Imagine a vegan guest is seated at your restaurant and is handed a menu. Will they easily find dishes that were created with them in mind?

Vegan customers aren’t as unique as you think. They’re just like the rest of your customers. The problem is that vegan customers often are not treated like regular customers, which leads to negative customer feedback, poor reviews, and the perception that vegan customers are picky, demanding, or ungrateful. Here are the top 3 things vegan customers look for in their food service experience.

When I moved with my family from NYC to the sunny Caribbean Island of Aruba in 2016, I had planned on being a stay at home mom to my then 8-month old daughter and relaxing on the beach in my down time. I had left the hustle and bustle of the city and my full time job in favor of the slower island lifestyle. For the first few months, we enjoyed the tourist-style life, dining out and exploring the island. But one crucial aspect of our quality of life was missing. Aruba was not vegan friendly, and we started to feel stress and anxiety around supermarket shopping and eating at restaurants.

Think for a moment about the reason you first entered the hospitality industry. Maybe you were a teenager hoping to earn some extra cash. Or maybe you were a home cook excited to turn your passion into a career. Maybe you grew up in a family-run business and dreamt of taking over the restaurant yourself one day. Whatever your reason, you were likely brought to the industry for personal reasons and soon realized that being in hospitality isn’t about you at all; rather, it’s about your guests. You can offer them anything you desire, but if your guests don’t want what you’re serving, you’re no longer in business.