![]() ![]() They didn't understand our name either, assuming vegetarians wouldn't want anything to do with butchers. "In the beginning, people often asked me why it had to resemble meat. He and his partners invested $4.7 million in the company, which steadily grew by 50 percent each year. Luckily, the Netherlands has plenty of knowledge." "It requires the patience of a monk and the best experts to achieve the right result. The biggest challenge, however, was to recreate the texture of meat. The only solution was to develop a better alternative. Well that changed pretty quickly when I realized that, like people, animals don't want to die after living a good life."īut Korteweg didn't like the meat substitutes available at the time, such as burgers made from processed vegetable slurry. "I'd planned to keep a few pigs and cows on my farm, thinking I'd give them a good life and slaughter them for meat five years later. In the end, it took him nearly seven years to stop eating meat altogether, though he still likes the taste of it. There was only one problem: He loved meat. Korteweg is a ninth-generation farmer who was inspired to become a vegetarian in 1997, after an outbreak of swine fever in the Netherlands led to the slaughter of millions of pigs. The Dutch government invested $7 million in a machine that can create a vegetarian steak that resembles meat in taste and texture, along with seven international companies, including Unilever and Meyn (which builds machines to slaughter chickens). One of these is a vegan smoked sausage, which took seven years to perfect and has been available in stores since September. The company, which has an annual turnover of $17.53 million, sells a wide range of products, with new ones being developed all the time. The Vegetarian Butcher company was founded 10 years ago, and its products are now available in 15 countries at 4,000 locations worldwide, ranging from supermarkets and specialty stores to several dozen other restaurants. "My mission is to show meat-lovers that they won't miss out by skipping meat one or more days a week." ![]() Korteweg, 56, wants his first and only restaurant to attract all kinds of people - from vegetarians and vegans to flexitarians and meat-lovers like himself. "The waiter just told me that one of the guests had no idea it wasn't real meat until after his meal," he says, smiling with pride. In the evening, co-founder and director of the restaurant, Jaap Korteweg, dives into a vegetarian beef dish in a corner of his recently opened restaurant. Vleesch Lobby translates to "Meat Lobby," but "meat" is written in an old-Dutch way, which The Vegetarian Butcher intends to mean "not real meat." And "Lobby" refers to a place people can sit to promote a cause. There are plenty of other healthy food options." Their lunch arrives and they take a few bites. "We're so used to eating meat with our meals," De Leeuw adds, "but it's not really necessary. The two have tried several brands so far. I like the taste, but I don't want the animals to suffer for my food." She says that she also feels healthier and more energetic since she stopped eating meat.ĭubbeldam, 27, doesn't mind eating meat substitutes a few times a week. "Since then, I've been trying to give up meat. A month ago, De Leeuw, 23, watched a video about a slaughterhouse. The couple is eager to try some of the meat substitutes on the menu, which are made from soy, wheat protein, wheat starch and lupin. Lonneke de Leeuw and Danny Dubbeldam just ordered a steak tartare sandwich and a chicken burger at The Vegetarian Butcher's new restaurant, De Vleesch Lobby, one of the few vegetarian eateries with plant-based meat and fish as its central theme. It's Saturday afternoon in the Dutch city of The Hague. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |