No skin: That’s how it starts. No tugging, no fussing about the right technique, no cheating like the others do – the vegan white sausage has won over the animal-based original. “We did a survey,” says Greenforce boss Thomas Isermann, “the result: the skin is annoying. So we just did it without it.” Life can be so easy.
And so healthy: 76 percent less fat, 62 percent fewer calories, no added lactose, gluten or soy, nine grams of protein per 100 grams. The veggie white sausage is based on the protein of the king pea. “In combination with drinking water, parsley and spices, a white sausage is produced that is in no way inferior to a conventional white sausage in terms of taste and consistency,” says the press release, and of course that is exactly what you need to check in “Herr’schafts’ Zeiten – Das Paulaner im Tal”, where, in addition to traditional tavern classics, there are also 40 percent vegan and vegetarian dishes on the menu – and since Tuesday at 11 a.m. also vegan white sausages for 1.80 euros each. Those from the butcher cost 2.75 euros.
When it comes to sausages, the Germans in general and the Bavarians in particular tended towards the supposedly pure teaching for a long time. A sausage, a meatball or a burger made from plant-based substances: it can’t taste good at all. Well, those days are over. Michi Käfer and Silja Schrank-Steinberg from the Hofbräu have long offered vegan meat substitutes, and there will also be a vegan offer at the Oktoberfest – if it should take place – this year.
When Isermann founded his start-up Greenforce two years ago, the team consisted of five people – today there are more than a hundred. “We are the fastest growing foodtech company in Europe,” says Isermann. His goal: “Make a measurable contribution to global climate and animal protection.” His credo: “We have to go back to the Sunday roast.” He has a steak once a week, but a sensible, sustainable one. Isermann does not want to proselytize, but rather to invite, in the spirit of economics officer Clemens Baumgärtner, who thinks: “It’s important to have an alternative.” The market will then decide, the product has to speak for itself.”
Advertising for the product (from left): Landlord Mitja Lafere, Thomas Isermann from Greenforce, Patrik Baboumian and economics officer Clemens Baumgärtner.
(Photo: Florian Peljak)
Until the talking veggie white sausage is invented, testimonials like Patrik Baboumian will take over the job. The 43-year-old describes himself as a vegan strength athlete, was “Germany’s strongest man” in 2011 and has been in the strongman trade for years. He not only attracted attention because of his stature and the sensational Wolverine sideburns, but also because he operated the Kraftmeierei as a vegetarian and later as a vegan. “In the scene I was the bird of paradise, I had to listen to a lot of sayings,” he says. He always wanted to avoid animal suffering, but it was only a raven that opened his eyes: “For weeks I fed him up, but at the same time I ate 20 chickens.”
Before taking the step to veganism, he was “really scared because I was always the milk boy at school who pumped a liter of milk into himself during the break”. He had “completely wrong ideas about what it’s like to live vegan. Today I eat more variety than when I ate everything”. In the Netflix documentary “The Game Changer” produced by James Cameron, he talks alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger about “veganism in high-performance sports” – the perfect advertising medium for a company like Greenforce.
And how does it taste now, the vegan white sausage? Not bad at all. In any case, more like sausage than peas. Looks like the real thing, is prepared just like the original: Boil the water in a pot, remove from the stove and let it simmer for 10 to 15 minutes. The future of the white sausage does not look rosy, but green.