Veganuary sales slump for meat alternatives

Sales of meat-free alternatives dropped back on the previous year during Veganuary, both in terms of volume and value.

Volumes of sales were back by 12.9% based on the first three weeks of 2023, according to Kantar data.

During this period, only 13.7% of households bought meat-free products, while 96.4% of households purchased meat, fish or poultry products.

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AHDB retail insight manager Grace Randall said the taste and price of meat-free products are still major barriers for shoppers.

“Meat-free remains a small part of the market, maintaining the 2% volume share it has seen over the past four years,” said Ms Randall.

“This decline in shoppers means overall value and volume for meat-free has declined, with volumes down 12.9% and value down 6.3% compared to meat, fish and poultry, which declined by 3.2% in volume but saw value growth of 8.3% due to price increases.”

During 2022, data from the AHDB and Kantar showed that volumes of meat-free products sold were down overall by 3.4%, however values increased by 2.2%.

Outlook

Ms Randall added: “With the economic outlook, shoppers may be more wary of new products and return to tried-and-trusted meat cuts.”

However, she warned that as more retailers launch cheaper own-brand ranges of meat-free products, some shoppers may swap from meat to alternatives if meat-free products become cheaper.