Vegan food delivery orders grow 163%

As Veganuary launches in the UK, orders of vegan food from hospitality businesses for delivery have grown by 163% year-on-year.

More than 500,000 Brits are expected to take part in the annual campaign, which sees consumers pledge to give up all animal products throughout January.

The data, published by Deliveroo, reveals that the first week of January 2021 saw a 153% rise in searches for 'vegan food' on its platforms compared to December 2020, and that the number of UK restaurants now catering for plant-based diets has more than doubled in the past year (to more than 12,000).

“We’re continuing to see a massive increase in demand from our customers for vegan dishes and so many of our restaurant partners have created exciting new dishes to kick-off Veganuary 2021," comments Elena Devis, vegan category specialist at Deliveroo. "Vegan and plant-based food is a growth area we are really excited by at Deliveroo so we’re super happy to be supporting Veganuary again this year.”

Restaurant businesses such as The Coconut Tree and Wagamama have already launched new vegan items this year, as the campaign - which sees 72% of people plan to remain vegan afterwards - gets underway.