Vegan cuisine and its presence in the Maltese culinary scene

Abstract

The local food scene is constantly evolving, with more customers opting to eat vegetables, fruits and legumes as their main source of nutrition while excluding any animal origin products, but for which reason? This study focuses on understanding why the local veganscene is growing and what are the expectations from the caterers. Through the literature review common vegan diet misconceptions were analysed with various studies confirming that following a plant-based diet can be a sustainable alternative through all stages of the human live cycle. Other studies showed how a healthy vegan diet can prevent, treat and reverse common non-communicable diseases including cholesterol, diabetes, hypertension and certain types of cancer (Clarys et al, 2014; Hyunju et al, 2019). The environmental impacts of various diets have been analysed, showing how the ecological footprint of an animal-based meal exceeds 500% that of an equally nutritional and balanced vegan meal (Martinelli and Berkmanienė, 2018). Two related questionnaires were designed to gather information from both vegan and nonvegan participants. Empathy towards animal exploitation was the main reason for local vegans to shift to veganism with 82% female participants and 42% of the total vegan participants sustaining this diet for the past 2 – 4 years. Both groups agreed that the most important factors of any dining experience are hygiene, taste and menu selection. Willingness to pay for various meals is higher with non-vegans and it was seen how many of the nonvegan participants were misinformed about the diet they proclaim to follow. Frequency of dining out was similar in both groups with the higher percentage of participants dining out once monthly. 59% of the vegan participants said that it is not difficult to follow a vegan diet in Malta, yet 77% answered that there are not enough vegan friendly restaurants and hotels. Veganised traditional Maltese food was chosen as the preferred cuisine by most vegans and although central areas of the Island are the preferred location for any vegan friendly restaurant many mentioned that they wouldn’t mind travelling to any restaurant which offered interesting plant based dishes. Vegan participants mentioned some local restaurants and hotels which are meeting if not exceeding their dining expectations, showing that some local businesses are already doing their research and tapping into this potential market. This was discussed together with ideas of how local institutions together with our talented chefs could build a vegan recipe portfolio to help the local catering industry getting up to speed with the growing interest towards the vegan diet.