With Christmas right around the corner, the festive season is the perfect time to showcase an enticing vegan offering and appeal to a broader market.

With consumers looking for something different, but also something classic, you can make your mark in a space that’s still developing.

So forget dry nut roasts and mushroom starters, we’ve put together some tips that will help you create a delicious experience for your vegan diners.

1. Get colorful

With so many beautiful ingredients available, steer clear of the same old, same old and choose vivid courses that will get bums on seats.

Think beetroot, cranberries and winter squash. Not only are they delicious, but along with other seasonal produce, they can be used in so many ways, meaning the plate is transformed into an eye-catching feast.

In short, make your mark, make their memories.

2. Go for quality and local if possible

A big USP for most independent restaurants, is where they source their ingredients from and if they’re supporting their local farmers.

More and more, people are looking into the ethical side of food production, as well as the taste.

If you’re using a local producer or artisan, say so.

Put it in the menu, put up some pictures of the farms and bakeries, get your front of house staff to actively say where the food is grown. Consumers want to know!

3. Forget the mock turkey

While some vegans and experimental non-vegans might find comfort in dishes that are likened to their meat counterparts, for others it’s actually off-putting.

We’re not asking you to make up names – although you can if you want too!

We’re saying let the vegetables, pulses, nuts and other ingredients shine and look at different ways of describing them on the menu.

This way, you’re creating a truly vegan spread and not bringing animals anywhere near it.

4. Classics with a pinch of risk

There’s a reason we go back to the classics time and time again. They work. But that doesn’t mean you can’t put your own twist on them.

By adding a twist, it means that your core menu are dishes that people will love and recognize, but you’ll be able to put your own stamp on them.

By doing this, you’ll define your brand further and not only attract new customers, but keep them!

5. Go homemade

It’s easy to fall into the trap of processed or pre-made ingredients for ease, but making your own vegan cheese or pesto for example, will go a long way in providing a personal experience for the eater.

It shows that you not only care about your food, but that you also care about them and because of that, you’ll start to build customer loyalty.

Wrapping up

It’s all too common for restaurants to offer vegan meals which are just meat versions without the meat making them seem obsolete, but by going the extra mile, you’re showing you value them as a customer and they’re not an afterthought.