The Heck sausage company is reducing its range of meatless products, citing consumers’ lack of appetite.
The Yorkshire-based company is ceasing production of most of its vegan sausages and burgers.
Co-founder Jamie Keeble said shoppers are “not ready yet” when it comes to buying his vegan products.
The company will now only make two plant-based varieties — chipolatas and burgers — down from the original 10.
Heck’s decision comes amid waning interest from other companies in meat-free product lines.
Beyond Meat, which makes a plant-based line of burgers, sausage and chicken, suffered a slump in sales last year, blaming consumers on taste, perception of health benefits and price.
And industry giant Nestle said in March it would stop selling its plant-based vegan brand Garden Gourmet in UK retailers less than two years after it first hit shelves.
Supermarket customers have generally scaled back their meat substitutes, according to research firm NielsenIQ, which reported a £37.3m drop in sales in the year to September 2022.
However, market and consumer data provider Statista expects the market for meat substitutes in the UK to grow by 17.53% annually over the next five years.
Heck said it will continue its production of 90,000 vegan sausages per day.
British consumers still want to replace meat with “something that reminds them of meat,” Mr Keeble said.
“I find [demand] will come back,” he added. “We had legumes and grains in the products. It was really nourishing, but the public wasn’t really there yet.”
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The Vegan Society said the UK’s cost of living crisis is having a “major impact” on people’s purchasing decisions.
However, the falling sales of plant-based substitutes did not reflect a broader rejection of vegan options.
“Where there has been a decline in sales, it is not due to a decline in interest in veganism, but to a change in people’s spending behavior,” says the company.
“Many people may be replacing both meat and meat substitutes with more budget-friendly vegan options to save on their weekly groceries,” it added.
Last March, a survey for IPSOS found that 33% of respondents said the cost of plant-based products was too high, but nearly half (46%) said they were considering reducing their meat consumption in the future.
Most meat-free products tend to be vegan, the Vegan Society told the BBC. However, some use egg as a binder, making them suitable for vegetarians but not vegans, it said.
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