Nope, you’re not imagining it: the boom in vegan foods is over.
As UK supermarkets adapt to changing demand, many have withdrawn vegan products from their shelves, citing the rising cost of plant-based foods. With these items now often priced higher than traditional meat, many shoppers are opting for less costly options amid the ongoing cost-of-living crisis. This shift has driven a notable decline in meat-free sales, down by approximately £38.4 million, while fresh meat sales are on the rise.
Aldi delivered the latest blow this month by pulling the Aldi Moser Roth Vegan Blonde Chocolate Bar, breaking hearts across the country.
Meanwhile, supermarkets like Tesco and Sainsbury’s, while still committed to promoting plant-based choices, have adjusted their approach. Tesco, for instance, focuses on its budget-friendly Plant Chef line and maintains ambitious plans to triple plant-based sales by 2025. Meanwhile, budget chains Lidl and Aldi have expanded their vegan offerings in other European countries, though similar plans are yet to roll out in the UK.
Some well-known vegan products have been discontinued. Among them:
1. Heinz Vegan Salad Cream: Released in 2021, but pulled this year as Heinz reassessed its lineup.
2. Nestlé’s Garden Gourmet and Wunda: These vegan meats and pea-based milks were removed from UK shelves in response to low sales, though some items remain in food service.
3. Oatly Ice Cream Tubs: Oatly withdrew its 500ml ice cream tubs, citing an already saturated market.
4. Innocent’s Dairy-Free Smoothies: These drinks were phased out as Innocent returned focus to its core smoothie line.
5. Heck’s Vegan Range: Heck cut back its vegan lineup from ten products to just two, noting a dip in demand for vegan sausages.
Other brands like Meatless Farm and Baileys Almande have also scaled back or removed products, highlighting challenges for some plant-based brands during this economic squeeze.
Meanwhile, M&S has taken a different approach, reimagining its Plant Kitchen range to appeal to a broader audience. By placing select products outside the dedicated vegan section, M&S hopes to attract non-vegan shoppers, introducing items that emphasise fresh vegetables over processed alternatives.
Europe stays the course
Interestingly, across Europe, vegan products remain a priority for supermarkets, with countries like Germany and the Netherlands expanding plant-based ranges to meet growing environmental goals and cater to a strong flexitarian market. Aldi in Germany, for example, has committed to over 1,000 vegan products by year-end, while Kaufland continues to expand its "K-take it veggie" line.
All this paints a slightly grim picture for vegan food offerings in the UK. Still - and this may be sour grapes - some of the stuff that sprang up over the last few years was light on taste and hard on the wallet. Perhaps it was time for a shake-out. And perhaps it’s a sign that I need to go back to cooking healthier food (like, actual whole grains in a pot rather than over-salted processed stuff out of a box) from scratch again.
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