Virgin Wines sees sales of its vegan wine range skyrocket 51% in last two years

Virgin Wines has reported a 51% jump in sales of its vegan range in the last two years.

The retailer, established in 2000 by Richard Branson’s Virgin Group, boasts more than 400 vegan-friendly wines sourced from independent winemakers.

In 2021, Virgin Wines sold a staggering 1,735,730 bottles of vegan wine – compared to 1,149,869 in 2019.

‘Great opportunity’

In a statement sent to Vegan Food & Living, Sophie Lord of Virgin Wines said: “It’s not surprising to see such a rise in vegan wine sales. 

“In the last decade, far more alternative wine fining methods have been found. This allows winemakers to move away from the traditional methods that are unsuitable for vegans.

“Demand for vegan, organic and biodynamic wines has grown as more consumers adopt eco-conscious and healthier lifestyles”.

Lord predicts the strong growth of vegan-friendly wine will continue to rise, “creating a great opportunity for Virgin Wines to capitalise on this growing sector”.

Why isn’t wine vegan?

Despite popular belief, wine – along with other alcoholic drinks – may be unsuitable for vegans.

This is because ingredients such as isinglass (a substance obtained from the dried swim bladders of fish) are commonly used in the filtration process.

Egg whites are also commonly used, making many wines non-vegan. This includes champagne which undergoes the same filtration process, but there are plenty of vegan champagne options neverthless. 

You can check which alcoholic beverages don’t contain animal products on Barnivore.

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