A visit to MEI’s UK Event Summit
Highlights for me included the panel discussions on The Future of Live Events, with a panel of industry experts
It’s ‘Veganuary’ in a couple months time and it’s now proving as popular as ‘Dry January’!
It is been reported that more than 50,000 people gave veganism a try in January 2018, often in an effort to purge themselves of their festive excesses. What about 2019? At GIG and Eat to the Beat we’re used to catering to numerous dietary requirements, and it hasn’t escaped our attention that plant-based eating is right up there at the minute.
We’ve definitely seen a growth in requests for organic, natural, healthy and sustainable vegan/plant based foods from our clients and consumers, and it goes without saying that we want to reflect this demand within our menus. It’s always exciting to fuse different trends and come up with something new. One idea that we worked on for this year’s summer festival season is serving up delicious alternatives to street food, such as BBQ Jackfruit burgers and Buddha bowls. We made beer braised cauliflower vegan and gluten free tacos at V Festival last year and they were a big hit!
In our experience, plant-based eating habits usually go hand in hand with event organisers and consumers who want to reduce their environmental impact. We make a strong effort to be as sustainable as possible: reducing water consumption and waste; using recyclable disposables wherever possible and keeping non-recyclable waste to a minimum; sourcing produce from local suppliers and using crew who are based in the same area as the event if we can.
In 2018, there were well over 80 dedicated vegan festivals in the UK, then there are all the high-profile events committed to delivering a wider choice for their attendees and reducing their carbon footprint at the same time. It’s a trend that’s set to keep on growing and we intend to stay ahead of curve.
Join the conversation; tell us what you think.