With the growing number of consumers following a vegan, vegetarian or flexitarian diet we’ve delved into the stats to bring you 14 facts to help decide upon your vegan and veggie menu offerings.
First a look at the history of vegan and vegetarian food in the UK and the predictions for the future:
• 1847: The Vegetarian Society was established
• 1961: The first Cranks opened at 22 Carnaby Street, London pioneering vegetarian food in the UK
• 2014: UK registered charity Veganuary launched to encourage people worldwide to try veganism
• 2014-2017: The share of products featuring vegan or no animal products nearly doubled
• 2018: According to a Compare the Market survey, there were 3.5 million vegans in the UK
• 2023: Value sales of the meat-free market are forecast to increase by 44% or £1.1 billion by 2023
• 2029: Barclays estimate that the market for alternative meat could grow by 1,000% over the next 10 years - reaching $140 billion by 2029
Why are people giving up meat?
Vegan food has been the rising trend of the decade and it shows no signs of slowing, here are the top three perceived benefits of eating less meat:
• Improving health (32%)
• Saving money (31%)
• Better for the environment (25%)
It's not just vegans and vegetarians who are eating more plant based dishes, meet the flexitarians.
Recently christened as 'flexitarians', those who are actively seeking to cut down on their meat intake also seriously consider meat-free alternatives from restaurants. Factors, mentioned above, are prompting meat lovers to down their bacon and burgers in favour of imitation or simply veggie dishes in order to improve health or save the world. These numbers add up and present great opportunities for foodservice outlets to appeal to new customers.
One in three consumers now identify as a flexitarian and are actively reducing their meat consumption.
Brits aged between 25 – 34 are the most likely to have reduced their meat consumption in the last year.
CREST data shows that 5% of all out-of-home food purchases are now plant based – this equates to 622 million visits.
These findings come through our full 2020 Food Trends report which is available to download by visiting www.aviko.co.uk.
