A new own-brand range of affordable plant-based foods has been launched by Tesco into 450 of its stores.
This will see the British grocery chain have one of the largest selections of plant-based foods on the UK high street.
Plant-based food trend of decade
Tesco’s plant-based food has become the biggest culinary trend of the decade, with demand helping to boost the chilled vegetarian/vegan sector by 31 per cent (IRI data, September 2019).
Now with its new range called Tesco Plant Chef, the supermarket is set to widen that appeal even further by offering easy to prepare plant-based swaps of traditional family favourite dishes.
And to make these foods easier to find, Tesco will for the first time have dedicated plant-based and vegetarian zones in stores.
Some of the plant-based foods will sit in the meat aisle offering flexitarians an immediate alternative. This will then be expanded out into other parts of the store.
Plant-based food options
Plant-based alternatives comprise traditional British meals such as battered fish and cottage pie as well as snacks.
At the same time Tesco will also add more foods to its existing exclusive Wicked Kitchen range, the first own-brand plant-based food range to be launched by a UK supermarket, as well as expand its range of grocery foods and cooking kits to help people make plant-based dishes at home.
Movement to less meat
In the last two years, 68 per cent of adults have chosen to cut down or cut out meat from their diet [The Source, 2018] and 16 per cent of all food product launches in 2018 were plant-based (Mintel, 2018).
Derek Sarno, Head of Tesco’s plant based innovation, said: “The biggest impact we can make as individuals, for our health but also that of the planet, is to eat more plants.
“At Tesco we’re making that easier than ever by providing the widest and best range of plant-based options available on the UK high street.”
The launches will be staggered over the next four months with the first current launch expanding into the prepared fresh food aisle of nearly 900 stores on October 14 and then into frozen and grocery in January 2020.