Vegans Uncovered

As more of us are predicted to go vegan than ever before in 2021, at Holland & Barrett, we’ve gone behind the scenes to delve into the latest UK trends, habits, and lifestyle changes of vegans over the last 12 months.

We’ve studied search queries, summed up sales data and spoken to over 2000 Brits to find out how they have changed their eating habits, mind-set and overall lifestyle choices.

Turning vegan

Veganism on the rapid rise: Growth in veganism has skyrocketed in the last three years with over three quarters (70%) saying they’ve been vegan for either a year or less (29%) two years (24%) or three years (19%)
Why are more people turning vegan? When asked why they switched to veganism, 41% cite their health as one of the main reasons. Nearly a quarter (24%) said sustainability was their motivation, while nearly one third (32%) say ethical reasons are behind their decision to turn vegan
Vegan peak due to coronavirus: 12% of UK adults (23% of 16-24s) agree that the coronavirus outbreak has made a vegan diet more appealing (Mintel, Vegan Pret Counter August 2020)
Vegan men vs vegan women: Vegan men are leading the charge, with nearly one third of vegan women (32%) turning vegan in the last year, while nearly half of vegan men (49%) have been vegan for at least three years
Shopping habits: Far from being an expensive choice, the shopping totals are closer than you might expect, with 25% of vegans spending £40 or less on their weekly food shop compared to 30% of non-vegans spending the same amount
The rise of the vegan chef: Vegans are keen chefs it seems, with 40% of vegans spending four or more hours cooking every day, compared to 27% of non-vegans

Vegans by region

Google Trends

Our Google Trends data shows Edinburgh and Bristol as the top vegan capitals followed by Manchester and London. Interest in Vegan food peaks during December and January and is growing year on year as more people consider switching.

Digging a little deeper into the topic of vegan food, all the top searches are looking for speedy ways to get vegan food to our door, as well as scouring YouTube for the best new vegan recipes. In terms of baking, chocolate and carrot cakes are the most popular vegan cake recipes.

The data suggests non-vegans are more than a little curious about the vegan lifestyle. ‘How do vegans get protein’ was an extremely popular search in January 2020, which points to gym-goers looking for a vegan alternative.

More specifically, there are rising topics that show some searchers are very interested in a few recent vegan trends. “What is in a vegan sausage roll?” and “what is vegan cheese made of?” both topped the list of vegan curiosities.

“Vegan chocolate” and “vegan cheese” were the most used vegan search queries for people in the Midlands in the last 12 months
“Vegan cheese“, “vegan protein“ and “vegan curry“ were some of the most used search terms for Londoners in last 12 months

Benefits of veganism

Health and fitness

Nearly half of vegans (48%) say that on average, they exercise four or more times per week – compared to just 38% of non-vegans
46% of vegans based in the East of England have gone vegan in the last year – more than any other region. They cited looking after their own health as the main reason for turning vegan.
37% of vegans in the North East cite ethical reasons as one of the main reasons for adopting a vegan lifestyle – more than any other region
40% of vegans in London cited health reasons as the motivator behind going vegan with 50% saying they had more energy after adopting a vegan lifestyle
More than half (53%) of vegans in Scotland say they lost weight since turning vegan

Vegan spending habits

Far from being an expensive choice, the shopping totals are closer than you might expect, with 25% of vegans spending £40 or less on their weekly food shop compared to 30% of non-vegans spending the same amount

On average, vegans based in Yorkshire spend £64.10 on their weekly food shop – the lowest of any region

Influences

35% of vegans aged 50-59 have gone vegan in the past year and 1 in 5 vegans (22%) are aged over 40
30% of non-vegans say they’d be willing to try Meat Free Mondays as a way of eating less meat, while more than 1 in 10 (11%) say they’d be willing to try Veganuary
A quarter (25%) of vegans in the South West say documentaries like Cowspiracy were one of the main reasons for adopting a vegan lifestyle

Food choices

When asked what food they missed the most since turning vegan 1 in 10 Brits (10%) say they miss pizza the most followed by burgers (9%), steak (8%) and roast dinners with meat (7%). Try your hand at hundreds of vegan recipes here
15% of vegans in the West Midlands say they miss kebabs the most (more than any other region)

