Fast-food multinationals are so desperate to do so that they are even making changes to their meat-heavy menus to attract India’s 480 million vegetarians – roughly 40 per cent of the country’s 1.2 billion population.
McDonalds has announced that it will open its very first vegetarian outlet in Jammu & Kashmir next year, close to the Vaishno Devi shrine at Katra in Jammu & Kashmir, with another planned close to the Golden Temple in Amritsar.
McDonalds already dishes up a menu that is 50 per cent vegetarian at its 270 outlets in India, with meals including the McAloo Tikki Burger, McVeggie and Veg Pizza McPuff.
In the past months, KFC has been adding vegetarian options such as the Veg Zinger, Veg Snacker and Veg ZingKong to its Indian menus.
And there are also reports that Domino’s Pizza and Subway will soon be opening up their own meat-free eateries in the country.
As more people become aware of the environmental and health costs of eating meat – and the ever-pragmatic food corporations see the damage wrought to their bottom lines by the price of grain – perhaps we’ll see more restaurants like these elsewhere in the world.