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Sales of plant-based meat have skyrocketed by 264 percent amid the coronavirus (Covid-19) lockdown.
According to Nielsen data*, the largest spike in grocery food sales were meat-free alternatives from companies including Beyond Meat and Tofurky.
Bloomberg has linked this trend to the meat shortages in the US that have been caused by the pandemic.
Plant-based foods
Other plant-based foods had also seen a staggering increase, including dried beans (140 percent), kidney beans (102 percent), and chickpeas (91 percent).
Canned meat had also seen a spike of 104 percent – while food sales for vegetable platters, cupcakes, and sushi have all decreased.
‘A little vegan’
American politician Marco Antonio Rubio recently announced American’s ‘will have to go a little vegan’ due to meat shortages.
Speaking to Fox News about the tightening of the country’s food supply, the Senator for Florida said: “Unlike other supply chain issues, this has nothing to do with anyone overseas.
“This has to do with how many people can you make work inside one of these processing plants — they’re all very close to each other and there’s a public health risk.
“So there’s been disruptions there. I know people are working hard to get that resolved. In the meantime, I guess we’ll have to go a little vegan, right?”
*The data comes from a nine-week period ending on May 2, and was first seen on The Wall Street Journal