UK supermarket Waitrose has seen a 700% increase in pre-orders for its vegan Christmas offerings.
Who said 2020 wasn’t a good year for veganism? Vegan Christmas pre-orders are up 700% at Waitrose, while Tesco’s Vegan Turkey is already sold out.
Vegans have been spoilt for choice this Christmas, but there seems to be a clear winner: Tesco’s Wicked Kitchen No Turkey Roast Crown. The new offering is completely sold out online, with consumers left to battle it out on the ground for in-store stocks.
While Tesco appeared to be the favourite for vegan food this Christmas season, Waitrose has seen a whopping 700% increase in vegan pre-orders compared to last year. Moreover, searches for ‘vegan cheese’ on the retailer’s website is up 76%. This is likely due to the recent launch of Willicroft’s Vegan Fondue – the first on the market.
Vegan buyer at Waitrose, Charlotte McCarthy said: “We anticipate this Christmas will be the biggest ever for vegan food. We’ve worked really hard to ensure that there is an exciting range available for our customers that is delicious, whether they follow a vegan diet or not.”
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The biggest vegan Christmas yet?
Last week it was revealed that 20% of Brits will serve an entirely vegan Christmas dinner this year, indicating a growing trend towards meat-free celebrations. Moreover, 74% of those asked said they would be ‘looking to buy plant-based alternatives to cheese’ for that quintessential post-dinner cheese board.
Perhaps even more hopeful is the report that almost half of UK households will be catering for vegans this year (Covid restrictions permitting). This is huge news, considering the estimated UK population of vegans sits at just 1%. Therefore, it is likely that the rise in flexitarianism is responsible for this huge figure.
Vegan Christmas hampers on the rise
It’s not just vegan Christmas dinners that are becoming increasingly popular, 2020 has also seen a significant rise in vegan hampers.
Lakeland has sold 65% more vegan hampers this year compared to 2019 sales. They are now completely sold-out online but still have limited stock in-store.
Moreover, the UK’s first organic supermarket, Planet Organic, have also seen huge sales figures for their three vegan hampers. The retailer sells nine hampers in total, however, the three vegan ones make up over half of all hamper sales.
Planet Organic’s buying director Al Overton said: “Countless Christmas vegan items are selling well, including dairy-free chocolate and cheese platters, Christmas cakes and wine; traditional items made to vegan recipes so nobody has to miss out.” It really is a vegan Christmas!
Still unsure on what to eat on Christmas day?
We’ve compiled the best vegan Christmas ranges to buy in UK supermarkets for 2020, to make things easier!
