Determining Restaurant Managers' Perspectives on Vegetarianism: The Case of Hatay Province
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Solunoğlu,
A.
(ed.)
2026.
TOURGASTREC II.
Synopsis
This study aims to examine restaurant managers’ evaluations regarding the diversity and adequacy of menu options offered to vegetarian guests, as well as the practices and approaches they adopt to address the problems encountered by these guests. For this purpose, data were collected from managers of restaurants operating in the province of Hatay through semi-structured interviews. The obtained data were analyzed using descriptive analysis. The findings indicate that vegetarian customer demand is perceived by restaurant managers as limited and largely associated with touristic periods, a perception closely linked to the local culinary culture. It was found that restaurants’ approaches to vegetarian menus vary depending on their target customer profile and corporate vision; while some establishments develop inclusive strategies, others are content with offering limited options. Managers identified the insufficiency of main dishes, lack of clarity in menu information, the risk of cross-contamination, and inadequate staff knowledge as the main problems. Although managers’ attitudes toward vegetarianism are generally positive, it is noteworthy that this awareness is not sufficiently reflected in operational practices. In conclusion, the study reveals that despite the growing interest in vegetarian diets in Türkiye, institutional and sustainable practices in the restaurant sector remain underdeveloped; nevertheless, there exists significant potential for transformation in the future.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Ramazan Göral; Ali Solunoğlu; Ebru Arıcı- Orhan Batman- Gizem Kandemir Altunel- Şehnaz Demirkol- Kübra Kıymet Arslan- Feyza Altun- Mustafa Emre Şirin- Suat Arpacı- Y. Kemal Özekici- Furkan Dursun- Dilek Karakaş- Canan Semint- Serkan Semint- Nuriye Demir- Betül Şahin- Hasan Cinnioğlu- Aysun Gargacı Kınay- Mehtap Baykal Erdoğan- Evrim Karaca- Ezgi Erşahin- Şehnaz Demirkol- Ayhan Başçı- Semra Akar Şahingöz- Selva Atınç- Hale Özgit- Şerif Ahmet Demirdağ- Cihan Yılmaz- Meliha Sena Yıldırgan- Pelin Candar- Özel Kılıç- Duygu Kırmızıkuşak- Mehmet Koçak- Mustafa Demirel- Halit Sökmen- Ahmet Can Göksun- Duran Kuru- Ece Rua Gülal- Sağbetullah Meriç- Yusuf Ormankıran