Earlier this month, a passenger on Japan Airways (JAL) had a really unhappy—and now web well-known—breakfast. The passenger took to the remark discussion board Flyer Speak to clarify that they’d requested the VGML (Vegetarian Vegan Meal) for breakfast in enterprise class on a flight from Soekarno-Hatta Worldwide Airport in Indonesia to Narita Worldwide Airport in Japan.
Kris_Chari
What the passenger obtained was a single banana on a plate. Whereas the passenger initially thought the breakfast included a banana, they shortly got here to comprehend that the breakfast was the banana. And lunch aboard JAL was additionally disappointing.
“Lunch was barely seasoned spaghetti and my meals on different JL flights had been additionally dangerous, however nothing was fairly as insubstantial [as] this [banana],” the passenger commented.
Vegan Korean meals takes to the skies
Whereas JAL kinds out its vegan meals, one airline that’s hoping to offer passengers with thrilling plant-based choices is Korean Air, which companies 120 cities in 43 nations.
Pexels
“To accommodate the rising vegan inhabitants, Korean Air has launched a Korean-style vegan meal possibility, an eco-friendly meal that may additionally assist scale back carbon emissions,” the airline stated in an announcement.
The brand new meals will start hitting flight menus beginning March 1 and can deal with providing passengers quite a lot of hearty decisions.
Passengers in all courses can be provided dishes reminiscent of steamed barley rice with burdock, roasted shiitake mushrooms, mung bean jelly salad, and roasted tofu with plum salsa sauce. Status and First-class passengers can be aware of ginkgo nut porridge and roasted yam with soybean paste.
“Impressed by conventional temple delicacies, the airline’s new Korean vegan meals are made utilizing quite a lot of recent greens and seasonal substances, bringing passengers an appetizing meal stuffed with pure flavors,” the airline stated.
At present, the airline affords six varieties of vegetarian meal choices: vegan, lacto-ovo vegetarian, East Asian vegetarian, Hindu vegetarian, Jain vegetarian, and uncooked vegetarian. The brand new vegan Korean dishes on-board Korean Air will range relying on the route and season.
Vegan in-flight meals
Korean Air shouldn’t be the one airline that’s modernizing its in-flight menu to present passengers filling plant-based meals. Final fall, no less than 5 airways added new vegan choices to their in-flight menus, together with Air Canada, Alaska Airways, and Emirates (which has provided an in depth vegan menu, full with desserts, for a number of years).
And whereas the unhappy banana breakfast was served by Japan Airways, one other Japanese provider—All Nippon Air (ANA)—has a completely totally different thought of what vegan meals ought to be.
ANA
That’s as a result of late final 12 months, ANA added two chef-developed meals to flights departing from Japan: Curry-flavored Chickpea Hamburger Steak With Vegetable Curry served with rolled cabbage in couscous salad, combined salad, rye roll, and various fruit; and Vegetable Pilaf Stewed Purple Lentils & Vegetable served with petit Paris bread roll and various fruit.
“Offering inclusive meal choices is important to making sure our clients with the most effective in-flight expertise,” Tomoji Ishii, Govt Vice President, Buyer Expertise Administration & Planning, of ANA, stated in an announcement. “We look ahead to delivering these high-quality menu objects and supplying a variety of meals choices for all of our clients.”
Korea’s rising vegan scene
Along with in-flight on Korean Air, vegan choices are additionally rising on the bottom in South Korea. The variety of plant-based eaters in South Korea has tripled within the final decade, based on the Korean Vegetarian Union. And main corporations are taking discover, together with Burger King and Starbucks which have been serving vegan choices within the area since 2021.
Papa John’s South Korea
Final month, Papa John’s acquired into the plant-based sport with the launch of its first vegan pizzas within the nation. Now, on the chain’s 220 South Korean places, clients can select between two choices: Inexperienced Eat Vegetable Margarita and the Inexperienced Eat Vegetable Backyard Particular.
“Though the home market continues to be small in comparison with the abroad vegan market, the position of a premium pizza model is to answer [the] preferences of every shopper,” Jeon Joong-gu, Head of Papa John’s Korea, stated in an announcement.
And whereas meat options and plant-based delicacies has lengthy been widespread to South Korea, native manufacturers—reminiscent of Unlimeat, Higher Meat, and Veggie Backyard—are innovating plant-based options for the fashionable period. South Korea can be dwelling to Mycel, a startup working to make fungi-based biomaterials that may change each animal leather-based and meat.
With a $10 million funding in hand, the startup—which spun out of Hyundai Motor Firm’s in-house accelerator program—plans to commercialize its first animal-free merchandise this 12 months.
For the most recent vegan information, learn:
Anna Starostinetskaya is the Senior Information Editor at VegNews and is at all times maintaining a tally of all issues vegan in her dwelling metropolis of San Francisco, CA and in every single place else.