Sausage maker Heck cuts vegan range as appetite drops

Sausage company Heck is reducing its range of meat-free products, citing lack of consumer appetite.

The Yorkshire-based firm is shelving production of most of its vegan range of sausages and burgers.

Co-founder Jamie Keeble said shoppers were "not there yet" when it came to buying its vegan products.

The company will now make just two plant-based varieties - chipolatas and burgers - down from its original range of 10.

Heck's decision comes against a backdrop of waning interest in meat-free lines at other firms.

Beyond Meat, which makes a plant-based range including burgers, sausages and chicken, suffered a slump in sales last year, blaming obstacles with consumers around taste, perception of health benefits and price.

And industry giant Nestle said in March it would stop selling its Garden Gourmet plant-based vegan brand in UK retailers less than two years after it first appeared on shelves.

Supermarket customers have cut back on meat-replacement products generally, according to research firm NielsenIQ, which reported sales fell by £37.3m in the year to September 2022.

However, market and consumer data provider Statista suggested the meat-substitute market in the UK would grow annually by 17.53% over the next five years.

Heck said it would continue its production of 90,000 vegan sausages per day.

UK consumers still wanted to replace meat with "something that reminds them of meat", Mr Keeble said.

"I think [demand] will come back around," he added. "We had pulses and grains in the products. It was really nutritional but the public wasn't really there yet."

The Vegan Society said the cost-of-living crisis in the UK was having a "big impact" on people's purchasing choices.

However, it said falling sales of plant-based substitutes did not reflect a broader rejection of vegan options.

"Where there has been a drop in sales, it is not due to a decline in interest in veganism but rather a change in people's spending habits," the society said.

"Many people may be replacing both meat and meat-substitutes with more budget-friendly vegan options in a bid to make savings on their weekly shops," it added.

Last March a survey for IPSOS found 33% of people questioned said the cost of plant-based products was too high, but almost half (46%) said they were considering reducing their intake of meat in the future.

Most meat-free products tended to be vegan, the Vegan Society told the BBC. However, some use egg as a binding agent, making them suitable for vegetarians but not vegans, it said.