Dutch low-cost airline Transavia has stopped selling vegetarian sausage rolls on board because customers said with their wallets that they preferred eating meat.
Since December 5, 2023, the vegetarian snack, produced by Unilever’s Vegetarian Butcher, replaced the traditional — and popular — sausage roll on the airline’s menu.
But the carrier now claims that the switch to the “sustainable but equally delicious” meat substitute did not fly with passengers, who turned out to prefer the taste of real meat over tofu mixed with beans, lentils, nuts, seeds, thickening agents methylcellulose and carrageenan, seed oils, colouring and artificial flavours.
A Transavia spokesperson stated that the decision to remove the vegetarian variant from the menu was due to the resulting difference in supply and demand.
“We tailor our on-board menu to what our passengers want,” they said.
The airline added it did not believe that reverting to a meat option would significantly impact the environment.
“Throwing away unsold vegetarian sausage rolls isn’t sustainable either,” the spokesman noted.
Before switching to vegetarian snacks, the airliner sold 15,000 to 20,000 traditional sausage rolls per month, with these sales collapsing following the switch.
“With the vegetarian variant, we were nowhere near achieving this”, the Transavia representative admitted.
The move is somewhat at odds with the policy of Schiphol Airport, which wants 60 per cent of its food and dairy offerings to be plant-based by 2030 for green agenda reasons.
That means the amount of meat, dairy and egg-based products offered will be significantly reduced.
This policy aligns with initiatives from the previous progressive Dutch government, which advocated for a “protein transition.” It set an ambitious target for 2030: a maximum of 40 per cent of consumed protein should come from animal sources, a goal that several supermarket chains have pledged to support.
Currently, around 60 per cent of the protein consumed is of animal origin.
Dutch supermarket chain Jumbo will no longer offer promotions on its meat products, to encourage customers to eat “plant-based” food instead. https://t.co/gdV4E306Uh
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) March 18, 2024
