We just got used to the idea of the ‘veggan’.

That’s a vegan who sometimes eats an egg, is often shunned by other vegans, and probably won’t admit to the egg-eating publicly.

Now there’s a way to be ‘occasionally vegan’ without the pressure to commit completely, but with the incentive to cut out animal products as often as possible.

Eiko Onishi has founded ‘Pay-a-Vegan’, the app that pays you to make a lifestyle change, while encouraging restaurants to offer more vegan menu options.

The South China Morning Post has more:

For every receipt showing a vegan meal uploaded to the app, Pay-a-Vegan will credit the user US$1 to be redeemed in the service’s partner restaurants. Gathering receipts will give app-makers an idea of what people are eating and where: consumer analysis they intend to share with subscribed food vendors.

The app aims to connect people to restaurants that work with their lifestyle, while also incentivising a plant-based diet.

Instead of asking people to open a new, purely vegan restaurant, it’s easier to ask regular restaurants to perhaps increase their vegan options.

Onishi, the app’s creator, was born and raised in Hong Kong. After enrolling in a programme by US start-up accelerator Founder Institute, Pay-a-Vegan was born. Once she has the backing of investors and government grants, she plans to launch the app in June 2020.

To start, the app will only be available in China, but who knows – if it takes off, it could be introduced to other regions, too.

I’m sure there are a lot of vegans out there who would appreciate the platform.

[source:scmp]