THE BEST CITIES FOR VEGETARIANS TO LIVE AND VISIT

THE BEST CITIES FOR VEGETARIANS TO LIVE AND VISIT - Data shows the most vegetarian-friendly cities around the world, considering factors such as the price of fruits, vegetables, and plant-based protein products, as well as the number and quality of restaurants catering to vegetarian choices.

● London is the highest-ranking city in the index, scoring strongly for the affordability of fruits and vegetables and its number of vegetarian-friendly restaurants. Berlin and Munich rank second and third.

● Edinburgh has the most vegetarian-friendly restaurants per population, followed by Munich and Ubud.

● Taipei tops the list for the average rating of its top 10 vegetarian restaurants, beating Detroit and Tokyo.

● London ranks #1 for vegetarian festivals and events, ahead of New York and Chicago.

● Ubud ranks 67 out of 75.

Photo by Ella Olsson from Pexels

Berlin, Germany, March 2021 - On-demand housing platform Nestpick.com has released a study on which global cities are most vegetarian-friendly. In response to the global rise in vegetarianism, the team at Nestpick conducted the study to shed light on the evolving lifestyle needs of people looking to relocate. As a company helping new arrivals settle in, they were aware of the difficulties vegetarians often have to face to maintain their nutritional lifestyles in new cities. Nestpick, therefore, wanted to identify which cities cater best to this group by analyzing the cost of being a vegetarian in each location, as well as comparing the availability of vegetarian-specific restaurants and events.

How the study was conducted:

The study began by considering over 200 global cities, across all continents, that are popular for relocation and have a good reputation with vegetarians. Cities were removed where comparable data could not be obtained, resulting in an index of 75 of the most vegetarian-friendly cities. Nestpick then considered which factors are most important for vegetarians to live a happy and healthy life.

The first factor they assessed was the affordability of maintaining a balanced vegetarian diet in each city. To do this, they looked into the price of fruits, vegetables, and plant-based protein products, factoring in purchase parity and relative affordability for local residents. They then considered the cost of eating out, calculating the number of affordable vegetarian-friendly restaurants in every city as a share of all restaurants.

Next, the study turned to the robustness of the vegetarian ecosystem in each city. For this, they looked at the availability and quality of vegetarian-friendly restaurants, including the total number per population and average rank of the top 10 vegetarian-friendly restaurants in every city. Restaurants were hit particularly hard during the pandemic, but the study was still able to assess the number and quality of each city’s offerings as key indicators. They also calculated the percentage of all restaurants which are vegetarian-friendly and vegan-friendly. Finally, they studied the number of vegetarian events and festivals in each location as markers of how active and established the vegetarian community is.

The total score takes into consideration all of these data points to determine which cities best facilitate a vegetarian lifestyle.

Findings:

The table below reveals a sample of results for the top 10 cities with the highest scores out of the 75 cities in the index. All scores are out of 100, with 100 being the highest possible score, and 10 being the lowest.

Note: A total score of 100 does not mean a city is perfect for a particular factor and therefore has no room for improvement, but rather means that that city is the best in this factor in comparison to the other 74 cities included.

The Top 10 Cities for Vegetarians

City

1. London

2. Berlin

3. Munich

4. Vienna

5. Glasgow

6. Zurich

7. Palma de Mallorca

8. Los Angeles

9. Bristol

10. San Francisco

Score

100.00

98.79

97.16

97.00

96.84

96.80

96.75

96.60

96.40

96.21

Ubud ranks 67 out of 75

N.B. This is a sample of the full results, which you can find here: https://www.nestpick.com/vegetarian-cities-index/

The tables below reveal a sample of results for the cities with the best-combined score for their top 10 vegetarian restaurants (average rank) and those with the highest number of vegetarian-friendly restaurants:

Average Rank of Top 10 Vegetarian Restaurants		Number of Vegetarian-Friendly Restaurants
City 1. Taipei 2. Detroit 3. Tokyo 4. Auckland 5. Gothenburg 6. Cape Town 7. Oklahoma City 8. Vienna 9. Johannesburg 10. Chennai	Score 100.0 96.44 94.84 93.60 93.42 92.71 90.57 90.40 90.40 89.86	City 1. London 2. Rome 3. Ubud 4. Amsterdam 5. Berlin 6. Milan 7. Edinburgh 8. Paris 9. Barcelona 10. Dubai	Score 100.0 98.81 98.80 97.27 96.72 96.56 96.38 96.06 95.96 95.37
Ubud ranks 57 out of 75		Ubud ranks 3 out of 75

The following tables represent the most affordable cities in terms of local fruit and vegetable prices, and local plant-based protein products, both expressed as a percentage deviation from the study median. All percentages factor in purchase parity and relative affordability for local residents:

Fruit and Vegetable Price Local Affordability (Average % Deviation)		Protein Price Local Affordability (Average % Deviation)
City 1. Ghent 2. Tel Aviv 3. Edinburgh 4. Barcelona 5. Palma de Mallorca 6. Glasgow 7. Manchester 8. Houston 9. Madrid 10. Dallas	% -35.30 -34.94 -31.44 -27.35 -26.95 -23.01 -22.60 -20.76 -20.53 -19.87	City 1. Denver 2. Detroit 3. Houston 4. Tel Aviv 5. Melbourne 6. Sydney 7. Los Angeles 8. Ghent 9. Boston 10. Minneapolis	% -37.22 -36.03 -35.78 -34.08 -29.60 -28.91 -28.41 -26.06 -24.63 -24.16
Ubud ranks 75 out of 75		Ubud ranks 75 out of 75

