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According to a report from Mintel, 35% of the UK are now flexitarians. People living this flexible lifestyle are those whom predominantly eat vegetarian, but don’t deprive themselves of meat when they fancy it, minimising their effect on the environment, whilst keeping healthy.
Flexitarians have increased since the introduction of food campaigns such as Veganuary and Meat Free Monday, in fact, of our 17% of guests who have ever taken part in a food campaign, 95% said it has had an impact on their dietary choices since – this figure is only set to rise. According to Mintel, animal welfare and impact on the environment has influenced 24% of people to reduce their meat consumption, with weight loss encouraging 29% to ditch the meat and health being the main factor for almost half of consumers.
Paul, Mary and Stella Macartney launched their ‘Meat Free Monday’ campaign in 2009, encouraging people across the UK to give up meat for just one day a week. With statistics demonstrating just how much eating meat impacts our environment, the campaign is still very much in full force with a quarter of Brits estimated to have meat-free Mondays by 2041.
As reported by Meat Free Monday, if people ate one less burger a week it could save 2350 litres of fresh water. A third of cereal crops and 95% of soy are turned into feed for farmed animals whilst areas of land equivalent to a staggering 100 football pitches are cut down every hour to make room for grazing cattle. These are the shocking statistics encouraging the UK to go meat-free on a Monday or fully-fledged vegans. In our own recent poll, we asked diners if they would be prepared to go meat free for one day a week, a staggering 89% said yes.
Are you catering for flexitarians? Cheaper than meat, catering for vegetarian and vegan diets could really pay off for restaurants. With guests expecting more than your average salad, getting creative with your menu is paramount, with variety being key for flexitarians.
