I have been thinking a lot about what vegan restaurants and cafés in the UK might need to start doing if they want to keep up with the changing way people eat.
For more than a year, I was very open about using Mounjaro. Mounjaro and other GLP-1 drugs can reduce appetite and make people feel full much sooner. For many people taking them, that means eating smaller portions, being more selective about what they eat, and thinking much more carefully about getting enough nutrition from a relatively small amount of food.
That was certainly my experience.
Read more below.
Before Mounjaro, I was never someone who needed much encouragement to eat a large restaurant meal. Eating was always one of my favourite hobbies and I have spent years travelling the world in search of exciting vegan food. But I have always had a rather dysfunctional connection with food and have lived with compulsive tendencies around eating.
I had to change that connection drastically by medicating with Mounjaro.
During my time taking Mounjaro, I simply could not eat the food served by many restaurants. Portions were often enormous, dishes could be very carb heavy or fried, and I would find myself looking at a plate of food knowing I would only manage a quarter of it.
I didn’t have the budget to spend a lot of money on a restaurant meal when I already knew I was probably going to leave most of it behind. I also found that fried food became much harder for me to digest. What I needed was smaller, nutrient-dense meals with plenty of protein.
Various surveys and estimates suggest that somewhere between 1.5 million and 2 million people in the UK are currently using or have used GLP-1 medications. Whatever the exact number, this is clearly no longer a tiny group of people.
Restaurants are going to have to start thinking about this growing section of the population and that includes vegan businesses.
One of the biggest challenges I encountered was finding something small that actually felt worth paying for. If I went to a vegan restaurant and wanted a lighter meal, the obvious options were often chips, fried snacks, or a salad. I couldn’t eat the fried food and none of those gave me the protein or nutrients I needed to make my smaller meal count.
I remember actively deciding not to return to certain restaurants because I knew I would struggle to find something suitable.
Imagine being vegan or vegan curious, taking a GLP-1 medication, and walking into a restaurant where almost everything is designed around huge portions, heavy sauces, mountains of carbohydrates, or deep frying. You might love the business and want to support it, but there is nothing on the menu that works for your appetite or current way of eating.
I am not suggesting every vegan restaurant needs to suddenly transform its entire menu. Nor am I suggesting that everyone taking a GLP-1 medication eats exactly the same way. People have different needs, preferences, and experiences.
But I do wonder whether there is an opportunity to offer a few thoughtfully designed options.
Smaller portions, protein-rich dishes, and more legumes, tofu, tempeh, and other protein sources. Food that feels substantial without being enormous or perhaps even a section of the menu specifically designed around smaller appetites?
And importantly, these options would not only be useful for people taking GLP-1 medications. There are plenty of people who want to eat smaller meals.
I know the hospitality industry is already under enormous pressure but if potentially millions of people are changing how they eat due to these medications, perhaps the businesses serving food need to consider this trend.
For a long time vegan restaurants were forced to prove that plant-based food could be indulgent, exciting, and satisfying. I think they have done that rather successfully.
Perhaps the next challenge is proving that vegan food can also be served in smaller portions, while also being incredibly nutrient dense without becoming boring. I would love to know if any vegan restaurants or cafés in the UK are already noticing this GLP-1 trend and responding to it.
I am genuinely curious to hear what the industry is seeing.
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