Sodexo has released food sales data showing the month-on-month increase in purchases of both vegan and vegetarian meals across its UK foodservice outlets at corporate client sites.
The data shows that, by the end of 2021, vegan and vegetarian meal options were forming 13% of all meal sales at offices and other corporate client sites where it provides catering. This marks a significant increase on the start of the year when these meals represented 8% of all those sold.
Moreover, during November 2021, 41% of all the non-meat or non-fish meals sold were vegan. This was the highest proportion of vegan meals selected since Sodexo began tracking this data in September 2020.
Vegan options offered by Sodexo include: jackfruit jalfrezi, no chicken enchiladas, falafel burger, kentucky fried jackfruit, vegan Tacos, vegetable pad thai, ratatouille pasta, aubergine and pepper balti, korean stir fried tofu, Quorn jambalaya and more.
Claire Atkins-Morris, director of corporate responsibility at Sodexo, said: “As part of our Net Zero commitment, we understand that plant-based meals have a lower carbon impact. We have set ourselves the goal of increasing the number of plant-based meals and recipes we supply to 33% by 2025.
“The increase in sales of vegan and vegetarian meals we are already seeing across our sites is reflective of a change in consumer awareness and increased choice. We are a proud supporter of Veganuary and want to highlight our support through raising awareness of the positive impact of plant-based meals and support consumers to choose sustainable dishes.”
