New Millennium - New Food New Restaurant Chainfrom EVU News, Issue 4/1998 and 1/1999 |
|
MEANING GREEN, the world's first vegetarian fast-food chain, aims to open 100 vegetarian fast food restaurants in Western Europe and in the USA within five years.
|
|
In November 1998, MEANING GREEN opened its first restaurants in Sweden with the vision of being a leading agent in vegetarian food and to build a brand that represents a holistic view of human beings, animals and nature. One of the company's most important goals is to make also non-vegetarians discover vegetarian food and find it tasty and various. MEANING GREEN always tries to be in the centres of towns where people can find them easily. Often McDonald's are already there. For this reason two of the MEANING GREEN restaurants in Stockholm are next to McDonalds. But so far the vegetarian fast-food restaurants have been very crowded and competition from McDonalds has not been shown. The more vegetarian restaurants the better for everyone, consider MEANING GREEN owners, who want to offer an alternative to McDonalds and who provide the customer with an opportunity for participation and commitment to a better environment and a healthier lifestyle. |
 The president of MEANING GREEN: Mr. Greg Dingizian |
Vegetarian BusinessmanThe initiative to the MEANING GREEN idea came from a Swedish businessman named Mr Greg Dingizian, who earlier ran many successful business projects. He is a vegetarian himself and his favourite literature are books by Peter Singer, Paul Brunton and Eastern Philosophers. In 1997 he created the plan for MEANING GREEN. After that followed the putting into practise of his business idea. Some rich businessmen (no vegetarians) invested in the MEANING GREEN project because they believe in it and find it interesting. The MEANING GREEN's corporate philosophy is valuesled business. The company will use the power of business to generate economic as well as ethical profit with the vision as a guiding principle. The MEANING GREEN's equity was in June l998 SEK 130 millions. At the beginning of this year, by a new share issue, the company will raise additional SEK 300 millions. They will also be listed on the Stockholm Exchange. By this transaction MEANING GREEN will be one of the biggest recent introductions on the Swedish Exchange.Vegetarian Fast Food and Friendly AtmosphereThe MEANWG GREEN's head-quarter is in Malmö in the southern part of Sweden. One result of the opening of the vegetarian fast-food restaurant is that the smaller vegetarian restaurants in the towns have got more new customers than before.
|
MEANING GREEN Restaurant next to McDonald's |
On the MEANING GREEN restaurants you can take your breakfast, lunch or dinner. Inspiration has been drawn from different ethnic backgrounds and presents a great number of international contributions from for example India, Greece, Mexico and Thailand. The traditional fast-food line is completed with a personal and friendly service to give the customer a positive experience of the visit to the restaurant. The preference for ecological products influences every decision. The menu includes both hot and cold dishes, main dishes and side orders as well as heavier options. Most of the dishes are lacto-vegetarian but there are also vegan dishes. New items are continually being introduced on the menu. Fresh fruits are the main ingredients in a wide selection of cold drinks. For coffee and tea-lovers there is a rich menu of hot beverages. Especially Soup in Bread, where you can eat the plate made of bread is very popular on the Swedish menu. In 1999 MEANING GREEN will launch its concept in London. At the same time six restaurants are planned in Swedish University cities like Gothenburg, Lund, Linköping, Umeä, Uppsala and Stockholm, after this Germany etc. Further on, the MEANING GREEN restaurants will be launched at communication centres, such as airports and train stations as well as food-courts.
|
|
At the inaugural celebration in Stockholm a lot of businessmen, authors, singers, actors and represents from the vegetarian movement among others were present. Princess Lilian (born in England and married to the Swedish Prince Bertil, who died in 1998) cut the inaugural ribbon and gave the opening speech. The interest in the MEANING GREEN idea has been above all expectations and the persons of the management of MEANING GREEN (most of them vegetarians) hope that MEANING GREEN will continue to be successful and that the vegetarian movement around the world will benefit from their success.
| The address of the MEANING GREEN AB is: Kalendegatan 26 SE-21135 Malmö Sweden Tel.: +46 40 691 26 00 Fax: +46 40 691 26 01 home page: http://www.meaninggreen.com
|
|
|
Monica Engström, Svenska Vegetariska Föreningen
|