Cheese, Please!

If you’ve been hankering for a fresh-from-the-oven, cheese-covered pizza, but would never even think of ordering a delivery with dairy, there’s good news: As of March 28, you can pop into any of Amici’s 11 Northern California locations and pick up a pie made with Cheezly, thanks to the relentless restaurant-revamping project managed by Karin Olsson, outreach manager for The Humane Society of the United States’ factory farming campaign. Not a California resident? No problem: Olsson shares with VN her strategies for piping-hot success.

VegNews: How long did it take you to convince Amici’s to carry vegan cheese and why did you choose this chain?
Karin Olsson: I reached out to several pizza chains, and Amici’s was immediately responsive. The staff at Amici’s was wonderful to work with and recognized that offering vegan cheese wasn’t just the right thing to do, it was also good for business.

VN: Can anyone convince a chain to carry vegan options, or is there a certain prestige that comes with working for a group like HSUS that makes it more likely for them to listen to you?
KO: Definitely! More than anything, customer feedback and offering examples of vegan options to chefs is most important in doing restaurant outreach. Businesses want to make sure their customers are happy. Everyone should feel empowered to reach out to businesses and request vegan options. My main advice is to keep in touch with the restaurant consistently. If restaurants know you’re not going away they’re more likely to realize how serious you are and are more likely to change.

VN: What are your top three tips for asking restaurants to carry vegan options?
KO: 1. Be friendly and polite. Let the restaurant know you are a loyal customer but would love to see more vegan options on their menu. 2. Do your research. Figure out which dishes could be easily veganized, and provide the restaurant with samples of tasty vegan products that would fit into their menu. The easier you make it for the restaurant to add vegan items, the more likely they will be to do so. 3. Follow up. Follow up. And follow up. Sometimes making these changes can take time and be daunting for a restaurant. By keeping it on their radar and offering to help out, you can ensure that the restaurant follows through.

VN: What’s next? Do you have another chain that you’re currently working with or is there one you’d like to focus on in the future?
KO: We’d love to see more universities offering vegan meat alternatives such as Gardein. These are a great (and delicious!) way to get students to eat animal-friendly foods, and are really easy additions to any menu. The Humane Society of the United States has had a lot of success working with universities across the country in adding vegan meat to their dining operations. This type of campaigning for farm animals is something any one individual can do.