Marking Veganuary, an initiative that promotes vegan diets, a group of chefs gathered in the Emirates Flight Catering concept development kitchen to workshop new dishes, and experiment with the latest ingredients on the market. The chefs got creative, trialling a new solid egg substitute (made entirely from legumes) in a spicy shakshuka sauce, developing a pre-made vegan pastry sheet into a savoury vegan cannelloni, and evaluating the ingredients and products already used in Emirates inflight catering.
Emirates offers a selection of 300+ vegan recipes, served on flights to 140 destinations worldwide. The menu showcases an array of plant-based products sourced from global suppliers, such as plant-based proteins from Beyond Meat in California; soybean protein from UAE and Singapore brand Arlene; pressed tofu sourced from Japan’s Qian Ye; organic dark vegan chocolate crafted by Linnolat in France; vegan margarine from Meister Marken in Germany; vegan curry paste supplied by Pantai in Thailand; and almond milk from Italy’s Koita.
Emirates also emphasises sustainability by integrating fresh produce from Bustanica, the world’s largest hydroponic vertical farm. This farm is a joint venture with Emirates Flight Catering that delivers pesticide and chemical-free leafy greens like lettuce, arugula, mixed salad greens, and spinach, directly to Emirates’ catering facilities. Emirates recently introduced individual vegan milk servings onboard in its economy and premium economy classes, with more than 30,000 customers a month selecting this option for their coffee and tea.
Emirates also recently introduced vegan meals for children. Kids vegan meals currently include dishes like vegan pizza, sweet and sour vegetable casserole, vegetable fajitas, vegan muffins, cauliflower bites with sweet sauce, and desserts like strawberry crumble and vegan chocolate pudding.
Vegan options are available to order and pre-order onboard, as well as in Emirates Lounges. Customers can request vegan meals on all Emirates flights and across all classes of travel up to 24 hours before departure. However, on high-demand routes, plant-based meals are also provided as part of the main menu options.
Vegan cuisine in every class
Serving more than 400,000 plant based meals onboard every year, Emirates offers vegan cuisine across every class. Last year, vegan meal consumption grew in line with passenger volumes, but in some regions, consumption has exceeded passenger volume growth – regions such as Africa, Southeast Asia and the Middle East. Many Emirates Cabin Crew also follow a plant-based diet, and Emirates has offered vegan meals for its cabin crew for the last nine years.
In economy class, customers can choose from dishes like crêpes filled with sautéed carrots and peppers, served with roasted potatoes, mushrooms and tomato concassé, or curried vegetable puffs, and chocolate mousse cake with chocolate sauce and blackberry crumble.
In premium economy class, customers choosing vegan cuisine will be offered dishes like braised mushrooms with vegetables in five-spice soy sauce, served with steamed jasmine rice and blanched pak choi, followed by desserts like chocolate tart drizzled in apricot compote, or raspberry tonka mousse cake with berry coulis.
In business class a range of creative dishes are offered, including Thai red curry tofu with aubergine, beans, mushrooms and taro in aromatic gravy, served with steamed jasmine rice. Customers who have room for dessert can feast on a tropical coconut pineapple cake or indulge in a chocolate pecan cake.
In first class, customers will be treated to vegan cuisine like creamy polenta cake with thyme mushroom ragout, and sautéed spinach drizzled in a rich root vegetable jus. Other dishes include aubergine curry with charred rice and turmeric potato, with a dash of coconut and mint chutney. Dessert options include tart rhubarb tempered with strawberry charlotte, Chantilly cream and raspberry tuille, or a warm chocolate fondant, dashed with salted caramel sauce and whipped cashew cream.
Vegan options in Emirates’ Dubai lounges
At Dubai International Airport, Emirates has seven lounges located in its flagship Terminal 3: three for first class and three for business-class customers, as well as newly opened Emirates’ Lounge catering to all premium customers. The lounges offer a wide array of vegan options, from soya and pea protein crispy pops at the business class lounge snack counter, to Baharat and turmeric spiced kofta in coconut gravy at the buffet area, and an à la carte breakfast of warm amaranth porridge with compressed green apples, red grapes, raspberries and walnuts in the first-class lounge, amongst many others. In addition to an array of popular vegan salads, the most in-demand vegan dish in the lounges is the Emirates Green Burger – a soya and flax seed green burger, with a signature sauce and pickled cucumbers.
