Austria Govt Doubles Down on Plant Protein Focus with Meat-Free Culinary Training Scheme
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The Austrian government will launch a vegan and vegetarian culinary apprenticeship in July, months after championing plant-based foods in its dietary guidelines.
After nearly 18 months of negotiations between key stakeholders, Austria is finally set to kickstart a meat-free culinary apprenticeship programme later this year.
As part of Austria’s green economy plan, the Ministry of Labour and Economy (BMAW) has announced that the three-year training scheme will begin in July, aiming to equip people who want to work with future-facing foods with the skills to thrive in the gastronomy and catering sector.
It follows the publication of a draft regulation from Martin Kocher, the country’s labour minister, referring to the apprenticeship in June. Details are still being eked out for the Specialist in Vegetarian Cuisine, including whether it would be fully plant-based, but it marks an important step in Austria’s commitment to the protein transition.
A long effort designed to train the chefs of tomorrow
Efforts to launch the apprenticeship were initiated by Joachim Ivany of the Green Economy, a parliamentary group in the Vienna Chamber of Commerce and Industry that describes itself as “the mouthpiece for entrepreneurs”. He was supported by the Vegan Society of Austria, and renowned local chefs like Siegfried Kröpfl and Jonathan Wittenbrink.
The idea of a ministerial decree for the apprenticeship was met with resistance from some quarters, including the Federal Vocational Training Advisory Board. But after more than a year of negotiations, Kocher published the draft regulations last summer, which was then followed by a four-week assessment phase.
A commission of experts was then set to decide the precise food names, recipes and examination documents used in the apprenticeship – but discussions stalled shortly after, leading to a petition signed by over 1,600 members of the public. This prompted the government to speed things up, finally signing the decree.
Ivany, who owns a vegetarian restaurant in Vienna, has previously suggested that more than a quarter of young Austrians recruited as skilled workers in the catering industry are now vegan or vegetarian. Adding to the argument for a training course, he pointed out how there were hundreds of restaurants across Austria that specialised in meat-free cuisine.
According to the BMAW, the apprenticeship will involve both regional and international dishes – think terrines, meat and fish analogues, basic sauce and their derivatives, dough-based items like strudels and shortcut pastry, and dumplings.
Participants will also be trained to master various cooking methods – from poaching and braising to pickling and smoking – manage inventory and orders, prepare service staff, and cater to allergies and intolerances.
“The introduction of the apprenticeship to become a specialist in vegetarian cuisine is a milestone – not only for the catering industry in general, but also for businesses that specialise in vegan or vegetarian cuisine,” Ivany said in July.
Austria digs deep into plant-based
A survey by the University of Applied Sciences Wiener Neustadt found that among Austrians aged 30-39, nearly one in five (19%) are vegetarian, and 5% are vegan. This is much higher than those aged 50 and above, where meat-free eating patterns are only followed by 2-6% of people. The demand for plant-based meat is also significantly greater in younger age groups.
And a 2024 study by the Good Food Institute Europe revealed that 30% of Austrians want to increase their consumption of plant-based meat over the next two years.
“The catering industry is happy about every new apprenticeship that has the potential to inspire people to join the industry,” said Mario Pulker, chairman of the catering association in the federal economic chamber (WKO).
“The domestic catering industry is constantly changing and adapting to the current trends and needs of guests. Existing additional training courses with vegetarian-vegan teaching content are already well-received and in demand,” he added. “The new apprenticeship can help to strengthen this aspect even further and counteract the current shortage of skilled workers.”
An example of successful meatless apprenticeships comes from the Vegan Society of Austria, whose Vegucation programme has been training hundreds of students on plant-based products, marketing, and their health, climate and animal benefits for the last 12 years. The scheme has trained over 300 teachers who have gone on to become vegan chefs at nine of Austria’s 11 vocational schools.
“Every year, young people at 135 schools across Austria benefit from the plant-based content: in the 2023-24 school year, over 400 students successfully completed the Vegucation training and are proud owners of the ‘Vegan-Vegetarian Specialist’ certificate,” said Vegucation director Lisa Klein.
The new government-backed apprenticeship comes just months after the health ministry updated the national dietary guidelines, which now call for a shift away from animal-based foods. They’re based on a plate model, with 50% vegetables and fruits, 25% whole grains, and the rest protein – mostly from plants. Taking into consideration both health and environmental impacts, legumes and their products now have their own dedicated section.