This October, Vegan Food & Living invited vegans all over the UK to enter a Big Vegan Survey so they could find out more about the reasons why consumers convert to veganism, what products they like and dislike, and even their favourite supermarkets.
Over 8,300 people completed the survey over a space of three weeks, and below you can check out some of Vegan Food and Living’s favourite results.
Who are they and why did they go vegan?
- Out of all the people who filled out the survey, 85% are female and 64% are aged 25-54.
- 65% classed themselves as vegan, while 11% preferred the term plant-based, 8% were vegetarian and 5% vegan curious.
- Plant-based is a term that seems to have only become popular recently though, with only 12% who classed themselves as plant-based having followed the lifestyle for over 5 years, compare to 34% who have been plant-based for less than a year.
- 75% of people who classed themselves as vegan or plant-based had only adopted the lifestyle in the last 5 years.
- Overall, 71% said their main reason for going vegan was animal welfare. However, motivation seems to be changing – when you look at the reasons why people have decided to go vegan within the last year, 39% said the environment was the most important reason. For those who’d only gone vegan in the last 6 months, 36% classed health as their biggest motivation.
The UK vegan’s favourite supermarket?
- 80% of people buy their weekly shopping in store at a supermarket vs 11% who buy online from a supermarket.
- In terms of which UK supermarket vegans generally consider to be the best for vegan options – It’s a dead heat between Tesco and Sainsbury’s – with 19% each classing the in store offerings as very good and 40% good.
- Next up was Holland & Barrett, with 17% describing it as very good and 35% as good.
- For the best online shopping experience, head to The Vegan Kind Supermarket, with 27% classing it as very good.
Are the current vegan products any good?
- 84% of people think there is a good selection of plant milks available.
- Only 22% think that vegan cheese is any good, with 29% classing it as poor.
- 44% of people don’t know which egg replacements are available in the UK.
- 46% would like to see more choice of ready-made sandwiches available to buy.
- 23% of people wouldn’t mind going to the meat aisle to pick up their meat alternatives if it meant there was more chance that meat eaters would try them. Only 11% said they would never go to the meat aisle. 31% would prefer meat alternatives to be placed in the free-from aisle as well as the meat aisle.
Where do vegans like to eat when going out?
- 54% of people said that Wagamama was their first choice for vegan options when eating out.
- 81% of people make their own lunch on an average working day, compared to 7% who buy from a supermarket and 2% who buy from a chain café.
- 57% of people would never eat at KFC, even if they introduced more vegan options. This compares to 43% who would never go to McDonald’s and 36% who would never go to Nando’s.
For details on how you can purchase the full results, get in touch with [email protected]. Find out more at veganfoodandliving.com
