The traditional turkey and trimmings one associates with the Christmas dinner has evolved to encompass vegan and vegetarian mains with new research revealing that more people than ever before are opting to go meat-free.
The inaugural Tesco Christmas Report found that 18% of hosts will be catering for a vegan or vegetarian this Christmas.
The report used sales and insights data from millions of Tesco customers augmented by a nationwide survey and analysis of social media.
This year will also see a meat-free festive dinner become more popular than goose, which will be enjoyed by only 4% of the nation. (Though this likely has more to do with tightening purse strings than the ethics of eating meat.)
The research also identified a north-south divide when it came to a “green” Christmas dinner, with popularity – perhaps unsparingly – wanting the further one went up the UK.
In Scotland, for example, only 5% of families will sit down to a vegan or vegetarian Christmas dinner compared to 9% of people living in the south.
The plant-based trend doesn’t stop with the protein either, with the research finding that the much-maligned brussels sprouts were more popular than pigs in blankets.
