Traditional German cuisine is well known for heavy savory pork meat dishes like bratwurst and schnitzel. However, more recently Germany is becoming more accommodating for those who embrace vegan and plant based nutrition. The famed Oktoberfest has been a celebration with the essential consumption of meat based foods. Now the annual festival has been including more vegan options for vegan patrons of the event. The event attracts visitors from all around the world, many with various dietary restrictions. Part of the motivation behind adding more vegan food to Oktoberfest offerings is to create a more inclusive experience for the diversity of attendees.
Germany may be one of the best places for exploring plant based nutrition as native German cuisine contains only a few standard items. Germany as a whole has very open attitudes toward foreign cuisine from its neighboring countries as well as exotic foods from abroad. Vegan advocate Dr. Ruediger Dahlke uses the example that there is an abundance of Italian restaurants in Germany but he has yet to find a German restaurant in Italy. This is also the case with many other international cuisines. What’s more, new restaurants are appearing that offer vegan versions of classic German food. Items like mushroom schnitzel, potato and lentil salad, and vegan spaetzle casserole are becoming more common. The best city to start exploring the vegan scene is Berlin. The city has fully integrated vegan food into the culinary landscape and it is easy to find a vegan establishment of some sort in every corner of the city. There is even a German beer garden that provides plant based versions of classic German dishes.
Likely the best about Germany is Veganz. This is Europe’s first vegan supermarket that sells only plant based products. Veganz was founded by German businessman Jan Bredack in 2011 in Berlin. After going vegan himself in 2008 Bredack noted that his entire life changed healthwise. Inspired by his experience he decided to embark on a new business venture and open a local vegan grocery. Attracting the attention of vegans all over Germany, Veganz became famous all over Europe and the world. Veganz also experienced huge profits as well. Due to the tremendous success Bredack opened a second location for Veganz in 2013 and continued to open more locations in many of Germany’s major cities as well as cities in nearby countries like Prague, Czech Republic and Vienna, Austria. Now Bredack has taken on a new strategy. As his original strategy was to make veganism more accessible to many people he created a food product line distributed to many other Supermarket chains throughout Europe. The Veganz brand has risen to the mainstream as their products are now easily available throughout supermarkets all over Europe.
A simple search on the Happy Cow website will reveal an overabundance of vegan restaurants. Aside from restaurants and cafes Germany also hosts at least 5 Vegan food festivals in many of Germany’s major cities. Some of the largest vegan festivals in Germany are the Veggie World Festivals which are part of an international network of vegan festivals occurring not only in Germany and Europe but parts of Asia as well.
Germany is definitely a great place for traveling Vegans to visit and even consider relocating too. In the meantime though have a look at this brief sampling of some of the vegan restaurants in Berlin. If you happen to get to visit any of them tell them Gorilla Picnic sent you.
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