Aldi is gearing up to launch a dedicated vegetarian brand called Veggie Menu.
The new range will be spin-off of the discounter’s vegan Plant Menu own label offer, The Grocer understands.
Aldi has applied to register a logo for Veggie Menu with the Intellectual Property Office under classes 29 and 30, covering cheese spreads, vegetarian sausages and quiches.
It uses the same typeface as the Plant Menu logo and bears the strapline ‘Vive le veggie’ – closely resembling Plant Menu’s ‘Vive le vegan’.
Aldi debuted Plant Menu in December 2019, replacing its I Am Vegan brand, which had launched earlier that year in place of the discounter’s Meat Free Butcher brand. At the time, a spokeswoman for Aldi said the change to the “more inclusive” Plant Menu would appeal to vegan and non-vegan shoppers alike.
The grocer’s latest activity comes as other retailers are making concerted efforts to bolster their vegetarian and vegan ranges, in a bid to appeal to flexitarians.
Tesco, for instance, unveiled a range of Finest Signature Vegetables main dishes in May as part of its new “plant forward” strategy.
In October, Asda listed a trio of meat alternative SKUs from plant-based brand Wicked Kitchen, after the supplier ended its five-year exclusivity deal with Tesco.
Boots, meanwhile, appears to be gearing up to launch its own plant-based range. It applied to register the name Plant Made with the IPO earlier this year.
Conversely, several brands have recently retreated from the plant-based category this year. Nestlé withdrew its Wunda and Garden Gourmet brands in March, stating they were “not viable”.
When sausage maker Heck cut its vegan lines in May, co-founder Andrew Keeble told The Grocer they appealed to a “tiny” portion of shoppers.
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