Plant-Based Food Sales Soar At Tesco In January

The demand for plant-based food products at Tesco increased by more than a third in January of this year, compared to the same month in 2020.

Overall, the demand for plant-based foods soared by more than 35%, the retailer said.

The most popular plant-based goods sold at Tesco UK included, among others, Wicked Kitchen Hot Burrito, which saw sales up 750% year-on-year.

Sales of Plant Chef Vegan Burgers increased 500%, while Plant Chef Spicy Bean Burgers saw sales up by more than 350%.

'Ground-Breaking' Food

Tesco head of plant-based food innovation, Derek Sarno, said, “The past year has seen some groundbreaking and tempting new plant-based foods come on the market, which have encouraged more people to go vegan, whether full time or as part of the Meat-Free Monday campaign.

“At the beginning of this month, we launched our first plant-based bakery lines, and the recent extensions made to our chilled, frozen, and dairy vegan ranges have been the reason why we are seeing such strong demand.”

The supermarket also saw a sharp rise in demand for many low- and no-alcohol products versus 2020.

Demand for low and no alcohol spirits rose by more than 50%, while sales of low and no wines soared by 40%, the retailer added.

Among these, the most popular products include Freixenet 0.0% Sparkling, San Miguel 0.0% beer and Seedlip.

'Significant Increase'

Buying manager for beer, wines and spirits, Hayley Easton, commented, “This year we’ve seen a significant increase in sales of low- and no-alcohol wine and spirits in particular, and we’ve diversified our range through branded innovation.

“Within spirits, we have expanded the range with new and exciting products such as Stryyk Not R*M, which is a great alcohol-free alternative for rum-based drinks.”

Easton added that the newly launched gin alternative, Gordon’s Alcohol Free 0.0% emerged as the “absolute star performer” this January, with sales exceeding all expectations.