Vegan Christmas dinners are becoming a popular choice, following the drastic increase in people following plant-based diets. The information has come from Tesco, following the release of their Christmas report.
According to Tesco, 18 per cent of hosts will be preparing food for guests following a meat-free diet, and twice as many people will be eating a meat-free meal than goose, a traditional Christmas dinner component.
Speaking about the increased vegan options at Christmas, Dominika Piasecka from The Vegan Society commented: “With all the wonderful products on the market and amazing recipes out there, it’s easier than ever to create a vegan Christmas meal that bears resemblance to the ones people remember from childhood – the only difference being that no animals are harmed.”
However, turkey remains the favoured centrepiece dish, with 64 per cent of Brits eating the bird this year.
Soft drinks are taking the top spot over alcohol, and 14 per cent of adults are having an alcohol-free Christmas this year, as younger people steer away from alcoholic drinks. 18 per cent of 18-24 year olds are going to be teetotal over the festive period, and 11 per cent of people over the age of 55 will be ditching the drink.
The poll conducted by Tesco has found that 66 per cent of people still include Brussels sprouts in their Christmas dinner, but carrots remain the festive meal must-have, with 71 per cent of people including them in their meal.
The supermarket’s Christmas report also notes that pets are being included in the festive celebrations, revealing that 640,000 pet Christmas dinners were purchased last year, compared to 638,000 turkeys.
Drawing attention to this, the retailer is stocking ‘mince pies’ for dogs, following the 85 per cent of dog owners that said they would be buying their pet a present this year.