VEGANUARY
To mark Veganuary, sausage stand operator Mike Lanner is switching the range to completely meat-free at his two locations throughout January. “It’s an experiment,” Lanner said.
So far, the reactions have been mixed – from gasps to encouragement, Lanner said on Friday. Every year at Veganuary, people around the world are motivated to live vegan for a month in January. Lanner considers the fact that this is currently being implemented at a sausage stand to be an exciting experiment. “The Viennese are curious, they come to try things out,” the operator believed. And ultimately, a sausage is “a stuffed skin – nothing more. And there can also be mushrooms and vegetables in it,” says Lanner.
The operator also wants to show that vegan food at the sausage stand can be just as good as Käsekrainer and bratwurst. Even before Veganuary, the range at its locations was 60 percent plant-based, and the meat came exclusively from organic farms. Accordingly, an extension after January 31st is “conceivable”.
Vegan “Southern Style Fried Chicken”
If you want to try it: Vegetable “Currywurst”, “Southern Style Fried Chicken”, “Kopenhagen Dog” or “Original Bosna” are available throughout January at the sausage stands in Pfeilgasse in Josefstadt and in the Spittelau U4 station. Lanner is so confident in the taste of his products that there is even a money-back guarantee.
Of course, there was support from organizations that promote a vegan lifestyle. “We have been observing for years that meat consumption is declining,” said Felix Hnat from the Vegan Society of Austria. The sausage stand is now “the culinary highlight of Veganuary 2026”. Martin Balluch from the Association Against Animal Factories spoke of a “courageous step in the right direction”.
“Why do you pretend it’s meat?”
Veganuary is not well received by other sausage stand operators. “If something doesn’t want to be meat, why do you pretend it is meat?” asked Sepp Bitzinger, who, among other things, runs the sausage stand at the Albertina. The vegan products are also highly industrialized and are no substitute for meat in terms of health. Bitzinger also emphasized that Austrians should generally eat less meat.
