You may remember us mentioning the vegan boom, oh, once or twice? With Veganuary 2020 just around the corner, it seemed like a good time to check in on how supermarkets are responding to this unstoppable trend.
The figures.
One sixth of British shoppers are said to be following, or interested in following, a vegan diet, with ethical, health and environmental concerns said to be the main reasons behind their choice.*
Interest in vegetarian and vegan products shows no sign of slowing down, as retail sales are expected to increase to £658m by 2021 – up from £572m in 2017.
This year a whopping 250,000 people signed up to take part in ‘Veganuary’ – where people eat a plant-based diet for the month of January. Many more are assumed to have taken part on an informal basis. These sign-up figures made Veganuary 2019 the biggest one to date, exceeding the previous four year’s pledges combined.
The retailers.
With this in mind, Britain’s supermarkets have had to adapt and look at how to make the most of this growing demand.
In the lead-up to Veganuary 2019, Sainsbury’s launched 25 new vegan products, Greggs introduced its famous vegan sausage roll, M&S started its first range of vegan food, ‘Plant Kitchen’, aiming to make vegan food exciting with products including comfort food like Cauliflower Popcorn and Cashew Macaroni, and Co-op added to its varieties of vegan wine.
This year, Aldi launched a new range of vegan food this September, and Tesco has unveiled a range of plant-based ‘centrepieces’, including a Butternut, Mushroom and Chestnut wreath, in time for Christmas.
We expect to see even more of an emphasis on vegan products in supermarkets this January and can’t wait to see what they have up their (ethically sourced cotton) sleeves!
*Veganuary 2019: new product launches, IGD.com
**Veganism: Why is it on the up? BBC website, June 2018
