leon outlet London

Leon launched a campaign last week encouraging customers to eat more plant-based beyond Veganuary

Sales of vegan dishes at food-to-go chain Leon have leapt by 21% from January 2018 to January 2019, driven by increasing demand.

Its vegan dish sales were up from 34% to 55% of total sales. Vegetarian meals - including vegan - fared even better, increasing from 46% to 64% in the year. The proportion of plant-based products offered by Leon has surged from 36% to 48% since 2017.

The news comes a week after Leon launched a social media-driven campaign encouraging customers to try more plant-based food beyond Veganuary and throughout the year.

‘Plants Aren’t Just for Veganuary’ began with a series of giveaways on Twitter for the first week of February, with the chain asking followers to share what they love about plant-based dishes and post their best plant-based recipes. Those who took part were in with a chance of winning a week’s worth of complimentary vegan lunches at Leon stores, as well as copies of its most recent cookbook Fast Vegan.

“We’ve seen consistent growth in our vegetarian and vegan meals, driven by consumer demand,” a spokeswoman for the fast food chain told The Grocer.

“Whilst our meat-based meals are still successful, we are seeing more people viewing meat as a side dish, motivated by an interest in improving their own health and limiting their environmental impact. We’ve been focusing our development on more plant-based dishes as we’ve seen non-vegetarians and vegans enjoying a wider variety of plant-based meals.”

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