A new vegan food service called Hungry Hippie is scheduled to launch at Wilfrid Laurier University by the end of February 2018.
Beginning with once a week when launched, the new vegan service will feature fresh vegan food for students. The products will range from Mexican food and tacos to vegan chili, chickpea curry and more. The food delivery method has yet to be determined.
The meals will be priced at approximately seven dollars and aimed to be kept under 10 dollars. Students will be required to sign up for meals online prior to the date, monthly subscriptions will also be available.
The idea began with Amanda Nobile and Venessa Richards, two global studies and social entrepreneurship students at Laurier who had to create and launch their own business for class requirements.
“There has been this whole transition to veganism that has been picking up and I have just noticed it over the last year. I guess we wanted to cater to that in the sense that people are transitioning [to veganism] and we should help them with that,” Richards said.
Hungry Hippie is aimed to bring accessible vegan options to Laurier students while also displaying to students that eating vegan can be budget-friendly and delicious.
“There is really not that much [vegan food] around here, there is so much fast food right outside of the school but nothing on campus and nothing is vegan and it’s hard for people to find that if you are vegan,” Nobile said.
Hungry Hippie hopes to encourage veganism and show students that there is much more to eating vegan than one might think.
“There is a big vegan market but there also is a big health-conscious market too. A lot of people in our generation are really cautious about what they’re eating, working out a lot and being healthy.”
“Breaking the stereotypes around it that it’s expensive, time-consuming or compromising eating good food so that you can stay away from those products. So we wanted to cater to those people and show that it’s not as difficult or expensive as you think,” Nobile said.
Before launching in February, Hungry Hippie will hold a taste testing session in the concourse where students can sign up for future meals.
“A big thing [for us] was showing people who aren’t vegan and don’t know much about it that it can be good, and vegans don’t just eat salads,” Nobile said.
Different options for food will be tested each week, to provide students with different alternatives other than traditional vegan options.
“Not just bowls of salad, [but introduce other] things that people don’t think of being vegan. Like, jackfruit tacos, jackfruit is when you pull it apart and it replicates shredded meat, like a meat alternative,” Nobile said.
Hungry Hippie will be posting menus monthly to keep students informed of the upcoming meals provided for each week.
“There is a big vegan market but there also is a big health-conscious market too. A lot of people in our generation are really cautious about what they’re eating, working out a lot and being healthy,” Nobile said.
“I think that the market is there and nothing is filling it yet so we’re hoping to be that.”