Want to promote veganism from your office?

You can!

Organising a vegan tasting event is a fun way to teach your coworkers more about veganism, raise awareness, and reduce misconceptions like ‘vegan food tastes weird,” or, “vegans only eat vegetables.”

Setting up a vegan tasting event is really easy, even if you’ve never done anything similar before. We’ve listed exactly what you’ll need to do in simple steps, with plenty of examples along the way.

Ready to put on your first ever event and show everyone how easy it is to be vegan?

Let’s do this.

Choose the Right Time and Location

Choosing the right time and place will make or break how well-attended your event is. If your workplace runs specific ‘wellness’ weeks, this is a great time to schedule your taster session – you’ll be able to advertise it as part of the whole event.

When choosing a location, look for somewhere that:

• Is easy to get to
• Has room for plenty of people
• Isn’t hidden away
• Has any equipment you need (running water, microwave, fridge, tables, etc)

A kitchen in a busy office, a meeting room that lots of people walk past, or a table in your office can all be good options – just make sure people will know you’re there.

Tell People About Your Vegan Tasting Event

Most people will be up for free food, so low turnout is often down to people not knowing about your tasting session.

Here’s how to make sure everyone knows what’s going on:

• Send out an email a few days before, plus a reminder on the day
• Put flyers/posters around the office
• Ask for your tasting session to be included in the staff newsletter
• Talk to people about your event
• Add your tasting session to group event calendars

If you can, try and get a rough idea of how many people are going to come – this will help you to buy the right amount of food.

Pick the Right Products

You’re trying to promote veganism, so make sure you pick the tastiest products available. Try to choose products you’re fairly sure will go down well, based on what you know about your coworkers.

In a workplace where most people don’t know much about veganism, try to pick foods that taste very similar to the non-vegan versions. If your coworkers are more interested/knowledgable about veganism, you can afford to be more adventurous.

Sweet treats and cakes are usually a safe option, while vegan cheese, milk and meat alternatives can be a little more hit and miss.

Having a good range is key to any successful vegan tasting event.

Check out our sample tasting menu below to get some ideas on what to offer, and how to serve it.

Sample Vegan Tasting Event Menu

Get inspired with our sample vegan tasting event menu – and don’t be afraid to add your own favourite foods.

Cafe Soy Iced Latte in plastic shot glasses.

Vegan cereal with different types plant milk in paper cups

Tesco Mini Vegetarian Sausage Rolls

Cubes of vegan cheese on cocktail sticks

Sainsbury’s Free From Garlic and Herb Spread on broken crackers

Chilli with vegan mince in paper cups

Mini vegan chocolate cake squares (using Betty Crocker Mix and egg replacer)

 

 

 

 

Vegan chewy sweets in bowls

Be sure to hold onto the packaging for everything you offer so that attendees can check the ingredients and avoid allergens.

Give Out Information

So, someone’s tried your tasters, is interested, and wants to learn more.

What do you do?

You give them loads of helpful information, of course.

Lots of vegan organisations provide free leaflets and information packs.

Here are links to a few of the most popular:

• The Vegan Society (get leaflets sent to you, or print your own)
• PETA
• Viva!
• GoVegan
• Animal Aid

We’d recommend picking positive leaflets with helpful information and recipes, and avoiding anything that’s too graphic or upsetting – this might put people off attending your session.

Organise Activities

Want to provoke discussion with fun activities?

Try making up an ‘Is It Vegan?” quiz to encourage interaction.

Here are a few ideas to get you started:

• Marmite (vegan)
• Honey (non-vegan)
• Oreos (vegan)
• Naan bread (usually not vegan)
• Bourbon biscuits (vegan)

Browse our big UK vegan product database for more ideas.

Try keeping a scoreboard or offering prizes to encourage as many people as possible to get involved.

Have you ever organised a vegan tasting event at work?

Let us know how it went and share your tips in the comments.

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Tags: activism, event, vegan, veganuk