Heritage Auckland Hectors restaurant has been announced as the very first New Zealand restaurant to achieve Vegan Certification under a new scheme created by the New Zealand Vegetarian Society. The New Zealand Vegetarian Society is running the Vegan Certification programme in collaboration with the Vegan Society of Aotearoa New Zealand. The certification is the only one of its kind in New Zealand.
“The ever-increasing demand for vegan food and products made this a good time to launch such a programme,” said Julia Clements, president of the New Zealand Vegetarian Society. “The new certification symbol will make simple work of finding suitable products and dining experiences that are authentically vegan.”
For Heritage Auckland, the certification involved a stringent and independent audit of every ingredient in the hotel’s Hectors restaurant plant-based menu range. The rigour of the process sent the executive chef of the Heritage Auckland, Gerrard O’Keefe, on a major culinary research project, but it was worth it to his mind.
“We are delighted Hectors restaurant has been Vegan Certified by the New Zealand Vegetarian Society,” he said. “It took weeks of research to conduct a detailed examination of our suppliers’ ingredients that go into our vegan menus. The thoroughness of the New Zealand Vegetarian Society process proved a great discipline and their support is hard-earned, so it’s a huge honour to be the first restaurant to achieve their accreditation.”
Heritage Auckland began offering plant-based menu items in both its lobby cafe and Hectors restaurant in 2011. The hotel then went on to be the first New Zealand restaurant to be Vegetarian Accredited by the NZ Vegetarian Society in early 2013.
