b'FEATUREBY CONNIE JESKE CRANEPlant-BasedRevolutionWith flexitarian diets on the rise, caterers find investing in plant-based cuisine is good for businessB ack in 2008, when Cristina Carolanconsumption of animal products is spawning launched Chef Veggie, her plant- lots of new plant-based flirtationsswirling based personal chef service in Austin,oat milk into a latte, say, or chomping down Texas, she admits, It was a lot harderon a meat-free burger at lunchtime. Theres for me to find clients who would be happy withjust a great rise in people who call themselves not having any animal products in their meals.flexitarian, says Carolan. And so, they arent Today, Carolan is putting the finishing touchescompletely free of animal products, but they on a plant-based cookbook and says attractingwant to reduce the amount of meat that theyre customers is easy. Theres just been a growingfeeding themselves and their kids.demand to where now I can turn people away.Statistics bear it out. According to a 2020 And I dont have to drive as far! Gallup survey, nearly one in four Americans Its hard to overstate just how quickly thereported eating less meat in the past year. plant-based trend has advanced in NorthAnother 2020 survey by OnePoll and Eat Just, America in the last few years. From theInc. found 60 percent of Americans said theyre proliferation of high-end vegan restaurants intransitioning to a flexitarian or less meat-centric cities like New York, to the new McPlant burgerdiet. (For more insights, see the sidebar on p. at McDonalds, to supermarket shelves groaning50, Tracking the Plant-Based Trend.)under a dizzying array of plant-based dairyFor caterers, this is a shift to pay attention alternatives and entres, the pace of consumerto. However, given the sophistication of adoption is mind-boggling. todays diners, serving plant-based cuisine is To be sure, only around 5 percent ofnot as simple as adding a few salads to your Americans currently identify as vegetarian. Butmenu. So, how to proceed in a way that makes that figure doesnt capture the reality of risinggood business sense? We talked to four plant-flexitarianism. The desire, often health-driven,loving caterers and discovered their strategies among todays consumers to reduce theirfor success.44 CATERING, FOODSERVICE & EVENTS cfe-news.com'