Plant power: the changing face of veganism
Going vegan (or at least flexitarian) is set to be the biggest food trend of our times. We speak to jkr’s Head of Strategy Adrian Jarvis about the rise of vegan junk food, and how plant-based brands became the new cool
It’s safe to say that we’re well beyond the stage where going out for dinner as a vegan inevitably means being lumped with the salad option. Today, there’s an estimated 540,000 vegans in the UK, an increase from 150,000 in 2006, according to The Vegan Society. The market for meat-free foods in the UK was also reportedly worth £572m in 2017, according to market research company Mintel.
People are consciously making this lifestyle change for a variety of reasons, health and wellbeing, animal welfare and environmental concerns among them. Meanwhile, celeb vegans such as singer Ariana Grande and bloggers like the Fat Gay Vegan (the brain behind the brilliantly titled cookbook, How to Eat, Drink and Live Without Being a Dick) have helped bring a whole new way of eating into the mainstream, making it cool to cut out meat products.
