I'd be happy to

00:42:35.867 --> 00:42:36.748
pair you with someone who

00:42:36.788 --> 00:42:38.108
can help guide you through this process.

00:42:38.469 --> 00:42:38.969
But like I said,

00:42:39.070 --> 00:42:40.510
once you do apply for certification,

00:42:40.630 --> 00:42:42.193
if you do meet the criteria,

00:42:42.273 --> 00:42:43.012
then we'll invite you to

00:42:43.052 --> 00:42:43.574
join the program.

00:42:44.034 --> 00:42:46.295
which will then involve the staff training,

00:42:46.335 --> 00:42:48.396
which is actually done on recording.

00:42:48.516 --> 00:42:49.516
So it's a staff training

00:42:49.556 --> 00:42:50.777
recording that you can then

00:42:50.797 --> 00:42:52.597
disseminate to your entire staff.

00:42:53.378 --> 00:42:54.458
I have done some of these

00:42:54.478 --> 00:42:55.478
trainings live for the

00:42:55.498 --> 00:42:56.518
hotels that are certified

00:42:56.599 --> 00:42:58.398
in Aruba because it's

00:42:58.498 --> 00:42:59.260
really fun for me to be

00:42:59.320 --> 00:43:00.239
able to do this and get

00:43:00.300 --> 00:43:01.079
real-time feedback.

00:43:01.179 --> 00:43:02.420
So I did one yesterday.

00:43:03.461 --> 00:43:04.402
We have three boutique

00:43:04.422 --> 00:43:05.983
hotels certified in Aruba.

00:43:06.063 --> 00:43:07.045
I'll mention them briefly.

00:43:07.085 --> 00:43:08.626
We have Bukudi Entera,

00:43:08.865 --> 00:43:10.027
we have Manchebo Resort,

00:43:10.146 --> 00:43:11.507
and we have Boardwalk Hotel.

00:43:12.128 --> 00:43:13.929
And these are sustainability pioneers,

00:43:13.989 --> 00:43:15.331
not just in Aruba, but in the world.

00:43:15.552 --> 00:43:17.072
And you find that this is a

00:43:17.112 --> 00:43:19.175
movement really led by boutique hotels.

00:43:19.434 --> 00:43:20.416
So there are, of course,

00:43:20.476 --> 00:43:21.717
large chains that are

00:43:21.757 --> 00:43:22.998
making sustainability commitments,

00:43:23.097 --> 00:43:24.719
but boutique hotels have

00:43:24.759 --> 00:43:26.380
had this opportunity to really

00:43:26.800 --> 00:43:28.302
go above and beyond in ways

00:43:28.362 --> 00:43:29.282
that they have more control

00:43:29.362 --> 00:43:30.824
over on their individual properties.

00:43:30.965 --> 00:43:32.146
And because they're so

00:43:32.226 --> 00:43:33.246
interested in sustainability,

00:43:33.306 --> 00:43:34.268
they have already made the

00:43:34.307 --> 00:43:35.228
connection between

00:43:35.248 --> 00:43:37.070
sustainability in their

00:43:37.090 --> 00:43:38.231
hotel operations overall

00:43:38.751 --> 00:43:39.632
and what's going on in

00:43:39.652 --> 00:43:40.693
their culinary programming.

00:43:40.733 --> 00:43:41.693
So we are seeing a lot of

00:43:41.733 --> 00:43:42.474
the boutique hotels

00:43:42.534 --> 00:43:43.476
applying for this program

00:43:43.496 --> 00:43:44.697
because they're one step

00:43:44.737 --> 00:43:45.657
ahead and they're starting

00:43:45.677 --> 00:43:46.639
to understand already

00:43:47.059 --> 00:43:48.219
that they're getting vegan

00:43:48.260 --> 00:43:49.260
guests and they need to

00:43:49.300 --> 00:43:50.681
have their staff trained so

00:43:50.701 --> 00:43:51.760
that they can keep up with

00:43:51.780 --> 00:43:52.840
the five-star reviews and

00:43:52.860 --> 00:43:53.902
they can make sure that

00:43:53.922 --> 00:43:55.141
there are no mistakes being made.

00:43:55.302 --> 00:43:56.402
And also so that they can

00:43:56.422 --> 00:43:57.983
get recognized for their efforts.

00:43:58.463 --> 00:43:59.744
Because when you are part of

00:43:59.784 --> 00:44:00.885
our program and like I shared,

00:44:00.905 --> 00:44:01.605
it's a new program.

00:44:01.625 --> 00:44:02.385
We just launched this on

00:44:02.445 --> 00:44:03.346
Earth Day this year.

00:44:03.485 --> 00:44:04.925
So it's really new and we're

00:44:04.945 --> 00:44:05.867
excited that we've had such

00:44:05.887 --> 00:44:07.027
a positive response already

00:44:07.086 --> 00:44:08.208
just in the past month or so.

