Meat off the Menu

Lifelong vegetarian and CEO of Ovolo Hotels Girish Jhunjhnuwala explains why all its F&B outlets have gone meat-free for 12 months

Ovolo Hotels recently launched a 12-month long campaign, Year of the Veg, with all of its properties going completely vegetarian. CEO and lifelong veggie Girish Jhunjhnuwala explains the reasoning behind this bold move to Helen Dalley

What prompted the decision to make all your F&B outlets and room service vegetarian?

We have been thinking about this for a while, especially seeing the success of our plantbased restaurants, Alibi in Sydney and Veda in Hong Kong. We debuted Veda last year as the only vegetarian restaurant inside a hotel in the city, and it’s been very successful since it opened. But overall our reasoning is threefold – valuing the environment and being sustainable, showcasing the variety and potential of vegetarian dining and also because we’ve been seeing a huge shift towards vegetarianism over the last couple of years. This shift embodies Ovolo’s philosophy of connecting with our customers’ demands. We want our guests and diners to nourish their bodies with meat-free meals.

What kind of feedback have you received since launching Year of the Veg – has there been any resistance to the decision?

Of course, with launching something on this scale there is always that fear. However, we believe there has been a huge consumer shift to more plant-based dining. Whether that means becoming fully vegetarian or adopting a flexitarian diet, consumers are increasingly embracing vegetarian options and there is a huge market for that. So far, we have had tremendously positive feedback.

The number of vegetarians in Hong Kong is steadily increasing, and nearly a quarter of Hong Kongers identify as flexitarian. What are they looking for from a non-meat menu?

I’d say they are looking for a variety of things, and we want to entice everyone from the gym goers to those who prefer something more indulgent. It’s about dishes that are simple yet relatable – comfort food with a twist.

Hong Kong is one of, if not the most, sophisticated markets in the world when it comes to food. With one of the highest restaurants per capita globally and plenty of choices, we have to make sure we tick all the boxes – indulgent, innovative and unseen yet never compromising on flavour or quality of ingredients.

Vegetarian food and plant-based eating is fairly new to Hong Kong, and we are continuously experimenting to figure out what exactly the market wants to see. We have a lot of ideas, but it’s a journey that we want to enjoy and more importantly, ensuring everyone that visit us does as well.

What have been some of the challenges of putting this together and how did you overcome those?

Operationally speaking, it’s been quite tough to turnaround entire kitchens into fully vegetarian, from changing our equipment to training our staff and developing entirely new different menus. It took a lot of teamwork to pull this together.

It’s been an undeniably tough year for hospitality. Are you starting to see the green shoots of recovery?

It’s quite difficult to see recovery in hospitality and tourism back to the way it used to be, especially given the travel bans. What we can hope for now is the development of travel bubbles, and until that happens we are focusing on looking after the locals. Year of the Veg is expected to boost revenue given locals cannot travel and will likely spend on consumables instead.

Do you have a specific recovery plan?

Our plan is to keep doing what we’re doing, so that when the market recovers we are back in full force. An example is our new hotel in Bali, Mamaka by Ovolo. We opened it in mid-November to start capturing local F&B clientele and build up a reputation in Jakarta for the Indonesian market. We believe in the strength of Bali as a destination in the long run and want to ensure we are already out of the gates once border restrictions ease.

Do you think the Year of the Veg could extend beyond the initial 12 months and become a permanent fixture?

We are starting with a year and then will see how customers react to it, but it’s something we hope to continue.

Do you anticipate that other hotel groups could embrace a plant-based lifestyle in the way that you have?

I’d like to think that the trend of plant-based dining will catch on and more and more dining outlets, not just hotel groups, will embrace it. It’s something that I truly believe in, having been a vegetarian my entire life. I hope that any group that decides to venture into the plant-based space will do it justice.

How can they do vegetarian food well?

Many people tend to think that vegetarian dining is all bland and only greens, but there is a lot that can be done with plant-based ingredients. As more restaurants discover and experiment, there is a real potential of changing the way that vegetarian dining is viewed in the world.

Do you plan to open any more hotels next year?

Yes, we have another hotel opening in Melbourne’s South Yarra district early 2021. ovolohotels.com