Inspiring plant-based food choices
V for Food organises guided tours in Utrecht, Amsterdam, and Rotterdam to create a fun day out while inspiring participants to choose plant-based more often. Tours happen on foot or by bike and include multiple tastings at local vegan restaurants. The format blends food discovery, city storytelling, and light education, so people leave satisfied and with a new understanding of the possibilities and benefits of vegan food.
The approach has proven successful. In 2024, V for Food organised 205 tours across 3 cities while maintaining an average 5-star review score. In 2023, they also received a Vegan Award from the Dutch Association for Veganism for best vegan company. Their growth shows that mission-driven plant-based initiatives can compete in the hospitality industry on what matters most: a great guest experience that people want to repeat.
How V for Food started
In 2021, Daisy Scholte and Patrick Boone founded V for Food with a clear mission: help accelerate the transition to a more compassionate and sustainable food system.
During years of travelling abroad, they were confronted with the impact of food choices by animal rights activists. They decided to put all their excuses aside and became vegan, for the animals and the environment. What surprised them most was how positive the change felt in daily life.
When they returned to the Netherlands, they noticed Utrecht already had amazing vegan restaurants, but many were still “hidden” to the mainstream audience. After hearing the story of the founders of a local vegan pastry shop, they returned home inspired and determined to help more people discover plant-based food, while supporting entrepreneurs with the same values.
“We experienced going vegan as such a positive change in our lives. We wanted to share that with others, to show it’s an enrichment instead of a restriction,” says Patrick Boone, co-founder of V for Food.
Having created some of their best memories during guided tours, they combined their passion for traveling and good food, and V for Food was born.
Creating a successful vegan hospitality experience
In the competitive hospitality industry, it can be tough to get customers excited about a vegan food experience without being pushed into a niche. V for Food shows that it’s possible by using the following strategies that make plant-based feel inviting, not intimidating.
1. Focus on taste and positive experiences
The core principle of V for Food is simple: putting taste first to make plant-based food accessible and desirable for anyone. Veganism is often associated with guilt, judgement, or restriction. When you try to motivate people to choose plant-based, the biggest hurdle is usually hesitation.
V for Food removes that hesitation by letting the food do the talking. By serving delicious food, they ensure the tours are enjoyable for anyone, including vegetarians, flexitarians, and heavy meat-eaters. And successfully so, since the majority of the tour participants is not vegan. Guests try multiple tastings across up to seven stops, with different cuisines and styles. The variety matters because it proves plant-based is a culinary enrichment instead of a compromise.
“Seeing a heavy meat-eater who started out sceptical enjoy the food is very rewarding. That’s another seed planted, making them more open to try plant-based in the future,” says Patrick.
V for Food effectively positions the tour as a fun outing to discover the city and hear entertaining stories while enjoying great food. This “taste, don’t tell” strategy turns each stop into another positive emotional association with plant-based food. Focusing on taste is also one of the strongest ways for restaurants to sell more plant-based dishes.
“We want to make sure participants have a great experience, so they’ll associate plant-based food with discovery, indulgence, and joy,” shares Patrick.
2. Education without judgement
Taste is the hook that wins people over but getting them to accept plant-based food as part of their diet needs a bit more motivation. V for Food supports that with light education and nudging, delivered in a way that feels safe and non-preachy.
Guides mix city stories with stories about the restaurants, the entrepreneurs, the dishes, and the benefits of plant-based food. At each stop, guests hear an inspiring story about the origin, mission, or challenges of the restaurant, so the food becomes something people remember.
There’s also a voluntary educational moment during the tour: a quiz-style factsheet about animal agriculture and veganism that participants can explore independently. Importantly, it happens after several tastings when guests are already relaxed, satisfied, and open. The result is often curious, thoughtful conversation steered by guides who keep the tone constructive and without judgement.
“Because we let people discover facts themselves without pressure, they’re more open to learn,” Patrick points out.
The vegan food tours show that providing education in an engaging manner works, as over half of the non-vegan participants reported eating more plant-based after the tour.
3. Showing the impact of choosing plant-based
V for Food doesn’t just explain the benefits of plant-based – they also show the impact of participation using the Livvie Business food impact calculator. In 2025, they quantified the effect of eating vegan during tours to support participant engagement, B2B sales, their impact report, and a funding application.
1. Selling a sustainable activity for businesses
Companies increasingly look for activities that align with ESG targets and opting for plant-based food can contribute greatly. V for Food positions their team tours as a sustainable outing and uses impact insights in the brochure to show what a group achieves by choosing a vegan experience.
“Companies care about sustainability these days. Showing them how much they save during a vegan tour helps convince them to book with us,” says Patrick.
