Ovolo Hotel Group has dropped meat from its menu for a second year running, in what is believed to be a world-first commitment by a hotel group to a vegetarian-led food offering.
Ovolo Hotels announced the global move, Plant’d, this month as part of a pledge to ethical eating, conscious cuisine and innovative vegetarian options at its properties. The meat-free menu, however, will not be introduced at By Ovolo Collective hotels or for conferencing and events across Ovolo Hotels.
“Meat is being removed for a second year in a row at Ovolo Hotels. With a number of our Ovolo venues already serving plant-based cuisine, we have decided to go the full 100%,” said Ovolo Group Founder and CEO, Girish Jhunjhnuwala.
“It’s been a strategic move, but Ovolo prides itself on being an industry leader. We believe that the world changes, therefore we continue to evolve – we want to ensure we are doing our bit to help preserve our environment, promote healthy eating and enhance the image of amazing vegetarian and plant-based dining.”
Jhunjhnuwala said there has been a lot of learnings from the move to vegetarian menus and the hotel group will share these publicly through the release of the ‘Veg Pledge Playbook 2022’, in the hopes that it will aid others in the industry who may be interested in making the switch.
In October 2020, Ovolo Hotels transitioned to a vegetarian-only offering for 365 days as part of the ‘Year of the Veg’ campaign.
Ovolo’s Group Creative Culinary Partner, Ian Curley, said the switch has been even more successful than anticipated.
“We now find ourselves part of a new wave of plant-based pioneers,” Curley said.
“The one big lesson we have learned from our bold experiment: never underestimate your guests. A key focus for us has been ensuring we are creating something that still appeals to everyone – from vegans to flexitarians, and those who are simply keen on expanding their palette.”
Ovolo is working with plant-based ‘meat’ suppliers such as V2 to bring exciting new options to the menu and to challenge consumer perceptions about vegetarian food.
“[We want to] make it an easy entry point for those curious about trying some vegan spins on classic dishes,” Curley said.