The Frontier of Meat Analogue, Burger Shop "The Vegetarian Butcher"

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Futuristic HamBurger shop “The Vegetarian Butcher”

The Vegetarian Butcher, a hamburger shop that expands in 30 countries around the world, mainly in Europe, opened its concept shop with the concept “Futuristic Hamburger Shop” at Ikebukuro on August 26, 2020. The shop is known for its powerful brand and its achievement in collaboration with The Burger King in 2019.

Three Main Concepts; Plant-Based, Sustainable, Healthy & Perform Better

Recently, we have heard the keywords “plant-based” or “sustainable”, but the shop’s third concept “Perform Better” sounds new and fresh. It refers to “fast digestion and absorption, low fat, low calories, rich protein, etc”, we have the impression that the branding has an awareness to athletes.

〜The New Category of Meat That has Never Existed〜

The shop has a novel design since it is the first butcher shop in Japan that specializes in plant-based.

The white-colored interior overturns the image of an existing butcher shop, perfectly suited to the catchphrase “a new category of meat that has never existed”.

Do Order Through QR code

As one of the Covid-19 prevention countermeasures, the orders are made by a QR code. As an aside, QR code orders are likely to become a Japanese standard in the future.

An Era Where Chicken and Beef Can be Selected for Plant-based

Fish burger

Half & Half（chicken & beef）

The menu is roughly divided into 3 types: “chicken”, “beef” and “fish” (all vegetarian or vegan). It already gets into a common in Europe and America, but in Japan, we have entered an era in which we can choose “chicken” or “beef” among plant-based meats. There are also options such as “half and half” (chicken/beef), so when you drop by, try to have it and do compare.

Personally, we were surprised at the fish burger. We felt it tastes closest to the real fish, tastes like tuna. The price is around 1,100 yen, which is a little pricey for an existing burger, but it’s worth a meal which is more filling and voluminous.

Vegetarian and Vegan Got Mixed and Difficult to Understand?

The chicken is vegan-friendly, meanwhile he fish and beef are vegetarian-only (using milk and white egg), making the operation a little complicated, sometimes there were cases where communication was not working well (on the opening first day). The tartar sauce in the photo below is vegetarian and vegan. In this case, from the viewpoint of operation and loss, it is ideal to be able to prepare for vegan specifications as much as possible.

Lef is for vegetarian, right is for vegan

Sustainable and Ethic

The word “cage-free” was found regarding the use of eggs and milk ingredients. A food sharing refrigerator was installed next to the cash register to prevent food loss. It’s often seen in Europe, but it’s an advanced initiative in Japan. It seems that this too has the potential to become a standard in Japan in the future.

Online Shop and Delivery

Online Shop：
https://www.thevegetarian-butcher-jap.com/shop/

Delivery：
https://www.thevegetarian-butcher-jap.com/delivery/