One in Five Brits to Serve Meat-Free Christmas Meals

United Kingdom-based supermarket chain Tesco predicts that this holiday season will prove popular for vegan meals. In its inaugural Christmas Report 2018, Tesco determined a number of trends by analyzing its internal sales data for the 2018 holiday season as compared to last year’s figures, along with conducting a poll of 2,009 representative British citizens. Tesco determined that nearly one in five, or 18 percent, of Christmas hosts will prepare vegan and vegetarian meals to cater to guests, while only one percent of participants plan to prepare a traditional goose dinner. The report found that five percent of Scots will enjoy a meatless Christmas meal, while 12 percent of Brighton residents will prepare a “plant-powered main.” When it comes to traditional sides, respondents favored Brussels sprouts (66 percent) to pigs in blankets (64 percent), and 71 percent chose carrots as their favorite side. “The increased awareness of sustainability issues around eating animal products combined with a more health-conscious consumer is driving plant-based diets mainstream,” Derek Sarno, Director of Plant-Based Innovation at Tesco, said. In January, Sarno launched his vegan Wicked Kitchen line at Tesco and by August, the chain sold more than 4 million units of the grab-and-go meals.