Meat-free menus set for growth after lockdown

Consumers’ focus on health during the Covid-19 pandemic is likely to make vegetarian and vegan dishes more prominent on menus than ever when the hospitality industry is able to open again, CGA’s MealMetrics service reveals.

A record number of 125,000 people signing up to this year's Veganuary campaign indicates that the pandemic has prompted many people to adopt meat-free diets.

A quarter of consumers in Britain were seeking to reduce their meat consumption, CGA’s separate BrandTrack research discovered, adding to the 6% of people already following meat-free diets.

Increasing awareness of the environmental impacts of meat production has added to interest in vegetarian and vegan diets.

“The rapid growth in vegetarian and vegan diets is a big opportunity for pubs, restaurants and the foodservice sector," says CGA’s client director Fiona Speakman. "Eating habits evolve fast and the pandemic has brought even more nuances to consumers’ behaviour, so it is vital for all businesses to stay right on top of changing choices for when the market reopens”.

MealMetrics draws on £4bn of aggregated food till sales data from more than 7,000 pubs, bars and restaurants.