Top vegetarian and vegan trends for World Vegan Day

Gut health, CBD and mushrooms at the top themes in the vegetarian and vegan aisles, a new analysis has revealed.

Carried out ahead of the World Vegan Day on 1 November, and in the backdrop of the Vegetarian Month in October, the analysis by B2B online marketplace ShelfNow uses data and insights to reveal the top growing trends in the space.

Gut health remains a major priority for many vegetarian and vegan consumers after it was tipped as a top trend in 2020, the analysis has shown, with brands like the KAYTEA Beetroot Velvet Latte enjoying good demand.

The CBD market has exploded in recent years with many Brits seeing the benefits of CBD in their diets. ShelfNow said it is seeing a rise in demand for CBD products such as the Cannasa Botanical Rose Raspberry Lemonade.

Mushrooms have been a trending superfood for several years now with their hidden benefits being documented in popular shows such as the Netflix documentary Fantastic Fungi. One of several Fungtional Brew Company products stocked by ShelfNow, Lion’s Mane IPA is a favourite, with notes of peach and stone fruit and a 0.5g mushroom extract per 330ml.

ShelfNow added that it has seen an 80 per cent increase in sales of vegan alcoholic products in 2021.

“Vegetarian and vegan products currently make up an impressive amount of all our current products and we are seeing so much amazing innovation taking place across these sectors,” Philip Linardos, co-founder and chief executive of ShelfNow, said.

“It’s a pleasure to work with so many trailblazing producers in this space and through this, we have noticed that the main motivation for many is simply to produce a great tasting product above all else. Pep & Lekker is a good example of this and their seed snacks – which were initially developed for those following a low carb, high fibre diet – are not only vegan and vegetarian friendly but also taste incredible!”

Launched in 2019, ShelfNow currently has 783 vegetarian and 729 vegan products on its platform with best-selling items including Indian hot sauce range Pico Sauces, smoothies from cold-pressed juices brand PRESS Healthfoods and crackers from health food experts Erbology.

Between 2020 and 2021 the platform saw a 156 per cent increase in sales of vegetarian products and a 150 per cent increase in sales of vegan products.