00:44:08.907 --> 00:44:10.248
So when you are part of our program,

00:44:10.268 --> 00:44:12.190
we're also promoting and we

00:44:12.711 --> 00:44:14.353
are also connecting with travel agents.

00:44:14.414 --> 00:44:15.894
I have a travel agent

00:44:15.994 --> 00:44:17.396
meeting tomorrow with 10

00:44:17.396 --> 00:44:18.358
travel agents around the

00:44:18.378 --> 00:44:19.878
world talking to them about the program.

00:44:19.898 --> 00:44:20.940
So they can recommend these

00:44:21.280 --> 00:44:22.742
certified properties to their clients.

00:44:22.862 --> 00:44:24.824
Because once you have the certification,

00:44:25.085 --> 00:44:26.306
it's clear that you've met

00:44:26.326 --> 00:44:27.387
these third-party standards.

00:44:28.387 --> 00:44:29.889
We also want to combat

00:44:29.989 --> 00:44:30.849
greenwashing like you

00:44:30.869 --> 00:44:32.931
shared and vegan washing, we can call it,

00:44:33.233 --> 00:44:34.233
where hotels are saying, sure,

00:44:34.273 --> 00:44:35.273
we can serve vegan guests.

00:44:35.414 --> 00:44:36.375
And then someone shows up

00:44:36.434 --> 00:44:38.056
and actually it's not the case.

00:44:38.396 --> 00:44:39.277
And this happens a lot.

00:44:39.338 --> 00:44:40.418
I'm part of a vegan travel

00:44:40.458 --> 00:44:41.260
Facebook group of over

00:44:41.260 --> 00:44:42.481
50,000 vegan guests.

00:44:42.641 --> 00:44:44.282
And I am very up to date on

00:44:44.302 --> 00:44:45.023
all the stories.

00:44:45.083 --> 00:44:45.443
And we hear...

00:44:46.164 --> 00:44:47.123
a lot of the same stories

00:44:47.184 --> 00:44:47.945
over and over from these

00:44:47.965 --> 00:44:49.985
repeated experiences of

00:44:50.106 --> 00:44:51.925
hotels saying that they can serve vegans,

00:44:52.126 --> 00:44:53.367
and it's just not the case

00:44:53.407 --> 00:44:54.306
when the guest arrives.

00:44:54.726 --> 00:44:55.867
And of course, not just hotels,

00:44:55.907 --> 00:44:56.728
but cruise ships,

00:44:57.608 --> 00:44:58.829
but other accommodations.

00:44:59.048 --> 00:45:01.409
So we are doing our best,

00:45:01.489 --> 00:45:02.650
making a small ripple

00:45:02.690 --> 00:45:03.831
effect in the ocean of

00:45:03.871 --> 00:45:04.972
hospitality and tourism in

00:45:05.012 --> 00:45:05.672
the best way we can.

00:45:06.351 --> 00:45:07.172
And what we're really trying

00:45:07.193 --> 00:45:07.492
to do with the

00:45:07.512 --> 00:45:08.992
certification is set the

00:45:09.012 --> 00:45:10.353
standard for what it looks

00:45:10.393 --> 00:45:11.514
like to have a proper vegan

00:45:11.574 --> 00:45:13.356
culinary experience and a

00:45:13.376 --> 00:45:14.376
vegan guest experience,

00:45:14.416 --> 00:45:15.436
because really there is no

00:45:15.476 --> 00:45:16.177
standard right now.

00:45:16.356 --> 00:45:18.137
And it was sorely needed.

00:45:18.438 --> 00:45:19.838
And I think over the next year,

00:45:19.898 --> 00:45:20.699
we'll get to see and

00:45:20.719 --> 00:45:22.760
evaluate how this program is going.

00:45:22.820 --> 00:45:24.081
Our plan is to just keep

00:45:24.121 --> 00:45:25.242
improving it year after

00:45:25.282 --> 00:45:26.342
year after year based on

00:45:26.362 --> 00:45:27.382
the feedback we get from

00:45:27.402 --> 00:45:28.943
the members in the program.

00:45:30.853 --> 00:45:32.534
And I just want to reiterate,

00:45:32.574 --> 00:45:36.275
I think you are enhancing your offering.

00:45:36.295 --> 00:45:38.117
This is not an all or nothing.

00:45:38.177 --> 00:45:39.137
You're not saying that

00:45:39.217 --> 00:45:40.637
you're only serving vegan.

00:45:40.677 --> 00:45:41.737
What you're doing is you're

00:45:41.777 --> 00:45:44.259
making sure that you are

00:45:44.478 --> 00:45:46.420
being able to serve all guests.

