The Secret Celiac Benefit of Vegan Restaurants

Tamir Barzilai CEO & CO-FOUNDER OF HONEYCOMB.AI

My prediction, September 30 th 2019:

By December 31 st 2020, Celiac restaurant goers will know exactly which restaurants are “gluten-faux”, 100% gluten-free, or restaurants with dedicated gluten-free food preparation methods. Furthermore, they will be able to discover this information within seconds of searching for a restaurant on the web.

Allow me to explain.

THE ELUSIVE CELIAC-NIRVANA

You’ve made plans since Tuesday. Finally, Friday comes along and you can’t wait to meet with your friends who you haven’t seen for at least two months. Work has been stressful and all you can think about is the restaurant you’re going to tonight. Good friends. Good food. Good times.

But there’s a lingering anxiety that you’ve forgotten about until now. Work has been so busy that you didn’t have a chance to double check the restaurant’s menu. It should be fine – I mean, your friend said they looked at the menu and they have tons of gluten free options. What could go wrong…

Let’s take a step back for a second. This can go a couple ways. The first scenario: we get to the restaurant, view the menu, find a gluten-free tagliatelle pasta option, and when we place our order with the server and double check regarding cross contamination procedures, he looks at you like a deer in headlights. The second scenario goes the same, except when you ask your server about their gluten-free preparation methods, they explain to you that they serve Celiac customers often and take special measures to prepare food separately.

The first scenario plays like a bad dream, and unfortunately, it’s a dream that makes up many of the restaurant experiences you have – you’ve gambled with glutenroulette before and lived to tell the tale.

The second scenario is music to your years. When staff is educated on the severity of Celiac gluten restriction, life is bliss. You have achieved what I like to call “Celiac nirvana”- the emotional and physical detachment from fear, anxiety, and worry…at least for 30 minutes while you gobble down that tagliatelle.

A BY-PRODUCT OF THE RISE OF VEGANISM

So, you might ask, how do achieve this elusive “Celiac nirvana” at more restaurants? Keep reading below.

At my company Honeycomb, we work with restaurants every single day to educate them on the differences between simply serving “gluten-free” items (which really should be called “gluten-faux”) and “celiac friendly” items (which require their respective food preparation methods). You can’t serve “gluten-free” fish and chips if you’re using the exact same deep fryer for flour-battered fish and chips.

The truth is, we’re seeing more 100% gluten-free restaurants opening lately than ever before. While it is unfortunate that auto-immune conditions like Celiac disease are on the rise, it is promising to see entrepreneurs and businesses becoming more tuned in to customer needs and demands. However, you might ask yourself, why would restaurants care? In terms of size, diagnosed Celiac customers are an insignificant portion of the population. You’d be right to think this.

There’s a not-so secret force driving this change. Vegans.

What if I told you that adding Beyond Burgers and Daiya Cheese to menus actually increase the likelihood of restaurants becoming more accommodating to Celiacs? Honeycomb is currently preparing a market report that suggests this exact trend. Customers are not only demanding plant-based options, they also want to know the ingredients and allergens of every dish. A by-product of becoming a vegan restaurant results in attracting customers with severe egg, dairy, and shellfish allergies to name a few.

There’s a not-so secret force driving this change:

Vegans.

Many vegan restaurants are becoming beacons for those with dietary issues and restrictions, which includes Celiacs.

In Vancouver, Honeycomb already helps restaurants display their dietary information by automating menu item recommendations based on customer requests. You can try it for yourself by clicking “Filter menu by Diet” on Tractor Foods, Virtuous Pie, or Gobble websites. We also work with the BC chapter of the CCA, creating a celiac-friendly restaurant directory for their members to browse.

As mentioned above, my prediction is that by December 31 st 2020, it won’t be so hard to go out to eat as a Celiac anymore. We specialize in the classification of restaurants, food preparation methods, and ingredients. Restaurants and customers are clearly interested in making this information transparent, and having that information available digitally will transform the way we search for food. In the not too distant future, all you’ll have to do is ask Alexa or Siri the next time you want to go out to eat. In the meantime, download the Honeycomb app on the App Store or Google Play to find Celiac-friendly restaurants near you. ◆

Indulge yourself with Moroccan guilt-free treats

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