Investigation of food and baverage businesses that include vegan products in their menus in terms of sustainability: A research on cuisine chefs in İstanbul

In this study, it has been examined that food and beverage businesses prefer vegan products, known as environmentalist nutrition because they produce less carbon footprint, ecological footprint, and water footprint instead of animal product production and consumption. In addition, it is aimed to reveal the situation of vegan nutrition in terms of natural healt and sustainability. It is desired to measure the environmental sustainability awareness of vegan products and to what extent their use is prioritized in the food and beverage businesses in Istanbul chosen as the study universe. In this study, in which a qualitative research technique was applied, a semi-structured interview form (interview) was used for data collection. Interviews were conducted with the chefs (kitchen chef, business owner, chef, trainer chef) in 20 food and beverage businesses between March and April 2022. The data obtained as a result of these interviews were analyzed with the qualitative analysis program MAXQDA. As a result of the research it was determined that the participants with only vegan products on their menus stated that the inclusion of vegan products in the menus of food and beverage businesses is important within the scope of environmental sustainability and that they care about sustainable practices, while the participants who have a limited number of vegan products aim to meet different preference demands. It is understood that consumers do not consider ecological sustainability when choosing vegan products.