Exciting Vegan / Meat Free Product Releases and Announcements for 2021

Evey single year it's obvious as you stroll around the supermarkets just how much veganism and vegetarianism is growing and as a vegetarian family, this is something that we are delighted to see. Firstly because we choose not to eat meat ourselves for ethical reasons and so it's, of course, amazing to see that there are so many other like-minded people doing the same and secondly because with the rise of veganism it means that there is a LOT more options for us vegetarians to choose from! Something else that makes me happy is knowing that my two little boys who we are raising as vegetarians, will not be the odd ones out as they grow up. Meat-eating is still the majority but the number of people going plant-based or just cutting out meat and fish like we do is growing more and more each year. So much so that Sainsbury's have announced that they will close their meat and fish counters this year due to a decrease in customer demand. And Asda have announced that they are opening up a vegan butchers in some of their stores! This is HUGE and so exciting for the future! There have been so many exciting vegan and meat-free product announcements already this year and I thought I would share some of them here on my blog for anyone who is plant-based or vegetarian like us, and also for anyone who might just be interested in eating less meat. So lets start with the two exciting announcements I talked about above... 

• Asda is set to launch a trial of a supermarket vegan butcher counter in Watford. The company has partnered with vegan concept creator Kbox Global, on the new counter, known as Veelicious.

• Sainsbury's said in a press release it is closing its meat, fish, and deli counters, “based on reduced customer demand.”.

• Dominos launched their first vegan pizzas in the UK in September 2020 – The Vegan Vegi Supreme and The Vegan Margherita and new for January 2020 they have released their brand new soya ‘chicken’ pizza and Vegan Nuggets! 

• There is a strong rumor that McDonald’s will bring out a line a of plant-based products called the McPlant range in 2021.

• Costa have just released a vegan roaster butternut squash roll, as well as a vegan smoky ham and cheeze toastie and even a vegan BBQ chick'n panini! 

• Sainsburys are absolutely storming ahead with amazing plant-based and meat-free options. Their Plant Pioneers range is huge and so varied - it includes vegan mash potato, vegan potato dauphinoise, vegan sausage rolls, vegan no chicken samosas, vegan no duck spring rolls, vegan no beef mince, a vegan cheese sauce and a vegan tomato and mascaprone sauce, vegan meatballs, vegan bacon, vegan steaks, a no meat spicy pizza and lots more. Take a look at the full range here.

• Richmond's meat-free range is expanding too, their meat free sausages are incredible and they've just added meat-free burgers to their range also which are equally as nice. 

• Cadbury have confirmed that they are working on a vegan Cadbury chocolate for this year also! 

• I have seen several images of vegan Easter eggs available at a number of supermarkets including M&S and Sainsburys. Sainsbury's are offering a vegan marshmallow easter egg this year also! 

• Hellman's already make a vegan mayonaise which I think personally tastes just as good as their dairy mayo, but they have also released some new vegan mayo flavours for this year including baconnaise, chipotle and garlic. 

• Quorn have just bought out their brand new Quorn vegan peri peri strips and also their vegan turkish kebabs new for January 2021. 

• Aldi has released over 20 new vegan products for 2021 including sweer treats, savoury snacks and meals such as Vegan Pain Au Chocolat, Plant Menu Vegan Mayo, Vegan Bioche Burger Buns, Plant Menu Veggie Dippers, Vegan pastry rolls and more!

• M&S have also released new additions to their plant kitchen range such as a sweet potato and cashew curry, a no pork sausage rolls, a no-duck wrap, no-beef meatballs, chickenless tikka masala, melt in the middle no fish cakes, no beef steak bakes, vegan chocolate chip cookies from their in-store bakery, a vegan stawberry cheesecake and lots more! 

• Higgidy are introducing three new exciting vegan products - a Spinach & Roasted Tomato Vegan Quiche, a  Porcini Mushroom & Spinach Vegan Little Quiche and also Mini No-Pork Pies!

  
• Krispy Kreme are finally rolling out their first vegan doughnut this year! 

• Starbucks are unveiling some new vegan items this year too, including a vegan Cheese & Marmite Ciabatta and excitingly a Beyond Meat breakfast sandwich, featuring a Beyond Meat patty, tofu scramble, relish, and vegan cheese served on a pretzel roll! 

• Wagamamas are also rolling out new vegan options which include vegan chilli squid, vegan sticky ribs, firecracker curry, and grilled “duck” donburi. They have also pledged that half of its main menu will be meat-free by the end of 2021!

  
  

And these are just only some of the new vegan / meat-free releases announced for this year! The future is certainly looking VERY exciting for vegans, vegetarians and those who want to eat less meat!
Thank you for reading.   Alex xo