Please find below a selection of statistics about vegan businesses, vegan products and food sales.
Disclaimer: This is a collation of third party sources about topics connected to veganism. Some of the links are not to the original sources; we are sharing them to help journalists or researchers with their research and because they may form a helpful starting point.
General business statistics
- In 2022, a report by The Vegan Society titled Vegan Vehicles: The Future of Cars found that 70% of UK drivers said they were either "interested" or "very interested" in purchasing a car that is proven to be entirely animal-free, while 75% want to see the removal of animal products from cars and other vehicles. Source
- In 2022, a report by The Vegan Society titled Vegan Animal Care Report: Consumer Motivations, Barriers and Market Potential found that nearly half of those in the UK living with cats or dogs would be interested in purchasing vegan food for their animal companions. Source
- In 2021, the highly anticipated National Food Strategy for England stated that "Developing and manufacturing alternative proteins in the UK, rather than importing them, would create around 10,000 new factory jobs and secure 6,500 jobs in farming (to produce protein crops and other inputs)." Source [p. 125]
- A 2021 report by Bloomberg predicted that the global plant-based alternatives market could grow to $162 billion in the next decade, from $29.4 billion in 2020 (7.7% of the global market). There are a huge number of statistics available within the report: Source
- According to a 2020 study by MarketsandMarkets™, the plant-based meat market will be worth a whopping $8.3 billion by the year 2025. Source
- The meat-free and plant-based dairy categories have doubled in size over the past five years and are now worth just under £600m each [Kantar 52 w/e 4 Dec 2016 vs 29 Nov 2020]. Source
- Vegan alternative seafood retail sales in the United States grew by 23%, from $10 million in 2019 to $12 million in 2020. There is much more information about this topic in the Alternative Seafood report by the Good Food Institute. Source
- In 2019, nearly one in four products launched in the UK carried a vegan claim. In 2018, this figure was one in six. Sources: [1], [2]
- Vegan and plant-based foods are the fastest-growing category of foods that people are ordering, according to leading food-delivery companies in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. Source
- Research by Kantar found that, in 2018, a staggering 92% of plant-based meals consumed in the UK were eaten by non-vegans. Source
- Europe: It is predicted that meat and dairy alternatives will be worth €7.5bn in Europe (including the UK) in 2025, up from €4.4bn in 2019. Source
- Worldwide: The size of the global vegan chocolate market is expected to reach $1.41 billion by 2028, registering a compound annual growth rate of 14.8% over the forecast period. Source.
Supermarkets
- According to data from Kantar, as of August 2022, 7% of UK households are buying plant-based cheese alternatives with the entire market worth £40.2m. Source
- In January 2022, SPAR announced that 100% of it's wine range would be vegan. Source
- In 2021, The Vegan Kind listed 1591 new vegan products over the previous year, dispatched over 250,000 parcels, and shipped over 3,100,000 vegan products. Source
- In 2021, The Grocer reported 566 new vegan products were launched into retail for Veganuary that year. Source
- The Grocer has reported that between September 2020 and September 2021, sales of plant-based fish hit £5.1 million in the UK, up from £2 million in 2017. Source
- The Grocer has reported that between August 2020 and August 2021, sales of oat milk grew by 49.9% in the UK to £146.8 million. Source
- Vegan food and drink brands outsell own-label lines by more than three to one, according to Kantar [52 w/e 8 August 2021]. Source
- The Grocer has reported that the availability of vegan ready meals in UK supermarkets increased by 92% between 2018 and 2021. Source
- In 2021, a report by Eating Better found that one in five ready meals are now plant-based or vegetarian. Plus, plant-based and vegetarian ready meals are now the cheapest ready meal options at most retailers. The 2021 Eating Better report also found that four UK supermarkets have greatly increased their plant-based range – Aldi by 175% (now a quarter of its ready meals range) and Tesco by 103%, while the Co-op and Morrisons are both up by more than 60%. Source
- In January 2021, Asda supermarket trialled a fully vegan butchers counter at its Watford store with a range of plant-based meat products on offer. Source
- The line of 20 Wicked Kitchen vegan meals was rolled out at 600 Tesco stores at the start of 2018 and sold more than 2.5 million units in the first 20-week period ending in May 2018 — more than double the company’s sales projections. Source
- In June 2018, Waitrose launched dedicated vegan sections in more than 130 stores after increasing its vegan and vegetarian product range by 60%. Source
- Demand for vegan haggis at Tesco in Scotland skyrocketed by 120% in 2018. Source
Foodservice
- According to a 2023 survey by the Plant Based Food Association (PBFA), 48.4% of restaurants in the US are thought to have vegan menus. Source
- In 2022, research by Lumina Intelligence found that 57% of starter options, 33% of main options and 62% of side options on UK pub and bar menus were labelled as vegan or vegetarian. Source
- In April 2022, consumer research by Meatless Farm and Brakes revealed 39% of Brits want restaurants to offer more vegan food. Source
- In January 2022, Burger King became the first fast-food chain in the UK to launch vegan chicken nuggets. Source
- As of November 2021, Deliveroo had over 14,000 vegan and vegan-friendly restaurants available to order from its app. Source
- As of October 2023, Wagamama's menu is 50% plant-based. Source
- In March 2021, Burger King UK CEO Alasdair Murdoch announced the fast-food chain plans to incorporate its menu with at least 50% plant-based options by 2031. Source
- For Veganuary 2023, 790 new vegan menus were added to chain restaurants. Source
- Between November 2020 and November 2021, Deliveroo reported a 105% surge in orders of entirely vegan dishes. Brighton, Bristol and Leeds order the most vegan food as a proportion of their total orders. Source
- Between January 2020 and 2021, Deliveroo revealed its vegan takeaway orders shot up by 163%. Source
