UK grocery sales grew modestly in January, usually a month of moderation after the splurge of the festive period, figures from the market researcher Kantar showed Tuesday.
The grocery market grew 0.3 percent during the past 12 weeks, Kantar said.
Non-alcoholic beer sales surged 37 percent as several people commit to drinking less at the start of the year and search for alternatives. Sales of adult soft drinks increased 3 percent.
January is also a month when lots of consumers decide to go vegan, hence “Veganuary”.
The survey found that more than twice as many consumers bought one of the UK supermarkets’ explicitly labeled plant-based products in January versus the festivity-filled December 2019.
Sales of meat substitutes such as soya mince or vegetarian burgers and sausages grew 14 percent from a year ago. Sales of lentils rose 6 percent, lettuce 10 percent and aubergine 14 percent.
Around 42 percent of the survey participants cited health as the main reason for going vegan in January. This was followed by environmental concerns and ethical reasons.
That doesn’t mean people are converting into strict vegans. They are making small changes and trying to eat more plant-based meals, Kantar said.
Among individual retailers, Ocado remained the fastest growing retailer with 11.2 percent annual growth in sales. Lidl reported sales growth of 11.1 percent.
Sales fell at Sainsburys, Asda, Waitrose and Tesco, while they grew at Morrisons, Co-op and Iceland.
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