Business and food sales

In 2022, a report by The Vegan Society titled Vegan Vehicles: The Future of Cars found that 70% of UK drivers said they were either "interested" or "very interested" in purchasing a car that is proven to be entirely animal-free, while 75% want to see the removal of animal products from cars and other vehicles. Source
In 2022, a report by The Vegan Society titled Vegan Animal Care Report: Consumer Motivations, Barriers and Market Potential found that nearly half of those in the UK living with cats or dogs would be interested in purchasing vegan food for their animal companions. Source
In 2021, the highly anticipated National Food Strategy for England stated that "Developing and manufacturing alternative proteins in the UK, rather than importing them, would create around 10,000 new factory jobs and secure 6,500 jobs in farming (to produce protein crops and other inputs)." Source [p. 125]
A 2021 report by Bloomberg predicted that the global plant-based alternatives market could grow to $162 billion in the next decade, from $29.4 billion in 2020 (7.7% of the global market). There are a huge number of statistics available within the report: Source
According to a 2020 study by MarketsandMarkets™, the plant-based meat market will be worth a whopping $8.3 billion by the year 2025. Source
The meat-free and plant-based dairy categories have, in essence doubled in size over the past five years and are now worth just under £600m each [Kantar 52 w/e 4 Dec 2016 vs 29 Nov 2020]. Source
Meat substitute sales grew by 451% in the European market in the four years to February 2018. Source
Vegan alternative seafood retail sales in the United States grew by 23%, from $10 million in 2019 to $12 million in 2020. There is much more information about this topic in the Alternative Seafood report by the Good Food Institute. Source
In 2019, nearly one in four products launched in the UK carried a vegan claim. In 2018, this figure was one in six. Sources: [1], [2]
Vegan and plant-based foods are the fastest-growing category of foods that people are ordering, according to leading food-delivery companies in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. Source
Research by Kantar found that, in 2018, a staggering 92% of plant-based meals consumed in the UK were eaten by non-vegans. Source
Scotland: Sales of plant milk hit £367 million in the UK in 2017 and a farming expert called this an opportunity for Scotland to use its wonderful oats and pure water to produce oat milk. Source
Europe: It is predicted that meat and dairy alternatives will be worth €7.5bn in Europe (including the UK) in 2025, up from €4.4bn in 2019. Source
Europe: extensive information regarding sales data for plant-based products in Europe is available in Plant-based Foods in Europe: How Big is the Market? by the Smart Protein Project. Source
Worldwide: The global vegan chocolate market size is expected to reach $1.41 billion by 2028, registering a compound annual growth rate of 14.8% over the forecast period. Source.

Supermarkets

According to data from Kantar, as of August 2022, 7% of UK households are buying plant-based cheese alternatives with the entire market worth £40.2m. Source
In 2021, The Vegan Kind listed 1,591 new vegan products over the previous year, dispatched over 250,000 parcels, and shipped over 3,100,000 vegan products. Source
In 2021, The Grocer reported 566 new vegan products were launched into retail for Veganuary that year. Source
The Grocer has reported that between September 2020 and September 2021, sales of plant-based fish hit £5.1 million in the UK, up from £2 million in 2017. Source
The Grocer has reported that between August 2020 and August 2021, sales of oat milk grew by 49.9% in the UK to £146.8 million. Source
Vegan food and drink brands outsell own-label lines by more than three to one, according to Kantar [52 w/e 8 August 2021]. Source
The Grocer has reported that the availability of vegan ready meals in UK supermarkets increased by 92% between 2018 and 2021. Source
In 2021, a report by Eating Better found that one in five ready meals are now plant-based or vegetarian. Plus, plant-based and vegetarian ready meals are now the cheapest ready meal options at most retailers. Source
The 2021 Eating Better report also found that four UK supermarkets have greatly increased their plant-based range – Aldi by 175% (now a quarter of its ready meals range) and Tesco by 103%, while the Co-op and Morrisons are both up by more than 60%. Source
In January 2021, Asda supermarket trialled a fully vegan butchers counter at its Watford store with a range of plant-based meat products on offer. Source
In 2020, a report by Eating Better found that 16% of ready meals in the UK were plant-based, rising from just 3% in 2018. Source
The line of 20 Wicked Kitchen vegan meals was rolled out at 600 Tesco stores at the start of 2018 and sold more than 2.5 million units in the first 20-week period ending in May 2018 — more than double the company’s sales projections. Source
In June 2018, Waitrose launched dedicated vegan sections in more than 130 stores after increasing its vegan and vegetarian product range by 60%. Source
Online grocer Ocado enjoyed a staggering 1,678% increase in sales within its 'vegan' category between 2015 and 2016. In 2020, nearly 30% of their ready meals were plant-based. Sources: [1], [2]
Between 2018 and 2020, Aldi, Morrisons and Asda have more than doubled their plant-based and vegetarian ready-meals offer as a proportion of their range. Source
Demand for vegan and vegetarian ready meals and snacks at Tesco grew by 40% from 2016 to 2017. Source
Sainsbury’s sales of its vegan cheeses surpassed the company’s predictions by 300%. Sources: [1], [2]
Sainsbury’s saw a 24% increase in customers searching for vegan products online and a 65% increase in sales of plant-based products year-on-year. Source
Scotland: Demand for vegan haggis at Tesco in Scotland skyrocketed by 120% in 2018. Source

Foodservice

In 2022, research by Lumina Intelligence found that 57% of starter options, 33% of main options and 62% of side options on pub and bar menus were labelled as vegan. Source
In April 2022, consumer research by Meatless Farm and Brakes revealed 39% of Brits want restaurants to offer more vegan food. Source
In January 2022, Burger King became the first fast-food chain in the UK to launch vegan chicken nuggets. Source
As of November 2021, Deliveroo had over 14,000 vegan and vegan-friendly restaurants available to order from its app. Source
As of October 2021, Wagamama's menu is now 50% plant-based. Source
In March 2021, Burger King UK CEO Alasdair Murdoch announced the fast-food chain plans to incorporate its menu with at least 50% plant-based options by 2031. Source
For Veganuary 2021, 259 new vegan menus were added to chain restaurants. Source
Between November 2020 and November 2021, Deliveroo reported a 105% surge in orders of entirely vegan dishes. Brighton, Bristol, and Leeds order the most vegan food as a proportion of their total orders. Source
Between January 2020 and 2021, Deliveroo revealed its vegan takeaway orders shot up by 163%. Source
Veggie Pret was turning over a 70% profit increase within its first two weeks of operation, despite predictions that they would drop by up to 30%. Source

Hospitality and retail

In 2020 The Tofoo Co. Ltd's turnover was £14.7 million, an 89% year-on-year increase and a significant contrast to its first year of trading in 2016, which was just £600,000.
Adverts for vegan job roles increased by 123% in 2018. Source
Scotland: There were over 100 vegan businesses in Scotland in 2019, up from just a handful in 2012–13. Source
Waterstones has over 10,000 book titles with the word 'vegan' in them available for sale (as of January 2022) compared to 944 in August 2018. Source

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Supermarkets

Foodservice

Hospitality and retail

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