00:45:46.920 --> 00:45:47.780
And the last thing you want

00:45:47.800 --> 00:45:48.780
to do is have this

00:45:49.021 --> 00:45:52.141
beautiful experience for a

00:45:52.201 --> 00:45:53.581
guest and well-trained

00:45:53.661 --> 00:45:55.541
staff and have this missing

00:45:55.601 --> 00:45:57.742
piece and that ruin your

00:45:57.782 --> 00:45:58.882
customer reviews.

00:45:59.182 --> 00:46:00.543
And so I think this is

00:46:00.643 --> 00:46:01.503
really something that

00:46:01.543 --> 00:46:04.824
people are going to start digging into.

00:46:04.945 --> 00:46:06.684
And you are making a huge impact.

00:46:07.184 --> 00:46:09.065
I'm so thankful that you are

00:46:09.146 --> 00:46:10.306
doing what you're doing.

00:46:10.465 --> 00:46:11.746
It's really visionary.

00:46:12.226 --> 00:46:14.206
And I'm so glad you were able to

00:46:14.847 --> 00:46:16.007
to come all the way from

00:46:16.068 --> 00:46:17.989
Aruba and be on the

00:46:18.409 --> 00:46:21.431
Sustainable Hospitality Podcast today.

00:46:21.851 --> 00:46:23.813
Well, remind us one more time,

00:46:23.952 --> 00:46:25.713
what is your email address?

00:46:25.733 --> 00:46:26.954
And we're of course gonna

00:46:26.994 --> 00:46:29.016
put that into our show

00:46:29.056 --> 00:46:31.398
notes and your website if

00:46:31.438 --> 00:46:32.398
people wanna get in touch.

00:46:33.336 --> 00:46:34.657
Or you can email me directly

00:46:34.797 --> 00:46:37.398
at meredith at veganhospitality.com.

00:46:37.858 --> 00:46:38.898
And you can also just go to

00:46:38.938 --> 00:46:40.239
veganhospitality.com.

00:46:40.338 --> 00:46:41.840
You'll see a list of some of

00:46:41.900 --> 00:46:43.019
our highlighted consultants

00:46:43.079 --> 00:46:43.880
and the different regions

00:46:43.920 --> 00:46:44.659
that we work in.

00:46:44.800 --> 00:46:45.880
You'll see lots of

00:46:45.920 --> 00:46:47.460
opportunities to reach out to us.

00:46:47.800 --> 00:46:49.782
And we are also open to

00:46:49.802 --> 00:46:50.862
partnerships with mission

00:46:50.882 --> 00:46:51.842
aligned organizations.

00:46:51.902 --> 00:46:52.623
We really believe in

00:46:52.663 --> 00:46:54.143
collaboration and we really

00:46:54.182 --> 00:46:55.983
want to make the biggest impact possible.

00:46:56.043 --> 00:46:57.364
So if anything I've shared

00:46:57.403 --> 00:46:58.164
resonates with you,

00:46:58.184 --> 00:46:59.965
I'd love to hear from you and hear what

00:47:00.505 --> 00:47:02.367
impact this conversation has

00:47:02.407 --> 00:47:03.668
made on your life.

00:47:03.768 --> 00:47:05.369
And if you wanted to share it on LinkedIn,

00:47:05.791 --> 00:47:06.331
tag me.

00:47:06.351 --> 00:47:07.833
I also love to share

00:47:07.873 --> 00:47:09.574
information there and read your thoughts.

00:47:10.554 --> 00:47:10.914
Great.

00:47:11.295 --> 00:47:12.757
Well, everyone,

00:47:12.797 --> 00:47:14.657
thank you again for tuning back in.

00:47:14.697 --> 00:47:16.500
We love being able to bring

00:47:16.519 --> 00:47:18.740
you innovators like Meredith,

00:47:19.501 --> 00:47:21.684
pushing the industry to

00:47:21.983 --> 00:47:23.005
make a bigger impact

00:47:23.085 --> 00:47:25.365
because we have such an opportunity to,

00:47:25.827 --> 00:47:27.128
and consumers are demanding it,

00:47:27.588 --> 00:47:29.188
but we are asking you to

00:47:29.268 --> 00:47:30.650
please leave us a review so

00:47:30.730 --> 00:47:31.931
that we can continue to

00:47:31.990 --> 00:47:33.992
bring you these great conversations and

00:47:34.333 --> 00:47:35.635
Let us know what topics and

00:47:35.675 --> 00:47:37.255
what guests you would like to see.

00:47:37.356 --> 00:47:38.777
Connect with me on LinkedIn

00:47:39.438 --> 00:47:41.240
and subscribe to our newsletter.

00:47:41.340 --> 00:47:43.523
If you go to the Sustainable

00:47:43.583 --> 00:47:45.425
Hospitality Podcast dot com,

00:47:45.925 --> 00:47:46.686
we're going to give you a

00:47:46.746 --> 00:47:49.108
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