Much in the same vein as ‘soy milk’ is not legally milk in some countries, the Dutch trade show for the meat products sector to be held on 5 and 6 November has decided that popular brand The Vegetarian Butcher (in the Netherlands known as De Vegetarische Slager) is not a butcher.

Funny enough, the company received an invitation to sign up to compete in The Best Butcher of the Netherlands, and didn’t hesitate a second. Once signed up, their shop and restaurant De Vleesch Lobby (‘The Meat Lobby’, in Dutch) in The Hague was out in front with some 3500 votes for the province of South Holland. But we can’t have meat substitutes win, right? In a way, it’s stupid for them to have received an invitation in the first place (nobody bothered to check what they produced), however, it would have made quite a statement if they had won.

At some point, the organisers realised that De Vleesch Lobby didn’t serve meat and decided they cannot be considered butchers. Owner Jaap Korteweg was disappointed to be chucked out of the competition, but one thing is certain: the meat sector can’t ignore the rising popularity of meat substitutes.

(Link: frontpage.fok.nl)