Dutch vegan restaurants struggle as broader dining sector adopts plant-based options
The rapid rise in the number of purely vegetarian and vegan restaurants in the Netherlands has slowed, according to new figures from the Dutch Chamber of Commerce and the vegetarian platform Happy Cow. While the number of fully meatless establishments has declined slightly, experts say the shift is due in part to the growing availability of plant-based options at mainstream restaurants.
The trend reflects a broader evolution in Dutch hospitality, where many eateries are now offering better and more extensive vegetarian and vegan selections than they did in previous years, NOS reported. However, the decline in specialized vegan venues is also tied to deeper issues, including lingering stigma and limited market reach.
Joep van den Bersselaar, co-owner of the restaurant chain Vegitalian, said his business is changing course. After five years as a fully vegetarian concept, the Rotterdam branch of Vegitalian has decided to reintroduce meat and fish to its menu. “A large location like this needs a broad customer base to cover all fixed costs,” Van den Bersselaar told NOS. “To maintain a sustainable business model in the long term, the niche market alone is just too small.”
Van den Bersselaar also pointed to cultural associations that continue to surround plant-based diets. “I think a vegetarian diet is still often linked to the far left and hasn’t been sufficiently accepted by the broader market,” he added. “Vegitalian has taught us that it doesn’t work well when we push the vegetarian aspect too hard.”
Rabobank’s hospitality sector manager Jos Klerx sees similar developments elsewhere in the country. “We’re seeing the same thing happen across the Netherlands,” he told NOS.
That observation is echoed by Hans Dagevos, a sociologist specializing in food consumption. “I think chefs and restaurant owners are realizing that they may come across as too exclusive when they strongly brand themselves as vegetarian or vegan,” he told NOS.
According to Dagevos, animal products continue to carry powerful associations. “Meat and fish are still linked to luxury, to celebration, and indulgence,” he said. “Those kinds of associations are deeply tied to animal-based foods, especially meat.”
Klerx agreed, saying that excluding all animal proteins from a menu can alienate a sizable part of the potential customer base. “A lot of people eat vegetarian during the week and go for more meat and fish toward the weekend,” he told NOS. “And those are the days when restaurants get the most business.”
The slowdown in vegan restaurant growth does not mean vegetarian eating is in decline. In fact, experts say the opposite is true. “There’s been major progress in the broader hospitality industry,” Klerx told NOS. “In the past, you were happy just to find a vegetarian option at a regular restaurant. Now, more and more restaurants offer a wider variety of meatless dishes.”
Dagevos confirmed the shift. While the number of vegetarians and vegans in the Netherlands has remained stable at around 5 percent of the population in recent years, the restaurant industry’s approach to plant-based offerings has changed significantly. “There’s now a huge range of options,” he told NOS. “Chefs and restaurant owners have massively boosted their plant-based menus.”
Pablo Moleman, co-founder of the food awareness organization ProVeg, said the slight decline in specialized vegan venues is not surprising. “That decrease is actually because vegetarian food has become more normal,” he told NOS. “Ordinary restaurants have fully embraced vegetarian dishes, and that’s led to a drop in market share for dedicated vegetarian and vegan restaurants.”
According to Dagevos, restaurants can influence customer behavior with subtle nudges. “If your staff recommends something, or if you give vegetarian options a prominent place on the menu, you guide your guests toward a certain choice,” he told NOS. “For a place like the Rotterdam restaurant, that could be a win-win.”
