The high street health food chain Holland & Barrett is to open vegan stores as part of a plan to cash in on the increasing number of people who shun all meat and animal products.

The chain also aims to take on the Body Shop with a major expansion into cruelty-free beauty. Peter Aldis, the chief executive, said he plans to test two vegan-only stores. They will sell about 1,000 products, including beauty products and foods such as vegan ice cream and sports nutrition powders.

With demand on the rise, H&B is seeking to stock 500 more vegan foods this year.

Aldis said: “We don’t want to feel like a place for alternative hippies. We want vegan to become more mainstream and there are lots of very good reasons why it will.”

The number of vegans in the UK, who avoid all animal products including dairy and eggs, has grown fourfold in the past 10 years to about 550,000, according to the Vegan Society. Flexitarianism – where people increasingly choose vegetarian and vegan options, but stop short of completely quitting meat and dairy produce – is also on the increase.

Supermarkets have been quick to supply an increasing range of vegan foods, from “bleeding” burgers to dairy-free ice cream while Waitrose has introduced vegan sections in dozens of stores.

In a moribund retail market, beauty is one of the few areas where shoppers are willing to spend more as the selfie generation buffs up for a constant stream of Instagram moments.

H&B is facing pressure on profits from dried fruit and nuts, a staple of most health stores, because of soaring commodity prices driven by new demand from China and problems with harvests partly caused by climate change.

The world’s biggest beauty firm, L’Oréal, this week snapped up the German vegan beauty firm Logocos Naturkosmetik. Earlier this year, Superdrug opened a dedicated pop-up store in London to highlight its extensive range of vegan beauty and personal care products

The Body Shop founder Anita Roddick stopped animal testing on beauty products in the 1980s, but only half the chain’s products are vegan. Aldis said there was a gap in the beauty market waiting to be filled. “If she was here now she would be doing this,” Aldis said.

Holland & Barrett, which was bought by an investment fund controlled by the Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman last year, has already put vegan nail bars with Zoya vegan polishes in about 50 stores. It also has Beauty Kitchens where customers can mix their own cruelty-free body scrubs.

The retailer has also removed beauty products with parabens and foaming agents, which are considered harmful to the environment, and is phasing out gelatin from all its vitamin pills.

Aldis said there was much more room for growth, particularly on ethical makeup and other cosmetics. The chain currently stocks only about 50 cosmetics lines in its stores and wants as many as 1,000.

Andrew McDougall, a global beauty and personal care analyst at the market researcer Mintel, said: “The market for vegan products is booming, in line with growing consumer concerns about the ethical and environmental impact of animal-related products and a desire to buy products that align with the issues people care about.”

He said the vegan trend was growing fast in fashion and beauty products. According to analysts at NPD, a market research group, UK sales of luxury vegan beauty products climbed 38% last year.