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- Survey by Mexicana® Vegan finds thatUK customers will be looking for plant-based options for chocolate, meat and cheese this Easter as lockdown 3 starts to ease
- 6% of people are planning to cook vegan on Easter Sunday
A survey by Mexicana® Vegan, the plant-based alternative to the UK’s number once spicy cheese Mexicana®, has found that 54.8% of Brits are likely to buy vegan alternative products to traditional Easter food this year.
The top plant-based alternatives that people will be seeking to replace are dairy chocolate (48.4%), meat (36.4%) and cheese (32.3%).
Some 22.6% of people polled are planning to cook vegan alternatives to the usual Easter Sunday dishes this year, with 47.2% citing the desire to be healthier as the reason for going vegan this Easter.
The survey was carried out by Mexicana®, the UK’s number one spicy cheese, which launched a vegan alternative in July last year that contains the same fiery spice mix and real bell and jalapeño peppers as its famous dairy cousin.
Mexicana® Vegan Block proved so popular – and award winning – with vegans, vegetarians and flexitarians* that Mexicana® Vegan Slices launched in Sainsbury’s and Waitrose earlier this year. Its popularity is in no small part due to its excellent ‘M-Factor’ – how well it melts, like its dairy cheese counterparts. This is what makes the perfect addition to toasties, paninis, jacket potatoes, lasagnes and enchiladas for consumers looking for a plant-based alternative with delicious spicy flavours.
Commenting on the results of the survey, Lisa Harrison, Senior Brand Manager for Mexicana® Vegan said: “So much of our Easter traditions focus on food, whether it’s gifting Easter eggs to friends or family, or indulging ourselves over the long Easter weekend; the highlight being Easter Sunday lunch.
“And with lockdown measures being lifted on Monday (29 March) to allow outdoor gatherings of either six people or 2 households, people will be planning their Easter food experiences and what they will be giving to friends and family this Easter. It’s great to see that people are strongly considering going vegan this Easter.
“We have seen the demand for our plant-based cheezes soar over lockdown as people seek out healthier alternatives and the need to pursue a healthy diet and lifestyle has never been so paramount as it has been over the last year.”
Research shows that vegans and vegetarians look set to make up a quarter of the British population in 2025**, and eating a vegan diet could be the ‘single biggest way’ to reduce people’s environmental impact on earth***.
Mexicana® Vegan Slices are coconut based, made in an allergen-free factory, are fortified with vitamin B12 and calcium and are Vegan Society approved, so they are perfect for vegan, dairy-free diets and all lovers of spicy food.
Mexicana® Vegan is the fourth vegan product from the Norseland product range, following in the footsteps of the award-winning Applewood® Vegan Block and Applewood® Vegan Slices. Applewood® Vegan has won a number of awards, including: the Gold award at the FreeFrom Food Awards 2020; Best Vegan Cheese in the 2019 Vegan Food UK Awards; and Best Vegan Cheese For Melting in the Vegan Cheese Co. 2019 Awards.
Mexicana® Vegan is also the winner in the Dairy-Free Vegan Cheese Blocks Category of the Quality Food Awards 2020.
The new Mexicana® Vegan Slices are now available in 200g slices from 200 Waitrose stores and 482 Sainsbury’s stores across the UK. The pack contains 10 slices of Mexicana® Vegan. At Sainsbury’s, they retail at £2.60 and at Waitrose, their RRP is £2.75.
* Flexitarians are people who mostly eat a plant-based diet but occasionally eat meat and fish.
** Sainsbury’s Future of Food Report
*** Research of Oxford University on Reducing food’s environmental impacts through producers and consumers June 2019
1,000 people took part in the Mexicana®* survey, which was conducted between 5 and 8 February*.
