Thanks to celebrities championing animal-free eating (Beyonce even went as far as launching a vegan food delivery service) and the rise of the clean-eating movement, veganism is close to entering the mainstream.

Last year at least 542,000 Britons considered themselves vegan, up from about 150,000 10 years ago, according to the Vegan Society. Although more than one in 10 (11%) of UK consumers have tried a vegan diet, that figure rises to 20% for the under-35s, according to a February 2017 report from Mintel.

“Plant proteins have gained a lot of traction in the UK in recent years, thanks to their associations with naturalness and nutritious credentials,” says Emma Clifford, senior food and drink analyst at Mintel.



Vegan businesses are sprouting up across the UK to service this demand. Between 2012 and 2016, there was a 185% jump in the number of vegan products launched in the UK, while 9% of food products launched in the UK in last year carried a vegan claim, up from 3% in 2012, according to Mintel.



Consumers’ aspirations for healthier lifestyles are helping to drive this, says Clifford. “Vegan products in particular have moved into the focus of public attention, capturing the imagination of consumers on health-related as well as ethical and religious grounds.”



Devout vegans Kelly Slade and Chrissy Leyland helped organise the Vegan Pledge campaign, where participants try going vegan for one month, before launching subscription-based business Vegan Tuck Box in 2013. “Meeting lots of wannabe vegans gave us lots of useful insights into the challenges people face when transitioning to a vegan diet,” Slade says. “We discovered that finding quality vegan snacks can be a stumbling block to achieving a more compassionate lifestyle. Some also find reading labels time consuming and are unsure of which products are vegan.”

The problem presented a business opportunity, and they came up with the idea for monthly subscription boxes filled with up to eight different snacks, from vegan chocolates to kale crisps. Prices start from £9.50 per month. Slade says that Vegan Tuck Box, which sends out more than 800 boxes every month, plans to launch a letterbox-friendly snack box in the near future.



Vegan school friends Henry Firth and Ian Theasby started their Facebook food channel Bosh! in June last year after experiencing difficulties finding enticing vegan recipes. “Traditionally, vegan food has been seen as boring,” says Firth. “It doesn’t have to be. It can be easy to make and we wanted to share that.” Thanks to its inspiring videos of easy-to-whip-up recipes, such as a vegan kebab and a guacamole potato salad, Bosh! has racked up almost 1.4m likes on Facebook.

“We’re surprised and humbled by the success,” says Firth. “I think we’ve nailed the format – we instantly had high-quality content and good recipes. But there’s a growing tide of people interested in eating more plants, and not just vegans.” Earlier this year, the duo secured a six-figure book deal with HarperCollins; their vegan recipe book will be published in April. However, it’s still early days for the startup. The pair have other jobs and share a house in east London where they have a studio for filming. “We’re keeping costs ridiculously low,” adds Firth.



A vegan vending machine from Le Cupboard

Companies worldwide are drumming up alternative ways to get people to try vegan food. In San Francisco, start-up Le Cupboard has launched vegan vending machines offering everything from lentil and baby spinach salad to chia pudding with strawberries.



“It’s not about pushing veganism,” insists Lamiaa Bounahmidi, chief executive and co-founder of Le Cupboard’s parent company, Looly. The aim of the business, she says, is to help people organise their lives around healthy meals. Bounahmidi prefers to use the term “plant-based” food because vegan does not necessarily mean healthy. “Oreo is vegan, but fully processed and full of sugar,” she says.

Le Cupboard’s “leVersailles” vegan mousse dessert Photograph: leCupboard

She says she opted for vending machines because “stores are not rooted in the mobile reality of today”, adding: “I don’t want customers to be having to pay towards my rent. We want to offer more value and super-fresh food everyday that’s cheaper than if you were making it yourself.” Bounahmidi, who raised $2.5m in funding two years ago, says her goal is to launch vending machines in public spaces across the city and beyond. “We want to offer this wherever people are stuck [in finding healthy food].”

Although many vegan businesses are booming – Temple of Seitan, the UK’s first vegan chicken shop, has attracted long queues of devotees for example – Slade says running a vegan business can be problematic. “As veganism is still in the minority we are a very niche business, and sometimes finding advice can be difficult.”



Anyone looking to launch a vegan enterprise should consider joining one of the rising number of vegan markets across the UK, such as Broadway Vegan Market in Hackney. Dominika Piasecka, a spokeswoman for the Vegan Society, adds that startups should engage the online vegan community too. “There is no better promotion for your business than a happy vegan posting about it on social media and recommending it to their friends,” she says.

The market may be small but it’s fast-growing, as even more high-profile people, including Jeremy Corbyn, back the movement. “The plant-protein trend is still in its early stage with ripe opportunities for further development as it gathers momentum in the mainstream,” says Clifford.

