Veganuary movement falters as plant-based food sales drop

Sales of plant-based meals fell during January despite the blaze of publicity surrounding the annual anti-meat and dairy campaign, Veganuary.

Although more people than ever signed up to take part in this year’s month-long event, the AHDB and market analysts Kantar said both retail volume sales of meat-free and dairy-free alternatives declined.

More than 1m fewer households bought meat-free products compared to January 2022 and 280,000 fewer households bought dairy-free, statistics show.

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The drop in purchases saw year-on-year volumes of meat-free sales falling by 12.9% and a 2.6% drop for dairy-free in January.

The figures also reveal that, on 1 January, 7% of shoppers said they were committed to taking part in Veganuary, encouraged by heavy in-store promotions and new product offers. But, by mid-month, almost 70% of this group had returned to their normal diets.

About 40% claimed vegan food was too expensive and a further 40% reported struggling to find plant-based food they enjoyed.

The AHDB added that the drop-off followed an overall volume decline in the past 12 months for both dairy and meat alternatives.

AHDB consumer insight manager Grace Randall explained that taste and affordability remained the primary issues for consumers.

“Meat, fish and poultry are about 10% cheaper than their vegan counterparts, while cow’s milk is, on average, 50p/litre less expensive than dairy alternatives.”