- A comment from Theresa Aicher -
It's a long battle that has been going on for years: can vegan alternatives be called like the original? So to be more precise: can a vegan white sausage be called white sausage, a vegan schnitzel schnitzel and an oat milk milk?
Actually easy to answer for me, but not for some others. For years there has been disagreement as to whether this name is now permissible. Many critically question why vegans insist on the shape and appearance of a 'real' sausage, even though they have clearly decided against consuming meat.
This discussion does not decrease, but rather increases again from time to time. And this despite the fact that vegan substitute products have no longer been a niche for years. Entire walls of supermarket shelves are taken up by vegan spreads, meat alternatives, cheese alternatives and plant-based drinks. So I ask myself the question: does this really still have to be the case?
“Tastes like assembly foam in a condom”
It was not until September 2022 that discussions about vegan alternatives were brought to a head again. The trigger: a VEGAN white sausage at Oktoberfest. For heaven’s sake – what’s that supposed to mean?!
There was a lot of excitement, both positive and negative. Monika Gruber said: “ It tastes like assembly foam in a condom .” Of course, I had to grin at this statement and asked myself the question: dear Moni, how do you know what assembly foam tastes like in a condom?
But in addition to taste, discussion regarding the name and shape was also actively encouraged. Dear discussion-loving people, tell me, how else are we supposed to adjust the shape of the sausage? Cylindrical? Octagonal with a hole in the middle? This seems extremely inconvenient to me when cooking and eating the sausage.
The origin of the name of sausage & cheese
Let's talk about the name (white) sausage. The terms cheese and sausage are derived from the craft of cheese-making and sausage-making . Although I have to admit here: The term cheese comes from the Latin cāseus , which means “ something that has fermented, become sour ” – so here it actually stands for dairy products. When it comes to milk alternatives, it is already the case that plant-based alternatives are no longer allowed to be called milk, as you may have noticed with our organic oat “ drink ”.
The word “ sausage ” is completely different. This means “ to twist, mix, roll and turn something ”. So it describes how the sausage is made. The expression would also be correct in the case of our vegan sausage, because our sausage is also twisted, mixed and rolled.
The trigger for the discussions: the meat industry
So where does this whole discussion about the name of the vegan sausage come from?
In fact, the meat industry fears for its customers. Although the consumption of meat products remains too high, the trend towards vegan alternatives is increasing.
In the long term, vegan sausage and vegan schnitzel can be dangerous for the industry. Because:
- Vegan alternatives are getting closer and closer to the 'original'.
- Many meat eaters eat meat because of its taste and texture. If you also get this with alternatives, more and more people are turning to the variant.
- Although it may sound crazy, the name of the product influences consumer behavior. So if a vegan schnitzel is also called schnitzel, or a vegan white sausage is also called white sausage, consumers associate a certain taste experience with it. So it's no wonder that the meat industry has a problem with this.
- The discussions about environmental protection in connection with meat consumption are not letting up either. More and more people are becoming aware of how negative the impact on the climate can be.
That's the way it is and it won't change for us any time soon. The discussions will continue, especially as we continue to come up with new innovations and replacement products. The meat industry is facing increasing competition.
But actually it's fun, or at least it's tasty. And I've always wanted to try assembly foam in a condom.
Best regards
Theresa