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South Africans have a reputation for being meat-eaters.

Heritage Day is often referred to as National Braai Day, for example, and dinners and get-togethers regularly feature meat as the staple go-to.

Perhaps it may surprise you, then, to learn that South Africa ranks in the top five countries for most ordered vegan dishes through Uber Eats.

According to stats released earlier this month, and covered by TimesLIVE, the rest of the top five are the UK, Poland, France, and Portugal.

In SA a traditional vegan burger patty has been the most popular item ordered in this food category, followed by a wheat-based margarita pizza and roasted butternut curry.

Soya butter chicken was the most ordered meal for those who aren’t yet ready to make the jump from vegetarian to vegan.

Other popular requests include adding a teaspoon of cocoa to oat milk to give it a chocolate flavour, and swapping yoghurt for hummus.

Look, I don’t think many people in Parys are ordering a poke bowl, or a vegan burger patty, due to a combination of Uber Eats not operating there and a gut feeling that veganism may not have fully taken off in the Free State.

As for a delightful vegan pizza – you could go the Uber Eats route, or you could order directly from Butler’s Pizza, which now offers two options.

• Very Veggie Pizza – green pepper, mushrooms, Butleritos, onion, tomato, fresh rocket, and VEGAN mozzarella.

• Herbivore Pizza – red pesto, olives, mushrooms, fresh rocket, and VEGAN mozzarella.

The vegan mozzarella is perfectly smooth, flavourful, vegan-friendly, non-GMO, and dairy-free.

Just like that, I’m craving pizza.

According to Shane Austin, head of operations at Uber Eats South Africa, the uptake of vegan orders through the app is also an indicator that many restaurants have stepped up to offer vegan-friendly substitutes for popular dishes.

That’s a good start, but ask any vegan and they’ll tell you that there is still much room for improvement.

Actually, given that they’re vegan, you probably won’t have to ask them.

If we all cut down on our meat consumption, we’d go some way to reducing our environmental impact, so we speak in jest.

I suggest starting your journey with a tasty pizza, and expanding from there.

[source:timeslive]