After last month saw the most successful ‘Veganuary‘ campaign to date, UK supermarkets have found vegan food sales skyrocketing. This surge in plant-based food sales is expected to continue for the foreseeable future.
According to The Vegan Society, half of all UK adults have shown ‘vegan-buying behavior’, with full-time UK vegans increasing four-fold within the past decade.
Waitrose alone reported strong January sales, especially meat-free haggis for the traditionally meat-heavy Burns Night celebration. Furthermore, vegan-friendly haggis rose by 36% last month and sales of a gluten-free haggis variant skyrocketed by 151%, in comparison to last year.
The Guardian reported vegan ready-meals account for double the sales of just vegetarian ready-meals. Most, if not all supermarkets in the UK (and likely across the world) intend to expand their range of vegan food, catching onto the rapidly growing demand. Wicked Kitchen’s selection of 20 plant-based wraps, sandwiches, ready-to-eat meals, and salads was introduced to 600 Tesco stores this year, selling out almost immediately.
Derek Sarno, the former executive chef for Whole Foods Market and co-founder of Wicked Healthy said, “[w]e’ve only just begun and over this next year, we’ll be developing foods and expanding the menu offering. We’ll be keeping seasonal ingredients in mind and listening to customers’ wants and need.”
Earlier this year Ocado became the UK’s largest supplier of vegan food, after adding 100 new vegan items to shelves. And even Coca-Cola is getting in on the plant-based game, set to launch a vegan smoothie range across the UK soon, showing that large companies can listen to the increasing consumer demand for vegan food and make changes to accommodate the marketplace majority.
