Sales of vegan meat-free products slumped more than 5% in January, according to new figures from Kantar.

The month of January, which is often dubbed Veganuary by proponents of plant-based foods, is typically the strongest month for sales of alternative vegan foods.

According to Kantar, 15,000 fewer households in Ireland purchased meat-free alternatives in January 2021, which led to a 5.2% drop in sales of meat alternatives year on year.

In contrast, Kantar reports a strong uplift in supermarket sales of traditional foods such as yoghurt (+€4m), cheese (+€8m) and breakfast cereals (+€4.5m).

Groceries

Overall, Irish consumers spent an extra €143m on food groceries in January, with restaurants and bars still closed due to COVID-19 restrictions.

Kantar data shows overall grocery spending in January was up 17% on the same month last year.

German discounter Lidl recorded the strongest sales growth of all the large supermarkets, with January sales up 26% year on year.

SuperValu saw a 19% increase in sales and Tesco enjoyed a 17% increase.

Dunnes Stores continues to hold the largest market share of the Irish grocery market with a near 23% share of the total market.