“Companies care about sustainability these days. Showing them how much they save during a vegan tour helps convince them to book with us.”
Patrick Boone
Co-founder of V for Food
2. Supporting education during tours
General facts are powerful, but impact becomes more tangible when it’s tied to a shared action. Guides sometimes mention what the group achieved together, like saving hundreds of showers worth of water, to make the benefits visual, memorable, and motivating. Sharing the impact of a personal choice instead of emphasising footprints aligns perfectly with their focus on positive, rewarding messaging.
3. Underpinning the vegan mission
For mission-driven companies, understanding how much they make a difference in the world is fundamental. V for Food publishes an annual impact report to transparently communicate progress to customers, partners, and media. They use the Livvie impact calculator to quantify outcomes like animals spared, resources saved, and emissions avoided, turning a mission into measurable results.
“Quantifying our impact helps us tell our story but it’s also a great motivator to continue our mission towards a plant-based food system,” Patrick highlights.
4. Substantiating funding applications
Impact data also helps when requesting financial support by demonstrating the initiative’s contribution to society and the environment. V for Food successfully secured funding to expand into The Hague, supported by data on their potential positive impact.
The positive impact of vegan food tours
By serving only plant-based food, V for Food has made a measurable difference, calculated with the Livvie impact calculator for business.
In 2024, V for Food organised 205 tours and hosted 1.700 participants, serving the equivalent of 3.400 meals. Based on this, the software quantified a positive impact across 22 parameters.
Highlights include:
- 36 land animals and 1.268 marine animals spared
- 2.720 m³ water saved (≈ 45.355 showers)
- 24.990 m² agricultural land saved (≈ 3,5 football fields)
- 10.421 m² forest saved (≈ 40 tennis courts)
- 3.281 kg animal feed saved
- 9.401 kg CO2eq avoided (≈ 55.250 km by car)
- 551 g cholesterol and 11 mg mercury avoided
These results show how V for Food brings their mission to life: creating a positive hospitality experience that benefits animals, the planet, and people.
4. Collaborate and add value for partners
Another key to V for Food’s success is collaboration with partners who share their mission, values, and success. They work with 40 plant-based entrepreneurs to create great tasting stops while generating visibility and business for their restaurants.
The team carefully selects partners who have mastered vegan cooking and share the mission of transitioning towards a more plant-based food system. At each stop, guides share stories about the restaurant – how it started, what it stands for, and how choosing plant-based in hospitality can be both meaningful and successful. This builds emotional connection with the restaurant and customer loyalty.
Fundamentally, the partnerships are designed to be mutually beneficial. V for Food can provide a rich tour experience while promoting restaurants to new (often non-vegan) customers. And successfully so, since most tour guests stated they returned afterwards.
“By serving great dishes while sharing the story of the restaurant, we create an emotional attachment so that guests are more likely to return,” says Patrick.
5. Scaling the success formula
What started as a walking tour in Utrecht took a major leap in 2024 with expansion to Amsterdam and Rotterdam, plus new tour concepts. This established them as the leading vegan food tour organisation in the Netherlands after overcoming operational challenges.
Their biggest learning in expansion: local expertise matters. Working with guides and partners who understand a city’s culture, entrepreneurs, competition, and tourism regulation helps the concept land authentically without losing the core formula.
They also diversified the offer. Besides the walking tour, they launched a bike tour and kids tour. And they expanded into business tours for companies looking for fun, informative, sustainable group activities or who want to learn about plant-based food.
Creating new routes and partners, training guides, and marketing new tours required investment, but turned out fruitful. In 2024, they served 12.159 tastings to 1.700 guests across 205 tours, while maintaining a 5-star average score.
V for Food’s growth proves that a plant-based hospitality formula can scale when you build on a strong foundation and adapt with care.
Promoting plant-based food with positivity
V for Food shows that motivating plant-based choices works best when it’s built on enjoyment, not pressure. When people associate vegan food with great taste, inspiring stories, and meaningful impact, they stop seeing it as a compromise and start seeing it as a win.
By creating tours together with restaurant partners who share in the success, V for Food scaled from one city route into a thriving hospitality concept. And they remain committed to their mission: making animal-friendly and sustainable food choices feel normal, easy, and desirable.
If you want to increase plant-based sales in your restaurant or hospitality concept, start with what V for Food proves works:
- Lead with taste
- Keep messaging positive and inclusive
- Use impact data to make benefits tangible and motivating
You can use the Livvie Business food impact calculator to measure your impact across planet, animals, and health, so your plant-based offer becomes even more meaningful to guests.
Share this article with your team to spark ideas on how plant-based can be both successful and impactful in hospitality.
