Waitrose has introduced nine new products to its PlantLiving own brand range, including Aubergine, Mushroom & Edamame Pillows with Soy & Ginger and Vietnamese Style Vegetable Pancakes with a Lime and Chilli Dip.
The supermarket chain noted that searches on its website for vegan and convenience cooking have been trending, with ‘vegan ready meals’ and ‘ready meals’ up 31% and 30% respectively over the last 90 days. It also pointed to recent research indicating that 46% of its customers are already trying to eat or are interested in eating 30 different plants a week.
Abby Catmull, Vegan Product Developer at Waitrose, said: “With customers looking to incorporate more plants into their diet, we have added the new ‘plant varieties’ logo to the packaging of 14 of our PlantLiving products. Our new PlantLiving: Vietnamese Style Vegetable Pancakes with a Lime and Chilli Dip contains 11 plant varieties, providing customers with a third of their 30-plants weekly goal in one snack! Packed with beansprouts, cabbage, and oyster mushrooms, to name a few, these pancakes are delicious served with the accompanying zingy nuoc cham style dipping sauce.”
Emily Quinn, Waitrose Vegan and Vegetarian Buyer, added: “We know that our customers want something which is both delicious and nutritionally beneficial, and sales for key plant-based products such as our PlantLiving: Vegetable Tikka Masala & Rice and PlantLiving: Smoky Chilli & Rice are up 17% and 5%, last week, versus the same time last year.”
