Has COVID-19 changed the game between dairy and plant-based?
Sales of plant-based foods surged when Britain first went into lockdown in March.
Meat alternative brand ‘This’ claims its sales have doubled since the coronavirus outbreak started to develop in the UK, while the mushroom category welcomed 1.2 million new customers in the initial phase of lockdown.
Experts attribute this growth to shoppers seeking out healthy foods, with a recent Mintel survey revealing a quarter of young British millennials (aged 21-30) say the pandemic has made a vegan diet more appealing.
So what did this mean for milk and cheese consumption during lockdown? The Grocer commissioned a survey of 2000 shoppers to find out:
Only 4% of UK adults didn’t buy milk at some point during lockdown – & of the 96% who bought milk, 82% picked cow’s milk – suggesting coronavirus hasn’t dampened our appetite for dairy.
Almost a third (29%) bought milk more often than they did pre-pandemic – with younger shoppers, those aged between 18 and 34, most likely to do that. Across regions, Londoners were the most enthused about their dairy fix: about half (49%) increased how much they were buying while housebound.








