EXCLUSIVE: LEON eyes more affordable plant-based options amid growing vegan population
Their recently-released autumn menu has vegan choices under £5.
Despite the growing demand for plant-based food and UK consumers identifying as vegan, LEON simply responded to the local (and global) trend by keeping their plant-based innovations affordable for their customers.
Recently, the healthy fast food chain launched their autumn menu that includes vegan options like the Lentil Masala, a £4.75 offering that has Italian brown rice topped with ginger, cumin, mustard seeds and coconut sauce; and the Lebanese Mezze Salad, a £4.95 autumnal update to LEON’s Rainbow Mezze Salad that consists of roasted carrots, butternut, rose harissa, kale and lentil topped with pickled red onions.
They even partnered with Jasmine Hemsley from Hemsley+Hemsley to launch the vegan-friendly drink, The Golden Milk, which is a restorative Ayurvedic recipe.
According to LEON, their menu is now 67% vegetarian and 35% vegan based on all food items in their breakfast, “bits-in-between” and all-day range.
“We’re not moving away from meat-based dishes – GFC [Golden Fried Chicken] has been our most successful launch this year – and we’re continuing to develop vegan and vegetarian dishes as we’ve always done,” Rebecca De Mambro, LEON’s head of marketing, told QSR Media.
LEON has also recently announced that the Sustainable Restaurants’ Association has rated the fast food chain with the top mark of three stars.
Their restaurants are powered with 100% green energy from renewable sources and is said to ensure zero waste-to-landfill. They also partnered with the tech start-up Bio Bean with turning LEON’s used coffee grounds into biofuel.
For a week this month, LEON has confirmed that they will run a special coffee offer where guests who will bring reusable cups into all their restaurants will be rewarded with free coffee.