The tables below reveal a sample of results for the cities with the highest percentage of vegetarian-friendly and vegan-friendly restaurants. Both datasets are taken as a percentage of the total restaurants in each city:

Vegetarian-Friendly Restaurants (% of All Restaurants)		Vegan-Friendly Restaurants (% of All Restaurants)
City 1. Edinburgh 2. Munich 3. Ubud 4. Zurich 5. Amsterdam 6. Bristol 7. Vienna 8. Glasgow 9. Hamburg 10. Ghent	% 50.32 49.90 48.46 48.44 43.52 43.18 42.30 40.72 40.16 39.73	City 1. Ubud 2. Edinburgh 3. Bristol 4. Glasgow 5. Tel Aviv 6. Wellington 7. Dublin 8. Manchester 9. Amsterdam 10. London	% 38.40 33.46 26.79 25.47 24.34 24.21 22.03 21.58 21.52 19.56
Ubud ranks 3 out of 75		Ubud ranks 1 out of 75

The tables below reveal a sample of results for the cities with the highest number of affordable restaurants as a share of all vegetarian restaurants, and the number of vegetarian- and vegan-themed events and festivals, adjusted for population in each city:

Vegetarian Restaurant Price Level		Vegetarian Events and Festivals
City 1. Chiang Mai 2. Ubud 3. Bangkok 4. Istanbul 5. Prague 6. Buenos Aires 7. Warsaw 8. São Paulo 9. Bogota 10. Cape Town	Score 100.0 99.37 97.69 97.30 96.71 96.51 96.43 96.20 96.11 96.06	City 1. London 2. New York 3. Chicago 4. Los Angeles 5. Atlanta 6. Paris 7. Seattle 8. Berlin 9. Barcelona 10. Toronto	Score 100.0 97.83 95.97 95.56 95.26 94.44 94.30 94.23 93.68 93.56
Ubud ranks 2 out of 75		Ubud ranks 44 out of 75

The raw data for each category can be provided upon request.

Further findings by City:

● London has the highest vegetarian-friendly restaurant score (100), meaning it has the most vegetarian-friendly restaurants, followed by Rome (98.81) and Ubud (98.80).

● Taipei ranks best for the average rating of its top 10 vegetarian restaurants (100), meaning that it has the most highly-rated restaurants, followed by Detroit (96.44) and Tokyo (94.84).

● Ghent has the most affordable fruit and vegetable prices adjusted for local purchasing power (-35.30%), ahead of Tel Aviv (-34.94%) and Edinburgh (-31.44%).

● Denver has the most affordable plant-based protein products adjusted for local purchasing power (-37.22%), followed by Detroit (-36.03%) and Houston (-35.78%).

● Chiang Mai has the highest affordable vegetarian restaurants score (100), ahead of Ubud (99.37) and Bangkok (97.69).

● Edinburgh has the highest percentage of vegetarian-friendly restaurants (50.32%), followed by Munich (49.90%) and Ubud (48.46%).

● London has the highest score for vegetarian events and festivals (100), ahead of New York (97.83) and Chicago (95.97).

Quotes

“With more and more people looking to reduce their meat consumption, cities must cater to these needs with diverse vegetarian offerings if they want to attract young talent, particularly Millennials, Gen Z, and the even younger generations to come,” comments Omer Kucukdere, Founder and CEO at Nestpick. “We hope that this index can inspire vegetarians looking to move abroad to pick the right city for their needs, or even offer travel destination ideas for those searching for the best plant-based gastronomic spots. While there are undoubtedly countless cities that are incredible for vegetarians around the world which do not feature in this index due to a lack of available data, we believe that this shortlist offers an excellent springboard for vegetarians looking to move abroad.”

“For many vegetarians, it can be a challenge to maintain a balanced diet, something that has grown in importance during the pandemic,” comments Omer Kucukdere, Founder and CEO at Nestpick. “Access to essential food groups, including affordable basics such as fruits and vegetables as well as plant-based proteins, is therefore vitally important. We conducted this study to shine a light on the cities where vegetarians are able to sustain a meat-free lifestyle and access the important resources they need, without having to go well beyond their budgets.”

“People are increasingly looking at ways to make their lifestyles more sustainable for a multitude of reasons, not least climate change and animal welfare,” comments Omer Kucukdere, Founder and CEO at Nestpick. “It is widely agreed that one of the most effective ways someone can achieve this is to cut down on the amount of meat they consume. The rise of vegetarianism, and flexitarianism, is an irreversible trend that will continue to embed itself in the cultural fabric of cities in the form of restaurants, cafes, and events specializing in these offerings. Our study shows which cities are leading the pack and are therefore the most attractive propositions for vegetarians looking to relocate.”

“In years gone by, being a vegetarian meant limiting your options and sacrificing quality when eating out. The rise of vegetarianism has changed that,” comments Omer Kucukdere, Founder and CEO at Nestpick. “As our study highlights, there has been a significant emergence of high-quality vegetarian-friendly restaurants in cities around the world. Gone are the days of only having one or two options on a menu to choose from; vegetarians now have far greater choices when eating in restaurants and cafes.”