The market for plant-based food as shrunk almost £38million as analysts say meat-free firms are in a ‘rut’.
Industry experts believe that a struggling economy mixed with a saturated market has seen sales of meat-free products fall dramatically.
It’s not just the small businesses that are struggling as three major companies in Quorn, Linda McCartney’s and Birds Eye Green Cuisine top the list in the biggest fall in losses.
Quorn’s value loss is down £16.5m after shifting two million fewer kilos in a 9.5% drop, according to research published by The Grocer.
While Linda McCarthy has seen a £8.7m reduction in sales, down by 17.6%, as Birds Eye Green Cuisine’s value has shrunk by £3.1m in a 27.3% drop.
Bakery Greggs has also seen its sales down by 23.7 per cent causing a £700,000 downturn in profits across its vegan products.
Gill Riley, consumer director at Quorn Foods told the publication that she is ‘very confident’ that the meat alternatives sector will ‘return to growth over the next couple of years and market predictions reinforce this’.
She said: ‘Sustainability and health influences will become even more prevalent in purchase decisions, and financial pressures will hopefully ease for many shoppers as Inflation decreases and people settle into new habits of spending.’
Across the top 25 meat-free companies, the fall in sales equalled £37.9m but there are some that are bucking the trend.
The Tofoo Co has seen its sales grow 18.7% with a £4.6m upturn while This has increased it’s revenues by 32.7% in a £5.3m growth in sales.
It comes after the interest in a plant-based diet soared in recent years, with vegans citing ethical, environmental or health reasons.
The exact numbers of vegans now in the UK is almost impossible to establish.
One recent survey suggested around 600,000 people are believed to be on a plant-based diet, while another in 2021 claimed that almost a third of Brits used alternative milks.
However, Helen Dewdney, also known as The Complaining Cow, previously told that many people are now abandoning veganism after realising that the lifestyle is much harder to maintain than initially thought.
She told : ‘I think many people thought it would be easier than it is to find alternatives and still have a varied diet.
‘Many are looking to just reduce their meat intake and become part-time vegetarians or vegans which in turn means that food outlets serving only a vegan menu are seeing fewer and fewer customers through the doors.’
‘The cost-of-living crisis is also having an effect, as consumers generally cut back on food, vegans are cutting back on faux meat products. Interestingly this is not just the UK and we are seeing this as a global trend.’
analysis of some of the most common vegan products in supermarkets and sold by fast food chains found that some were packed with calories, saturated fat and salt.
And dieticians say that the battle to create a plant-based burger or banger that tastes just like the real thing can see food producers pumping their products full of fat and salt.
Dr Duane Mellor, a dietitian at Aston Medical School in Birmingham, said that consumers believe vegan products are healthy but said it’s important to check the label and be aware that ‘just because something is plant-based does not mean it is healthy’.
‘Check for salt and remember unlike meat many vegan meat replacements do not contain the same levels of iron and vitamin B12 essential for health, keeping our blood cells and nerves working well,’ Dr Mellor added.
Last year, Meatless Farm — one of the UK’s leading faux-meat retailers — went into administration.
It sold £11million worth of plant-based mince, burgers and chicken in 2021 but struggled as demand for meat-free products slowed.
And in August, it was revealed that vegan brand Beyond Meat saw sales slump by almost a third as it struggled with the downfall in demand.
Earlier this year, the British fast-food chain, The Vurger Co, which used ingredients such as tempeh, soya and Beyond Meat to make its creations, confirmed it permanently closed its doors.
It joined the likes of Veggie Pret, with Pret A Manger announcing in February that its last three vegetarian-only stores would be converted into standard outlets that sold meat.
The move brought an end to the concept that was introduced eight years ago and is another sign that veganism’s popularity is dying out.
At its peak, there were 10 stores serving only vegetarian and vegan options across the UK which included salad bowls and falafel sandwiches.
In 2022, Pret closed three-quarters of their veggie-only stores as it said it was offering meat-free options at other sites and didn’t need the standalone outlets.
