David Knibbs has experienced his fair share of frustration trying to tempt people with tofu samples. Passers-by would dismiss the offer out of hand, remembers the MD and co-founder of The Tofoo Co. “I’d ask how they know they don’t like it, and they’d say: ‘Well… I just know I won’t’.”

In the past couple of years, however, “we’ve seen a bit of a sea change”. The British public has started to wake up to the potential of tofu. That’s playing out in the numbers. The Tofoo Co was the standout performer in meat-free last year, delivering value growth of 11.1% and volume growth of 10.6%, The Grocer’s latest Top Products Survey revealed.