Cosmetics retail giant held its national conference in Liverpool’s Baltic Triangle and hired the local events and catering business to keep its delegates well fed

Liverpool events and catering business Relish served 2,000 vegan meals in two days for cosmetics retailer Lush which held it annual conference in the city.

Lush, which operates more than 900 stores worldwide and recently opened a large outlet in Liverpool city centre, held its event at Camp and Furnace, Great Baltic Warehouse, Hinterlands and Constellations.

In wha was the largest vegan food event outside of London, Relish served plant-based meals including vegan burgers, healthy buddha bowls, curry and jackfruit sloppy joes. Those guests with a sweet tooth were provided with 100% vegan chocolate brownies throughout the day.

Lush has built a cult following due to its bath bombs and other cosmetic, skincare and make-up products. The company is famously against animal testing and has a strict policy of making sure that every single product is suitable for both vegetarians and vegans.

Relish started in 2010 as a sandwich shop and since then, managing director, Chris Foulkes has seen the company grow significantly. As well as corporate events, Relish also caters for private parties, weddings and has worked with a host of well-known names including Everton FC, the BBC and Audi.

Mr Foulkes said: “We believe that vegan food can stand on its own and should not be thought of as a special dietary requirement. This is a stance we’ve had for quite some time and it is fantastic to see that a well-known name like Lush agrees with us.

“As awareness and the popularity of veganism has risen over the years, as has our vegan offering. We’re really happy to say that now more than ever, we’re asked to include vegan options at large events and we’re certain that 100% vegan menus will continue to be seen as viable option.”

Demand for vegan food, which doesn’t include any meat, fish, dairy or eggs, is growing rapidly. Over the past four years alone, the number of vegans in the UK has increased from 150,000 to 600,000.

Sophie Walker, events manager at Lush, added: “We had complex set of requirements that we asked our catering partner to fulfil, the most important being that we wanted 100% vegan food that was even better than the meat-based alternative. Thankfully, Relish were completely on board with this and exceeded our expectations.”