Sales revenue of vegetarian food and drink products in the United Kingdom 2010-2020

The retail sales of vegetarian food and drink products in the United Kingdom amounted to an estimated 657 million British pounds in 2017. When the category is combined with plant-based alternatives sales for that year, sales increase to 885 million pounds. In 2020, the estimated retail sales of both came to 1.5 billion pounds.

Meatless diets in Britain

In the United Kingdom (U.K.), consumers spent almost 600 million British pounds on meat-free food items in 2020. This is almost twice the size of the spending in 2016, when consumers spend just above 300 million. Approximately 79 percent of the population in the U.K. identified themselves as meat-eaters. Almost nine percent described themselves as flexitarian or semi-vegetarian. Nearly 2.7 percent identified themselves as lacto-ovo-vegetarians and almost 2.6 percent as vegans. In Great Britain, the share of vegans was estimated to be 1.1 percent, according to another survey. This constitutes a significant increase, as the share of vegans was estimated to be just 0.25 percent in 2016. The Generation Z was the generation with the Share of adults that do not eat meat in Great Britain 2021, with approximately 25.9 percent. It was followed by Millennials and generation X with 15.5 and 14.8 percent, respectively.

The European market for meat substitutes

In 2020, the largest market for meat substitutes in Europe was in United Kingdom with a sales value of approximately 502 million euros. The second and third largest markets were in Germany and the Netherlands, respectively. In Germany, the sales value of meat substitutes amounted to nearly 357 million euros and in the Netherlands to almost 174 million euros. The retail sales value of meat substitutes in the European Union and the United Kingdom altogether amounted to nearly 1.4 billion euros in 2019. It is forecast to reach 2.5 billion euros by 2025.