The plant-based revolution
Veganism has rocketed in the UK over the past couple of years – from an estimated half a million people in 2016 to more than 3.5 million" screamed The Guardian newspaper last year. They based their headline on Compare the Market research that claimed 7% of the UK population is vegan. But the survey of two thousand adults was fundamentally flawed.
The question asked was: “Which of the following have you done or are considering doing to help reduce your impact on the planet?” This was followed by a list of options, which included “becoming vegan”. 7% of respondents selected “I have done this” for the vegan option. But it's a rather open-ended question and doesn't actually tell us how many are strict vegans in 2019.
For example, you could become vegan for a month as part of Veganuary or go for meat-free Mondays each week. This means you could reasonably answer that you had become vegan, even though you are currently tucking into a bacon sandwich. The July 2018 National Survey (SSI) shows the number of vegans in the UK at 0.4% of the population not 7% and the Vegan Society broadly agrees.
So, the true number of strict vegans could be dismissed as a consumer base that is not worthy of attention for innovators. The recent research from Great British Chefs entitled 2019, A Year Of Change gives much more insight. It aims to understand the behaviours and beliefs of consumers trying to follow more of a plant-based diet. A category they describe as "Committed Foodies" who surely are the key audience for independent small companies, are vanguards in this change. 66% of them claim to be trying to adopt a more plant-based/vegetarian diet with 42% saying they are not vegan, but often eat vegan dishes.
This insight is critical, in that while many of these consumers would happily buy fish or dairy on some days, they will go for vegan products, recipes or dishes regularly. Yet often they are poorly served on menus or can only find vegan options in one tiny section of a retail outlet. The plain fact is that they are looking for interesting and tasty vegan options, while not considering themselves vegan at all and they don't have much choice.
The marketing departments of the big brands and supermarkets are following the 'absolute' vegan statistics and not understanding the flexitarian approach. The inescapable reality is that the plant revolution is gaining pace and the core customers of independent retailers, supermarkets and restaurants are happy to eat vegan dishes, even if the number of strict vegans remains small.
For new product developers this trend presents clear opportunities for growth and some pitfalls too. Veg boxes have failed to find a way to capitalise on this trend, with purchases remaining stubbornly flat (5% purchasing regularly and 9% occasionally) despite continued investment from the leading brands such as Riverford and Abel and Cole. On the other hand, grains, rice, oats and seeds are benefiting.
Although there have been some high-profile acquisitions in the market such as the takeover of The Vegetarian Butcher by Unilever and the launch of well-funded brands such as Beyond Meat, supermarkets poorly serve the vegetarian, and particularly the vegan, market, because they completely misunderstand the profile of consumers who are happy to dip in and out of being vegan or vegetarian. Consequently, this presents significant gaps in the food production and food service markets and hands a real advantage to small companies who understand this buying behaviour and can move quickly.
To download the 2019 'foodie' research for free from Great British Chefs visit their website and click on the "insight" link.
Sue Nelson
