According to a new Mintel report, the number of vegan products in Australia has increased by an impressive 92 percent since 2014.
Released just days before Australia Day, one of the largest meat-eating holidays Down Under, the report states: “Many Aussies will be foregoing tradition by grilling vegan steaks while enjoying a gluten-free beer in celebration of the day.”
In 2016, one in eight of all products in Australia carried a vegetarian claim, with 6 percent labeled “vegan.” The increase in plant-based products comes with the trend among Australians to avoid meat. In fact, one in seven surveyed said that they avoided or intended to avoid red meat in 2016.
Laura Jones, Trend and Innovation Consultant at Mintel, said:
“Although Australia is still one of the largest meat eating populations globally, health and environmental concerns, along with cost have changed Australians’ attitudes when it comes to meat consumption. Australians have become more mindful in recent years of the amount of meat and the frequency of which they eat meat.”
This shift in Australia is part of a worldwide movement away from animal products. According to
Google Trends data, Australians are more interested in getting information about vegan eating than they are about paleo, 5:2, vegetarian, or even sugar- or gluten-free diets. This comes as no surprise. PETA announced in April that
Australians had the world’s biggest appetite for learning about vegan eating. This is fantastic news as it is estimated that around half a billion animals are killed every year in Australia by the meat, dairy, and egg industries.