Makers withdraw vegan range as plant-based sales stagnate

Boom-time for some vegan products may now be over as Oatly confirmed last week it was withdrawing its plant-based ice-cream tubs from the UK market.

It was claimed the global vegan market may be as worth as much as £50bn by 2030. However, sales of many products in the UK have flatlined or fallen. The challenges have been compounded by the cost of living crisis – with vegan products often more expensive than competing meat or dairy products – and an overcrowded market.

“Given a number of our plant-based friends are doing great work on this shelf already, we made the decision to move away from ice-cream tubs in the UK for now,” The Guardian quoted a spokesperson from Oatly.

Oatly launched a range of vegan ice-creams, including chocolate fudge and hazelnut swirl, in October 2019, hoping to entice consumers with flavours described as “unashamedly indulgent”.

At time of the launch, the range was described as “silky” and “creamy” while food experts described as a “gold rush” to tap into the vegan market, including “vegfurters”, plant-based steaks and much more.

Oatly’s announcement of slashing its plant-based ice-cream tubs is the latest such news in the vegan sector. Nestlé announced in March it was withdrawing its plant-based Garden Gourmet and Wunda brands from sale in the UK, saying the products, including a split-pea-based alternative milk drink were “not viable” in current market conditions.

Innocent Drinks, owned by Coca-Cola, announced in March it was discontinuing its dairy-free coconut, almond and hazelnut smoothies after disappointing sales. Sausage maker Heck announced earlier this month it was reducing its range of meat-free products from 10 to just two.

New figures to be released this week by NIQ (formerly NielsenIQ) reveal that in sales of chilled meat alternatives fell 16.8 per cent compared with January 2022 and frozen meat alternatives fell by 13.5 per cent. Plant-based milk alternatives saw growth of just 0.9 per cent, according to the NIQ data.