"We believe that vegan food can stand on its own and should not be thought of as a special dietary requirement."
Chis Foulkes, managing director at Relish
The cosmetics giant, Lush selected Liverpool-based independent events and catering business, Relish to cater the retailer’s annual conference with 100% vegan food.
Over the course of two days, 2,000 vegan meals were served to conference-goers at Camp and Furnace, Great Baltic Warehouse, Hinterlands and Constellations, making it the largest vegan food event outside of London.
The plant-based meals included completely vegan burgers, healthy buddha bowls, curry and jackfruit sloppy joes. Those guests with a sweet tooth were provided with 100% vegan chocolate brownies throughout the day.
With over 900 stores worldwide, Lush has built a cult following due to its world-famous bath bombs and other cosmetic, skincare and make up products. The company is famously against animal testing and has a strict policy of making sure that every single product is suitable for both vegetarians and vegans.
For this year’s conference, which has been held in Liverpool for the first time, Lush selected Relish to provide a full lunch and drink service across the four venues.
Relish started in 2010 as a sandwich shop and since then, managing director, Chris Foulkes has seen the company grow exponentially. As well as corporate events, Relish also caters private parties, weddings and has worked with a host of well-known names including Everton FC, the BBC and Audi.
Chis Foulkes, managing director at Relish, said:
“We believe that vegan food can stand on its own and should not be thought of as a special dietary requirement. This is a stance we’ve had for quite some time and it is fantastic to see that a well-known name like Lush agrees with us.
“As awareness and the popularity of veganism has risen over the years, as has our vegan offering. We’re really happy to say that now more than ever, we’re asked to include vegan options at large events and we’re certain that 100% vegan menus will continue to be seen as viable option.
“We also take sustainability very seriously, as well as reducing unnecessary waste as much as possible, which is why working with a company like Lush, which is very aligned with our values, is so important to us.
“It was great to have so many people tell us that they were seriously considering a plant-based diet after trying our food, as they were convinced that it tasted even better than the meat-based equivalent, which is exactly the reaction we wanted and always strive to receive.”
Demand for vegan food, which doesn’t include any meat, fish, dairy or eggs, is growing rapidly. Over the past four years alone, the number of vegans in the UK has increased from 150,000 to 600,000.
This growth is mainly driven by young people who are concerned about animal welfare, want to improve their health or are concerned about the impact that meat production has on the environment.
Veganism also extends to the products and services that people pay for, with Lush pioneering the concept of cruelty-free beauty products.
Sophie Walker, events manager at Lush, said:
“We take great pride in looking after our staff and our annual conference is a huge opportunity for us to demonstrate to our globally-based team that living a cruelty-free lifestyle is the best way to live.
“We had complex set of requirements that we asked our catering partner to fulfil, the most important being that we wanted 100% vegan food that was even better than the meat-based alternative. Thankfully, Relish were completely on board with this and exceeded our expectations, providing an incredibly popular and unmissable experience for our staff.”
To learn more about Relish, visit www.relishliverpool.co.uk. You can also discover more about the company on Facebook (www.facebook.com/RelishLiverpoolEvents) and see an array of examples of the caterer’s food on Instagram (@relishliverpoolevents).
