Emirates says it has served 20,000 vegan meals this month, a 40 per cent increase on usual demand.
The airline attributed the rise to ‘Veganuary’, a campaign that encourages people to try a diet free of meat, fish dairy and eggs during January.
Vegan meals are the third most commonly requested special meal in Emirates’ economy class and must be requested 24 hours in advance.
Popular dishes are mushroom ravioli, vegetable tagine with couscous, and sweet potato, lentil and spinach ragout with rice. Desserts on offer include key lime parfait with date and citrus compote, chocolate cake and chia seed pudding.
In the UK there were 600,000 vegans in 2018, according to research commissioned by the Vegan Society.
Meanwhile there is a growing awareness of the diet, with Google searches for the term ‘vegan’ rising over the last five years.
If you are tempted to follow the trend, or simply are trying to eat a bit less meat or dairy, then Emirates, Singapore Airlines and EVA Air came up on top in a poll of the best airlines for vegan meals by Vegan News.
While most airlines class vegan dishes as special meals and require them to be ordered in advance, this week Jet2 announced a vegan pasta would be available as standard, as well as a gluten-free option.
Last year Air New Zealand introduced a meat-like vegan burger to its business class menu.
