Dairy-free vegan alternatives slump during Veganuary

Sales of dairy-free products slumped this Veganuary compared to the year before, according to analysis by the AHDB.

Decreased interest meant that in last month's Veganuary period, there was a decrease in alternatives volume sales, both in meat and dairy.

According to the AHDB, the volume sold of dairy alternative products in the first three weeks of January 2023 reduced by 2.6% compared to a year before.

This was driven by a decrease in penetration, or the number of households buying a dairy alternative product, which fell by 3.8%, or 281,000 households.

Susie Stannard, AHDB consumer insight manager, said: "As British consumers buckle under the weight of increased economic pressures, minds seem to be less open to experimenting with different ways of eating.

"Interest in Veganuary as measured by Google trends, which measures search, has nearly halved since 'peak-vegan' in 2019."

Growth in demand for milk alternatives has softened over the past 12 months, even moving into a period of volume decline from January to October 2022, although returning to moderate growth (6.1%) thereafter.

Alternatives remain a more expensive option than cow’s milk which is causing some lighter shoppers to turn away, according to AHDB's report.

"Growth is therefore coming from existing, more committed, shoppers buying more," Ms Stannard explained.

"Value growth for alternative milk has also returned from October but to a lesser extent than cow’s milk, which has experienced significantly higher levels of inflation over the past year."

It follows the AHDB promoting the health benefits of meat and dairy during January through its We Eat Balanced marketing campaign.

According to the levy organisation, over 96% of households bought meat in January and remains a huge category – worth over £1.3bn in the first three weeks of 2023.

Ms Randall said: "With the economic outlook, shoppers may be more wary of new products and return to tried and trusted meat cuts.

"However, the price difference between meat and alternatives is one to watch going forward, as more retailers launch cheaper own brand ranges.

"Some shoppers may swap from meat to alternatives if meat-free products become cheaper."