Twenty years ago, actor Jerome Flynn of Robson and Jerome fame was probably the most famous vegetarian in the UK. Now, pretty much most of Hollywood follows a vegan diet, writes food marketing expert Nigel White.
The growth in the plant-based market has been significant and accelerating over the last five years and shows no sign of abating, as more consumers demand plant-based options across food, health, beauty and even fashion.
Add to this that retailers are expanding the space given to plant-based alternatives to meat, dairy and other sectors, more well-funded brands are entering the market and younger consumers are switching in ever-greater numbers, and you have a significant shift in the eating habits of the UK population.
This shift is actually leading the world, as per head consumption of plant-based foods in the UK beats all other countries.
The reasons why people are switching to more plant-based foods are also changing. Go back to the year 2000, when Quorn created the ‘meat-free’ category.
Two decades ago, it was a deliberate attempt to not be stuck in the vegetarian or vegan niche, where the majority of consumers would exclaim “I’m not one of those”!
Back then, their products appealed to the growing number of people wanting to simply reduce their meat consumption. It’s also pretty fair to say that a lot of the meat-free alternatives in those days were pretty unappealing to food lovers, with ‘beige/bland’ being the key associations.
So, a growing trend towards healthier eating was the order of the day then, which has become more nuanced since.
Plants are simply seen as healthier, more natural and a good thing to get more of in our diets. Add to this that people’s relationship with meat has also changed, with a trend towards better quality cuts, white meats such as chicken and that there is simply so much more choice and better quality in plant-based and vegan options.
It’s therefore easy to understand why more and more people are choosing to make meat-free an option once a week, try Veganuary or switch from fuller-fat dairy options to vegan alternatives.
The other big driver has been led by younger consumers, especially Millennials, and a key concern for that group is environmental impact. People are looking much more closely at packaging- especially plastic, gas emissions, air miles and the total environmental impact of products, brands and companies. Plant-based ticks a number of boxes here for this audience.
Finally, we can’t ignore the impact of social media and that of influential people choosing to adopt a vegan lifestyle. Add to that the interest in influencer’s diets and the insatiable appetite of Instagram for photos of the vibrant, colourful, vegan food they prepare and eat, and it adds up to a much sexier plant-based sector and one that looks in robust shape for the future.
Nigel White is CEO of The Marketing Place, whose clients included Heck!, St Lawrence Gold and vegetarian and plant-based brands such as Sheese and Cecily’s.
With over 30 years’ experience in the food and drink industry, Nigel has held the position of marketing director at some of the UK’s most recognisable and fastest growing brands and winning a number of accolades, including the IGD Innovation of the Year, the Top 10 fastest growing grocery brand, and three times in the Top 100 Sunday Times Fastest Growing Brands.
