‘Vegan chocolate UK’s most-popular eco-friendly product’

Vegan chocolate is the UK’s most popular eco-friendly product followed by vegan pancakes, states a new report, which also states that most shoppers found recyclable packaging the most important green factor.

According to the results of a Gnatta survey conducted over 500 participants to understand the British public’s attitudes and habits towards eco-conscious shopping, vegan chocolate emerged as the UK’s most popular eco-friendly product.

With 27,100 average monthly searches, plant-based chocolate beat the likes of vegan cake, vegan cheese, and vegan pancakes by 4,900 searches. 

Food and Beverage as a category dominated the top 20, accounting for 14 entries. 

“Demand across all eco-friendly products reached its peak in January 2020, just before the pandemic took hold of the country. And while this peak has yet to return, things are far steadier than they were pre-pandemic,” states the report.

Across the Animal & Pet Care category, ‘vegan dog food’ was far and away the most in-demand product, with 2,400 average monthly searches.  With 9,900 average monthly searches, bamboo toothbrushes – a biodegradable alternative to regular brushes – took the top spot in this category.

Averaging 4,400 monthly searches, ‘compostable bags’ takes the top spot here, with a predictably huge spike at the beginning of the pandemic, which soon tapered off. 

Some 67 percent of shoppers found recyclable packaging is the most important green factor. The research also found 47 percent of participants favoured reusable packaging, with 32 percent prioritising sustainable materials, and 31 percent preferred local sourcing.

Almost half (47 percent) of participants believe they make a conscious effort to shop sustainably, and over a third (35 percent) said they do ‘sometimes’

Almost half (48 percent) of participants said that receiving an online parcel from a company with excessive packaging would stop them from re-ordering with that company, whereas over half (52 percent) said that it would not stop them from ordering again.