Retailers need to put more plant-based food on shelves, according to five leading food, climate and nature organisations.
Eating Better, ProVeg UK, WWF, The Food Foundation and Madre Brava said a shift toward plant-rich foods would be “one of the most powerful levers for cutting UK emissions, reducing biodiversity loss, improving public health, and building long-term resilience in the food system”.
The organisations have launched a petition setting out four steps for retailers to grow plant-based food sales and guideline targets to aim for.
The steps include measuring their ratio of plant-to-animal-source food sales, disclosing the outcomes on an annual basis, setting targets to increase their percentage of plant-based sales, and implementing ambitious actions to rebalance sales.
Morvah George, corporate engagement manager for ProVeg UK, said retailers “don’t need to reinvent the wheel”, arguing “the next steps are easily within reach”.
“We’re inviting retailers to join the commercial shift that’s already in motion,” she continued. “Across Europe, leading supermarkets are demonstrating that setting bold protein targets is a direct driver of growth, and one that will ultimately reduce and protect them from the effects of a changing climate.”
George added: “Protein diversification is operationally achievable, aligned with consumer demand, and highly profitable.”
The petition also sets out guideline targets in line with the Eat-Lancet Planetary Health Diet, which said 60% of total food sales needed to be plant-based by 2035, with at least 33% of sales within protein categories plant-based and dairy sales capped at no more than 29% of total food sales.
Justifying the demands, the group said the case for increasing the ratio of plant-based proteins on shelves had “never been more compelling”, pointing to how Lidl GB has exceeded its targeted 400% growth in own-brand meat-free and plant-based milk sales by 294%.
Madre Brava UK director Sara Ayech said it was “absolutely the right time” for retailers to rebalance the ratio of plant to animal-protein sales, adding it would “give UK shoppers a wider range of more affordable, healthier, food to choose from”.
“Getting more sustainable proteins like beans and tofu on supermarket shelves would also help retailers to hit their climate targets in a profitable way,” Ayech added.
Anna Collins, healthy and sustainable diets lead at WWF-UK, acknowledged retailers had made progress tackling their climate impacts over the past decade but argued “the pace and scale of change is still falling short”.
“Making it easier for people to choose more plant-based protein is one of the simplest ways to cut emissions, support farmers, strengthen food security and build more resilient supply chains,” she added. “The good news is that this shift is already underway – but retailers need to move faster and show real leadership if we’re going to make it the norm.”
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