M&S Confirms Major Changes To Plant Kitchen Range

Marks & Spencer (M&S) has been a go-to for many UK vegans since it launched its hugely popular Plant Kitchen line in 2019. The extensive range features a variety of plant-based products from salt “beef” bagels to its famous No Turkey sandwich.

Plant Kitchen is recognizable for its blue packaging. It also tends to have an entire section of its own in store. But M&S has now confirmed some major changes to the line for the first time since its inception, with a spokesperson confirming to Plant Based News (PBN) that the brand is working on a “big project” to relaunch it. “We are in process of changing their [the products’] design, upgrading the product quality, launching some key new lines while removing a few others and changing their position in store.”

Here’s everything you need to know about the changes to expect at Plant Kitchen.

Plant Kitchen branding and product changes

A selection of Plant Kitchen vegan lasagnes on a shelf at M&S — Ed Rooney / Alamy Stock Photo M&S offers a wide range of vegan products in its Plant Kitchen line

The Plant Kitchen range is about to look very different. Many of the products will no longer be blue, and they won’t have prominent Plant Kitchen branding. Instead, some have been adapted to look more in line with non-vegan M&S products, with just a small Plant Kitchen stamp in the corner.

M&S is also changing some of the products themselves. In line with brands like Beyond Meat and Heura, Plant Kitchen is adapting to embrace more vegetable-based ingredients in place of vegan meats. “Our previous Plant Kitchen Sweet and Sour No Chicken dish has been upgraded so rather than meat alternative battered chicken balls, we have changed this to battered cauliflower, upgraded the sweet & sour sauce, and it comes with tofu fried rice,” the spokesperson told PBN.

The Plant Kitchen pizza line has also changed. M&S now offers just one plant-based pizza, the Plant Kitchen BBQ Veggie Pizza, which comes loaded with vegetables, BBQ sauce, and a wood-fired base. This pizza will be available in the Pizza Dine-In deal alongside a vegan side dish. This is the first time fully vegan options have been available in this deal. As well as the pizza and the cauliflower, the other new product added to the line is a mushroom bolognese.

Other changes to Plant Kitchen

M&S is following in the footsteps of a number of other stores, including Tesco, in changing the location of its plant-based products. Plant Kitchen will no longer have its own section. Instead, each product will sit by its meat or dairy counterpart. “So, for example the Plant Kitchen No Beef Steak Pie will no longer be in a dedicated Plant Kitchen area, and instead will sit with all the other chilled pies in store,” the spokesperson said. “This is to support customers who are looking to reduce meat in their diet and try meat alternative products, by showing them our great vegan products on offer.”

Stores are increasingly opting to move vegan items alongside animal products to increase their sales among meat-eaters. The thought behind this is that meat-eaters who otherwise wouldn’t visit the vegan aisle could be tempted to choose them.

Such a move has previously been supported by the likes of Derek Sarno, the ex-head of Tesco’s line Wicked Kitchen. “As a vegan myself, I am a firm believer that placing options in front of where meat-eaters shop will open the door,” Sarno previously explained. “Most meat-eaters wouldn’t go to a plant-based aisle, therefore, we’ll bring it to them.” Lidl, which made a similar move, recently found that its sales of vegan alternatives increased by seven percent since their location changed.

Not everyone supports moving vegan products to be near to meat, however. A poll conducted by PBN earlier this year found that 72 percent of our readers prefer vegan products to have their own aisle. Some vegans dislike seeing or being near meat, and plant-based products can also be harder to find when they don’t have their own section.

The Plant Kitchen changes are rolling out in M&S stores now.