Naturli’ opens its first concept café in Oslo – 100 per cent plants on forks and in drinks

As increasing numbers of Norwegians are developing an appetite for the taste of a green future, Naturli’ has just opened a 100 per cent plant-based café at Drammensveien 149 in Oslo. The café is owned by Naturli’, who ensure that guests always find 100 per cent plants on their plates and in their cups.

Who says beef has to come from cattle? Or that the juicy pieces in a Caesar salad come from a chicken? Naturli’ has been the market leader in plant-based foods in Denmark since 1988, and by opening the new Naturli’ Café in Oslo they intend to challenge Norwegians with the taste of a greener future.

Everything on the menu at the new café in Oslo is plant based – whether it is eaten with a fork or served in a cup. Naturli’ hopes to convince guests that it is easy to go plant-based without compromising on flavour, texture or vitality when they want a delicious meal on their plates.

The café in Oslo will lead the way for the rest of Europe
If the Naturli’ café in Oslo sprouts and grows into a success, Naturli’ will roll out a franchise concept, and more green cafés will spring up in other big cities in Europe. In Oslo Naturli’ will gather important experience and really get to know what consumers want.

“There is a clear tendency: lots of Norwegians want to cut down on meat for the benefit of the climate, but are reluctant to give up dishes they have loved since their childhood. So we work hard every day to develop food products that can take the place of traditional animal-based variants. We have one indispensable requirement: the flavour in the plant-based dishes must really make the angels sing. There can be no compromise there,” says Henrik Lund, CEO at Naturli’.

He reminds us that what we put in our mouths makes a difference to the planet.Joseph Poore, a researcher at Oxford University, has stated: “Diet changes have a far greater effect than cutting down on flying trips or buying an electric car, because they only limit the emission of greenhouse gases.”

Buying green food to take home
In the café, Naturli’ wants to demonstrate how easy it can be to choose green foods even when daily life is busy. When guests have tasted the food in the café, they can buy the products to take home, and try making the recipes they love, or new ones they have been inspired to experiment with.

Pernille Hellkås, the manager of the café, finds that guests are curious and eager to try many of the popular dishes in a plant-based version. It might be Naturli’s mince patties with potato salad, chilli sin carne, steak bearnaise, or classic hash, based on peas. Among other things, Naturli’ has developed a plant-based mince series, which can be used in the same situations as minced meat, and Pipfri, a product that replaces pieces of chicken.

The Norwegians are ready
Henrik Lund can see that the Norwegians are seriously becoming aware of the green food products.
“In Norway they are traditionally proud of taking care of nature and focusing on the climate. Nowhere else on earth are people as keen on electric cars as the Norwegians. We will soon see the same with the Norwegians’ taste for green food products. When the flavour of a greener future really takes root among consumers in Norway, it will call for 100 per cent fine flavour, and it must be easy for consumers to make plant-based meals. It has to be both healthy and convenient. That is what we are focusing on,” says Henrik Lund.

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