UK supermarket Waitrose & Partners has seen an 85 per cent increase in the sales of vegetarian and vegan food, following the retailer’s bigger range of vegan and vegetarian brands.
In June, they announced a 34 per cent rise in sales of these products, but only four months on, this has drastically increased to 85 per cent.
Chloe Graves, vegan and vegetarian food buyer for Waitrose & Partners, said: “The growing appetite for meat-free dishes has been reflected throughout the year with rising sales of vegan and vegetarian products, as well as the introduction of exciting and delicious new products to the food market.”
Waitrose recently launched their own range of products catering to the growing vegan market, which included vegan pizzas, paella, carbonara and macaroni cheese.
Speaking about the new range, Graves added: “The innovative dishes include complete meals for a quick and easy dinner, as well as staple side dishes, each proving that a vegan or veggie meal doesn’t have to compromise on flavour.”
A recent study by research and training charity IGD found that more than half of UK shoppers are interested in following a vegan diet, or have shown interest in vegetarian or flexitarian diets.
Younger generations are noted as having a higher number of people removing animal products from their diet, with two out of three reducing meat and animal products.