Neat Burger, backed by Leonardo DiCaprio and Lewis Hamilton, closed half of its London sites last December while a vegan restaurant in Cheshire has been forced to start serving meat because it has too few vegan customers
RESTAURANTS
NEAT BURGER
The Lewis Hamilton and Leonardo DiCaprio-backed synthetic meat restaurant group closed four of its eight UK burger venues in December.
The company axed stores in Liverpool Street, Canary Wharf, Oxford Street and Westfield Stratford after it saw losses expand by around 140 per cent in 2022.
V OR V
The restaurant on Cornish Street in Sheffield, which picked up numerous accolades since opening in 2019, announced it closure in November 2023.
HARMONIUM
In April 2023 the Edinburgh vegan bar and restaurant Harmonium shut after an ‘incredibly difficult period of trading.
VURGER
The Vurger Co vegan restaurant group appointed administrators after narrowly avoiding collapse in July 2023.
VGN BOULEVARD
The Stourbridge restaurant closed in 2022 due to financial strain.
PLANT HUSTLER
The restaurant in Boscombe made the decision to close in October 2022 after facing financial difficulties
VGN BOULEVARD
The restaurant on Coventry Street in Stourbridge had been voted one of the top 10 vegan restaurants in the country for its decadent take on vegan fast food. But it collapsed under financial pressure in September 2023 as a result of the Covid pandemic.
NOMAS GASTROBAR
The Macclesfield restaurant was forced to start serving meat in January 2024 because it had too few vegan customers.
DONNER SUMMER
The Sheffield restaurant closed in March 2023.
VAD’S
Takeaway that ‘paved the way for vegan junk food’ closed in July 2023.
FROST BURGER
Liverpool vegan burger restaurant closed in September 2022.
SEITANS CORNER
The top-rated Bristol-based restaurant announced its closure in October 2022. It had planned a refurbishment before making the ‘difficult decision to move on’.
V REV
One of Manchester’s first and most popular vegan eatery’s closed its doors in December 2022.
FOOD PRODUCTS
VBITES
Heather Mills’ vegan food company went into administration after being hit by rising costs, despite being one of the UK’s leading manufacturers of vegan food products.
VEGAN KIND
The Vegan Kind, the UK’s biggest online supermarket dedicated to plant-based products, ceased operations in November 2022 due to the cost of living crisis.
HECK
Yorkshire-based sausage company Heck cut its vegan range from ten products to two — burgers and sausage. Announcing the news, co-founder Jamie Keeble said that ‘the public wasn’t quite ready. At the end of the day we want to sell products that work on the shelves. These didn’t.’
PRET A MANGER
Pret closed all but two of its vegetarian and vegan-only stores, after admitting many customers don’t see themselves as ‘full-time veggies’.
INNOCENT
The drinks company has scrapped its dairy-free milk range after joking that just five people had brought the beverage.
TOFOO Co
The Tofoo Co — which sells a range of scrambled, smoked and crispy tofu — suffered a 42.9 per cent decrease in range volumes.
PLANT & BEAN
The Lincolnshire based vegan food manufacturing company went into administration in May 2023.
BEYOND MEAT
Beyond Meat, was one of the brightest starts of the alternative meat sector. But its revenue has been falling since last year with annual sales projected to fall to just $330million this year, compared with the 2021 high of $461million.
MEATLESS FARM
Meatless Farm has become the latest victim after the Leeds-based company made its 50-strong workforce redundant in August 2023 and collapsed into administration.
The firm was set up in 2016 and sold £11million worth of plant-based mince, burgers and chicken in 2021 – but has struggled as demand for meat-free products slowed.
It was later rescued by vegan frozen food company VFC.
OATLY
Oatly has withdrawn its dairy-free ice cream in Britain.
NESTLE
Nestle pulled two of its plant-based brands from shops in the UK due to a lack of demand.
The company also announced it was pulling its plant-based Garden Gourmet and Wunda brands from retail in the UK and Ireland in August 2023, following lacklustre sales.
THE VEGETARIAN BUTCHER
Unilever’s The Vegetarian Butcher was another big casualty, losing almost a third of its lines, while meat-free classics Quorn and Linda McCartney’s lines were down by 6.6 and 6.7 per cent respectively.