Community
Print
Online searches for vegan bacon have skyrocketed by a staggering 759 percent this year at Waitrose, according to reports.
The upmarket retailer has seen sales of its plant-based food and drink range surge by 30 percent year-on-year, with vegan mince and balls up 150 percent and oat milk sales up by 113 percent.
Vegan at Waitrose
According to the supermarket’s vegan buyer, Charlotte McCarthy, the coronavirus pandemic has seen changes in consumer buying patterns.
She told The Telegraph: “In recent months we’ve seen that customers have become more adventurous thanks to spending more time at home.
“Vegan ingredients have been leading the way in the last few months.”
Vegan at Tesco
Waitrose is not the only supermarket seeing huge demand for plant-based products: earlier this Summer, a Tesco spokesperson branded the growth of demand for vegan food products ‘astounding’ – and said it is likely to continue.
Tesco’s plant-based buying manager made the comments in a statement sent to Plant Based News about the launch of THIS™ plant-based bacon and chicken in 744 of its stores.
‘Astounding’
“We’re really excited to be launching THIS™. We know that taste and product quality are the primary drivers for our meat-free customers, as well as the growing concern around health,” they said.
“These are all qualities that the THIS™ range offer and it will be exciting to see how they resonate with our consumers. I’ve noticed the demand for plant-based innovation is growing at a rapid pace, with more and more interest coming from the flexitarians (or accidental reducers).
“The demand has grown at an astounding rate and will most likely continue as more and more consumers become environmentally and health-conscious.”
