Qantas stops vegetarian meals on shorter domestic flights

I can't remember the last time I accepted any of the domestic meals. Just a warm drink if offered.
 
Struggling to Redeem Your Frequent Flyer Points?
The Frequent Flyer Concierge team takes the hard work out of finding reward seat availability. Using their expert knowledge and specialised tools, they'll help you book a great trip that maximises the value for your points.

AFF Supporters can remove this and all advertisements

Even for international flights where you can order a special meal, Qantas has also stopped offering the choice of VLML which is Ovo-Lacto Vegetarian, and only offers Vegan (VGML). This means no more pasta meals with cheese, or quiches, or anything else like that - it's lowest common denominator, regular meat or fully vegan. I haven't done a full survey but it seems most other international airlines flying into Australia still offer both types - Australia has a lot of vegetarians so you'd think they would cater to this.

I will note that on International flights, Qantas tends to offer an Ovo-lacto vegetarian meal as one of the choices (unlike say, Singapore Airlines), but you can't guarantee this by requesting it in advance, as you'll only get the bland vegan one as per above. Kind of annoying.
 
You can order a special meal on any ticket.

For international flights they offer a "Plant-based dining" option in all classes. Which suits me, I no longer have to order a special meal that is 9/10 some goop that just isn't suitable for consumption. Domestic flights are short enough that I'm not bothered, if I'm flying around a meal time I'll make sure to either eat in the lounge or just get something after I've arrived.

But yes, I have also noticed that the "Vegetarian" instead of "Vegan" option is no longer available. They have simplified the choices so that they (or whoever is managing their catering) have less to manage.
 
Cognac said:
For international flights they offer a "Plant-based dining" option in all classes. Which suits me, I no longer have to order a special meal that is 9/10 some goop that just isn't suitable for consumption.
Click to expand...
My problem as I mentioned above, is that you have to take a gamble on that choice still being available when they come to your row - even having status doesn't help with this (in economy, at least). Generally these options are less popular than the meated ones, so it might be okay, but my partner refuses to take the chance and ends up with the bland "goop" as you aptly refer to it.
Post automatically merged:

MEL_Traveller said:
I guess chicken must be cheaper than vegetables? That would be the only reason.
Click to expand...
The reason isn't about the cost of ingredients per se, it's about reducing choices so they have less complexity and waste.
 
jpp42 said:
My problem as I mentioned above, is that you have to take a gamble on that choice still being available when they come to your row - even having status doesn't help with this (in economy, at least). Generally these options are less popular than the meated ones, so it might be okay, but my partner refuses to take the chance and ends up with the bland "goop" as you aptly refer to it.
Click to expand...
That's fair. I had not considered the option running out, I'm generally in the first couple of rows of Y so it's not an issue.
 
The move from vegetarian to vegan meals makes things simpler from the procurement and supply viewpoint. Plus less options to manage onboard. Sometimes I need to mind the catering at work and by ordering a few 'GF vegan' serves we can take care of the perhaps most common items in one go: gluten, dairy, egg, vegan. Simple and leaves then more room for those cases where we need to tweak things further.

However, chicken pie would be an inconsiderate choice from Qantas. With that they are serving gluten and meat, most likely also dairy and egg. That would exclude a number of passengers. You can get good alternate options, too, these days but it's more about being thoughtful with procurement than lack of options.

I try to eat every time there's a chance. But sometimes in the lounge it's reduced to some salad and veggies only. Often the onboard offering is unsuitable, too, or just soy snacks. And there are only so many soy snacks and muesli bars one can eat before having had too many of them. o_O
 
tdimdad said:
I try to eat every time there's a chance. But sometimes in the lounge it's reduced to some salad and veggies only. Often the onboard offering is unsuitable, too, or just soy snacks. And there are only so many soy snacks and muesli bars one can eat before having had too many of them. o_O
Click to expand...
I feel this. We had an irrops a couple of months ago for where the meal choice didn't carry over to the new flight. Ms Cognac was on a diabetic meal choice. The crew were great in trying to scramble something together, but she wasn't interested in having any soy snacks for a while ;)
 
jpp42 said:
The reason isn't about the cost of ingredients per se, it's about reducing choices so they have less complexity and waste.
Click to expand...
I don’t understand the complexity bit, nor the ‘waste’ bit. Just about everyone can eat vegan, not everyone eats meat. Having a vegetarian meal would surely have less waste?

If you’re going to reduce complexity and waste, did qantas really not take the opportunity to also consider cost?
 
I think this is more referring to the list of special meals rather than what's served as part of the regular service.

By reducing the number of special meal options available to select they avoid having options that are only selected every now and then, but still need to have ingredients/portions available at the point of loading. I have no idea how many people were selecting the various vegetarian options when they were available, but it would make sense if consolidate if the numbers were low.
 
Cognac said:
I think this is more referring to the list of special meals rather than what's served as part of the regular service.

By reducing the number of special meal options available to select they avoid having options that are only selected every now and then, but still need to have ingredients/portions available at the point of loading. I have no idea how many people were selecting the various vegetarian options when they were available, but it would make sense if consolidate if the numbers were low.
Click to expand...
Even so.. a mate who flies QF regularly gets served with the chicken panini or three pies in Y for short hops. Not everyone eats meat… presumably the leftovers go to waste. Would there be less waste if the options were just vegetarian?
 
MEL_Traveller said:
I don’t understand the complexity bit, nor the ‘waste’ bit. Just about everyone can eat vegan, not everyone eats meat. Having a vegetarian meal would surely have less waste?

If you’re going to reduce complexity and waste, did qantas really not take the opportunity to also consider cost?
Click to expand...
Maybe the hope is that they can cut costs by loading less catering knowing a certain % of pax can't eat meat? That cost saving might be cheaper than offering everyone a veggo option.
 

Enhance your AFF viewing experience!!

From just $6 we'll remove all advertisements so that you can enjoy a cleaner and uninterupted viewing experience.

And you'll be supporting us so that we can continue to provide this valuable resource :)


Sample AFF with no advertisements? More..

Recent Posts

Currently Active Users

... and 22 more.
Total: 1,100 (members: 72, guests: 1,028)
Back
Top