Which Brands Provide the Best Choice for Vegan Shoppers?
Updated: Aug 14, 2021
Which Brands Provide the Best Choice for Vegan Shoppers?
With this week being the first ever Vegan BBQ Week, the ‘new Vegan Supermarket Ranges report from the energy team at Uswitch have revealed the supermarkets with the cheapest vegan options for a BBQ this summer’… but who will come out on top?
Asda has the most choice when it comes to vegan products with 64 items
Aldi’s Plant Menu took the top spot as the cheapest vegan range in the study at £1.43 on average per product
Asda’s ‘Asda Vegan’ range was revealed as the second cheapest range at just £1.45 on average per product
Waitrose’s vegan range was 46% more expensive than the average vegan product
Tesco’s Plant Chef Beef Style Pieces packed in the most protein at 30g
Morrisons was revealed to be the best supermarket for vegan desserts
The vegan supermarket index can be found in full here.
As more people around the world make the switch to a plant-based diet, a new study from Uswitch.com, the comparison and switching service, has looked into own-brand vegan supermarket ranges and what they offer.
The study, which took eight different supermarket vegan ranges, looked at the best value for money range by comparing it to the average cost of vegan products (£2.32), the number of choices available, nutritional information and number of dessert options to unveil the best supermarket for vegan products.
Taking 13 different vegan ranges across the eight different supermarkets, the study revealed Aldi’s Plant Menu as the best value for money, costing on average 38% less than the average vegan product at just £1.43.
Also topping the list as the second cheapest vegan range was Asda’s ‘Asda Vegan’ range. At an average price of £1.45 per product, the supermarket expanded its range in recent months with 22 additions for Veganuary at an affordable price.
Other supermarkets that featured in the top five on the list included Morrisons V Taste range which was 18% less expensive than the average vegan product and Tesco’s Plant Chef which cost an average of £1.94 per product (16% less than the average vegan product).
With protein being a key element in a balanced diet, the study analysed which own-brand vegan ranges contained the most protein per 100g.
Coming in first place, the product that provided the most amount of protein in its food was Tesco’s Plant Chef Meat-Free Beef Style pieces. The meat substitute had a total of 30g of protein in its product and contained 8 grams more protein than Asda’s Shawarma Chicken Style Pieces which came in third place.
Though vegan products can contain less protein than meat, that doesn’t mean that supermarkets own-brand vegan ranges aren’t a great source of nutrition. Asda’s plant-based Meat-Free Mince and Co-op Gro’s Tender Mince also ranked in the top 10 in the study and both contain over 20g of protein.
Supermarkets around the UK now have a large selection of items available in-store and online for vegans[15] and Uswitch has analysed the dessert options across all of the ranges included in the study to see which ones would offer the most choice online.
Coming in first place with 11 items on their website was Morrisons V Taste range. The dessert options include everything from Double Chocolate Orange Cookies to Strawberry Ice Cream Cones.
Morrisons proved its commitment to catering for more plant-based eaters in January 2021 by not only adding in a range of dessert options but also new savoury products including Butternut Mac No Cheese and Thai fishcakes.
Other supermarkets that topped the list for dessert options were the Co-op and Marks and Spencer who both had at least four options available on their online website M&S also stock a bigger selection of vegan desserts in-store including Strawberry Cheesecake Wedges and Chocolate Chip Cookies.
Supermarkets that didn’t have dessert options available on their online grocery hubs were Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Waitrose and Asda.
Will Owen, the energy expert at Uswitch, says: “A ‘Flexitarian’ diet is becoming a lot more popular among Brits as we all make small changes to help towards climate change, and supermarkets have catered to this need by expanding their vegan ranges to include everything from desserts to starters.
“In fact, if all meat-eating Brits opted to go vegetarian or vegan for an entire year as much as 37.9 billion kgs (37,900 tonnes) of CO2 could be saved.
“But it’s not just supermarkets that are expanding their vegan range. Fast-food chains and restaurants have brought in new vegan products to their menus over the past few years in order to encourage consumers to make smarter choices when getting food on the go.
“While more choice for vegans when eating out might be great, our vegan supermarket index will be particularly helpful for those that are considering the switch to a plant-based diet at an affordable price, while also providing information on where you can get the biggest choice and range of products to suit your needs.”
The best vegan supermarket ranges can be found in full here.
Find out more about our energy deals here.
• Instagram • Twitter • Facebook • Pinterest •
