Future in the present

By: Ipacs Tamás Date: 2024. 01. 10. 11:42

For the third time in November, METRO Gastro Academy was the host of the Plant-Powered Perspectives business conference.

This article is available for reading in Trade magazin 2023/12-01

Csaba Péntek
founder
Vegan Business Circle

This year the event focused on the HoReCa sector and Csaba Péntek, founder of the Vegan Business Circle welcomed participants.

Dr. Beáta Olga Felkai
deputy state secretary
Ministry of Agriculture

Dr Olga Felkai Beáta, deputy state secretary for food chain supervision and trade policy of the Ministry of Agriculture was the special guest, who shared her views on the regulation of plant-based foods. Her presentation concentrated on the relationship between traditional food varieties as defined in the Hungarian Food Book and their modified versions.

This year’s event featured a number of panel discussions

Ervin Nagy
president
NÉGYOSZ

Ervin Nagy, president the National Association of Plant Based Food Manufacturers and Distributors (NÉGYOSZ) talked about the fundamental goals of the organisation, its activities and some of its interesting projects. Their main job is to raise awareness of plant-based alternatives in Hungarian society, and to represent the interests of plant-based food producers and distributors in the Hungarian legal system.

Diána Sárga
senior market nutritionist
Nestlé

Diána Sárga, senior market nutritionist of Nestlé gave a presentation about the perspectives of plant-based nutrition. She shed light on attitudes towards plant-based protein consumption. Drawing on research data, she highlighted the importance of increasing the share of plant-based foods in our diets.

Márton Nagy
co-owner
Vegan Garden

Dr. Anita Árvai
owner
Veganeeta

A moderated discussion followed, with the owners of three vegan restaurants as the participants – Márton Nagy (Vegan Garden), Dr Anita Árvai (Veganeeta) and Béla Paál (Little Padlizsán). They talked about the problems they faced when starting their businesses and compared their initial ideas with their achievements.

Levente Koppány
Chef de cuisine
Costes

After lunch a very exciting topic was on the agenda: Levente Koppány, chef of the Michelin-starred Costes restaurant in Budapest shared his thoughts with the audience on the possibilities of promoting sustainability and the role of plant-based dishes in fine dining restaurants.

István Miskolczi
CEO
NÉGYOSZ

István Miskolczi, the CEO of NÉGYOSZ presented the results of a representative market survey of 1,000 people, conducted by the organisation in October, illustrating the preferences, fears and decisions of Hungarian consumers with lots of data.

Bruzsa István
food értékesítési vezető
Nestlé Professional

Kovács Zoltán
tulajdonos, kreatív séf
Napfényes Étterem

Kiss-Szabó Eszter
kommunikációs vezető
Felelős Gasztrohős

István Bruzsa, food sales manager of Nestlé Professional, Zoltán Kovács, owner-creative chef of the Budapest restaurant Napfényes, and Eszter Kiss-Szabó, head of communications at Felelős Gasztrohős discussed the preferences, operation and menu of an environmentally conscious restaurant serving vegetarian/vegan food.

György Takács
co-owner
MadHouse

György Takács, the co-owner of Madhouse Budapest explained how one of the most original figures in the Budapest craft beer scene has become a vegetarian, and how he is shaping the menu and prices along the lines of this fact.

Kristóf Steiner
writer, presenter
Kristóf konyhája

Kristóf Steiner and Gianni Annoni – the vegan and the meat eater – had a good conversation, with the most interesting dilemma being the acceptability of meat substitutes. //