Plant-Based Beyond Meat Products Help Aramark Drive Climate-Healthy Culinary Innovation

August 12 , 2019 /3BL Media/ – With more and more consumers looking for plant-based meal options, Aramark chefs are using products, like Beyond Meat’s delicious burgers, sausage, crumbles and more, to expand menu selections and provide the choices that meet individual lifestyle and dietary preferences on college campuses, in hospitals and businesses, at schools and in ballparks nationwide.

Aramark data indicates 60 percent of consumers want to reduce their meat consumption, with 33 percent identifying health and 17 percent identifying weight management as motivators. In addition to offering guests more choices, developing more plant-based menu options aligns with Aramark’s efforts to accelerate climate-healthy menus that lower greenhouse gas emissions.

“The trick for us is to develop and offer unique meatless options that taste great and appeal to consumers who might want to try something new and those who follow plant-forward diets,” said Heidi Hogan, Vice President of Product Development and Culinary Innovation at Aramark. “Early on, we understood that consumer preferences were driving a need for quality plant-forward offerings and our culinary team has been working with a broad range of plant-based products, to create more enticing menu choices.”

The concepts Aramark is currently offering, or working to develop, with Beyond Meat products include:

● Bowls – Aramark chefs are working to develop a Gumbo bowl for hospital patient menus using Beyond Sausage®, which will be part of its patient bowl pilot program.
● Plates – The Twisted Beet, Aramark’s new plant-forward comfort food concept, offers a signature New Orleans-inspired plate, featuring “dirty grains” and greens topped with Beyond Sausage®. Additional offerings include cauliflower mac & cheese and avocado kale salad.
● Burgers – Aramark continues to develop exciting new Beyond Burger™ concepts for sports fans, including the Caribbean-inspired option at Minute Maid Park, in Houston, that includes black beans, avocado, pineapple and Sriracha.
● Sausage & Brats – For most fans, a day at the ballpark isn’t complete without a hot dog. Aramark offers baseball fans Beyond Sausage® topped with fried shallots at Kansas City’s Kauffman Stadium, and Beyond Sausage® Brat Original at a dedicated vegan stand at Citi Field, in Queens, NY.

Aramark serves nearly 2 billion meals each year and launched a major plant-forward initiative to elevate the role of healthy ingredients on its menus in colleges and universities, hospital cafés and workplace locations. The initiative introduced innovative recipes and aligned with existing efforts to accelerate climate-healthy menus that lower greenhouse gas emissions. Impact includes:
● More than 200 new plant-based recipes 
● 30 percent of menu offerings that are vegan or vegetarian
● A 5 percent average reduction in the amount of red meat in Aramark recipes
● More than 1,200 chefs have been trained in plant-based culinary innovation workshops

In addition to Beyond Meat, Aramark has recently partnered with other forward-thinking companies, such as JUST and Ocean Hugger Foods, to offer limited time, plant-based menu items at select locations.