Vegans in Wales miss a traditional fry-up the most, while vegans in the East of England miss a cheese board and in the South West vegans lust after bacon sandwiches.
Finding dairy substitutes was another missed food group, with 29% saying they found it challenging to swap plant milk for cow’s milk after going vegan, while more than one third (35%) admit they found it difficult to swap nutritional yeast for cheese. Find hundreds of delicious vegan swaps here

Potential challenges (and how to overcome them with H&B nutritionist Emily Rollason)

When asked about the barriers to adopting a vegan lifestyle, lack of choice (23%) was identified as the biggest thing that puts people off switching

Emily advises: No longer just a sea of tofu, there are hundreds of meat alternatives that vegans can enjoy trialling. From jackfruit to tempeh to seitan, you’ll find that many of your favourite recipes can be substituted by clever hacks like these. So, whether you want to get creative in the kitchen with vegan pizzas or try switching to vegan chocolate, we can assure you there’s plenty of choice out there.

More than one third of vegans (34%) worry they are not getting enough protein from their current diet

Emily says: In the UK, the recommended daily intake of protein is 0.75g per every kilogram you weigh.2 That means that if you weigh 60kg, you should be aiming for around 45g of protein per day.

Getting that much protein when you don’t eat dairy, meat or eggs can be tricky – but it’s not impossible. There are numerous nutritious, high protein vegan foods that you can incorporate into your diet to help make sure you are taking on enough protein.

While nearly one third of vegans believe there’s not enough calcium from their current diet (31%), 43% believe they are not getting enough iron while a quarter (25%) think they’re not getting enough Vitamin C

Emily says: If you’re already a vegetarian or flexitarian, there may be one question stopping you going vegan: will I get enough vitamins and minerals?

It’s a valid concern: some nutrients – such as vitamin B12 and omega-3 – are naturally more plentiful in meat, fish or dairy.1

The good news is that a balanced vegan diet can give you all the vitamins and minerals you need.2 You just need to know which ones are a little trickier to get hold of. Find out more here

More than 1 in 10 non-vegans (11%) worry that they wouldn’t be able to achieve their ideal body whilst adopting a vegan lifestyle, with 17% wondering if they’d feel physically weaker

Emily says: Animal products are notoriously higher in calories. 100 grams of beef contains about 250 calories while 100 grams of butter contains an incredible 717 calories.

For those who want to shift the pounds without starving themselves, a vegan diet can be a great way of going about this.

In terms of strength, while it’s true that we need protein to repair and rebuild muscle, it doesn’t need to come from meat; a balanced vegan diet should provide all the nutrients you need. Make sure you’re eating plenty of plant proteins such as tofu, beans, pulses, legumes such as chickpeas, quinoa, nuts and seeds.

Interest in vegan food by city

City	Vegan food: (1/1/19 - 12/17/20)
Bristol	100
Edinburgh	100
Wythenshawe (South Manchester)	69
Manchester	64
London	63
Halesowen (West Midlands)	60
Sheffield	59
Birmingham	54
Liverpool	47

Vegans by age group

Age group	%
18-24	31%
25-29	21%
30-39	27%
40-49	15%
50-59	5%
60-69	1%
70-79	0
80+	0

Reasons for adopting a vegan lifestyle

Reason	%
My own health	41.2%
Ethical reasons e.g., Treatment of animals	32.2%
Sustainability reasons	23.9%
I don't like the taste of meat and/or dairy products	13.4%
Allergies	10.4%
Intolerances	11.1%
Peer-pressure from friends	7.2%
Inspired by a documentary e.g., Cowspiracy, What the Health	15.0%
Other	0.9%

Methodology

On behalf of Holland & Barrett, Pegasus commissioned 3Gem to carry out a survey of 2000 UK adults aged 18+. Half of the sample said they were currently following a vegan diet and half of the sample said they were currently following a non-vegan diet. The research was conducted in December 2020.

Holland & Barrett has analysed Google Trends data for the first 12 months of 2020. Google Trends popularity scores are relative and not absolute. Please see Google’s definition of popularity scores:

Values are calculated on a scale from 0 to 100, where 100 is the location with the most popularity as a fraction of total searches in that location, a value of 50 indicates a location which is half as popular. A value of 0 indicates a location where there was not enough data for this term.