Facts to coincide with National Vegetarian Week

25th May 2010, 11:29am

To coincide with National Vegetarian Week, the MMR Research Worldwide have conducted some research suggesting that more needs to be done to impress diners with veggie food ranges.

Amongst the sample (broadly representative of UK shoppers) MMR found 6.5 % were vegetarian and 0.5% were vegan.

On average, women were much more likely to be vegetarian than men (8% vs 3%).

Vegetarians are more likely to be from the higher social classes (64% ABC1 amongst vegetarians vs. 56% amongst non vegetarians).

Veganism could be a growing trend: of the vegetarians the MMR spoke to, only 19% had become vegetarian in the last 5 years. For vegans, this figure was 72%.

Half of vegetarians actually cook meat for other members of their household and this figure rises to two-thirds amongst those with children.

Overall, only 59% of vegetarians can be classified as "strict veggies" (i.e. eat no meat or fish).

The main foods missed by vegetarians are: bacon (35%), chicken (19%), beef / burgers / steak (11%) and sausages (5%).

The five most common reasons (unprompted) why people go vegetarian are: animal rights / cruelty / welfare (31%), dislike meat / taste of meat (20%), it is not right to kill / eat animals (16%), health reasons / healthy eating (15%), I could not eat animals / animal flesh (11%).

10 percent of lapsed vegetarians have moved away from a vegetarian lifestyle primarily due to concerns over health and nutrition.

The majority of UK vegetarians feel the need to supplement their diet with vitamins and minerals.

Around a quarter of vegetarians are not satisfied with the choice of vegetarian options available to them in their supermarket.

Click here to submit a comment!

Julie Skelton

26 May 2010 at 1:18pm

We always strive to put on a vegetarian dish on our school menus. However it is difficult to find dishes that the children will eat. Especially those who are not vegetarian but would like a change from what else is on the menu any suggestions?

Have your say!

To comment on this article, simply enter your name and email and send us your views. Please note that your comment will appear publicly below this article once it has been processed. For enquiries please email info@costsectorcatering.co.uk.