​More Than One In Five Brits Will Be Meat-Free By 2020, Research Predicts

More than one in five Brits will be meat-free by 2020, new research has predicted.

Finder.com commissioned OnePoll to carry out the nationally representative survey of adults in Great Britain, questioning a total of 2,000 people.

According to the research, many meat-eaters intend to change their diets over the course of 2019, with almost 12 million (22 percent) saying they will follow a vegetarian, vegan or pescatarian diet by the end of this year.

If they follow through with their plans, it is believed 10 percent will opt for a vegetarian diet, while seven percent will go pescatarian and six percent vegan.

PA

While veganism has recently been on the rise, vegetarianism remains the most popular of the major diets, with 3.6 million vegetarians currently in the UK - and an addition 1.5 million hoping to follow suit in 2019, bringing the total vegetarian population up to 5.2 million.

Many may go meat-free for health or lifestyle reasons. However, the research also found that a veggie diet will save you the most cash, with the average yearly cost coming in at £1,545 - £457 (26 percent) less than a meat-inclusive diet (£2,002).

Jon Ostler, UK CEO at finder.com, said: "With the rise of vegan-friendly products such as Greggs' vegan sausage roll, it's important to be savvy and shop around to make sure you're getting the best prices.

"Like any diet, there are ways to avoid falling into traps with overpriced speciality products. A little bit of research and intuitiveness in the kitchen can go a long way. It will also be worth keeping an eye on how Brexit may impact the price of food that we import into the UK."

via GIPHY

Rich Hardy, Head of Campaigns at Veganuary, has also recently dubbed 2019 the 'year of the vegan', agreeing that this has been helped by the increase in available vegan products.

"Going vegan in 2018 has never been far from the news headlines, and trying the Veganuary pledge is often one of the first references used in backing up the headline itself," Hardy said.

"But 2019 will be the year of the vegan, particularly because the supply of vegan products available will meet the demand."

The study found that London (30 percent) and the North East (30 percent) of England have the highest proportion of residents currently or intending to be meat-free by 2019, with the findings suggesting three in every 10 people in both locations will be going without meat by the end of this year.

By contrast, East Anglia sees the lowest percentage of meat-free dieters, with just 12 percent of locals going for veggie, vegan or pescatarian diets.

Topics: Food, UK News, News, Vegetarian, Vegan, UK

Jess Hardiman

Jess is a journalist at LADbible who graduated from Manchester University with a degree in Film Studies, English Language and Linguistics - indecisiveness at its finest, right there. She also works for FOODbible and its sister page Seitanists, which are both a safe haven for her to channel a love for homemade pasta, fennel and everything else in between. You can contact Jess at [email protected].

@Jess_Hardiman