Vegan rip-off: £115.44 extra for vegan products over a year

Vegan products may look cheaper – but offer less value for money, research finds

• The average UK supermarket vegan product is cheaper than traditional equivalent, but 15% smaller
• Vegan packs provide 25% fewer servings than non-vegan versions
• Buying three plant-based products a week would cost a family £115.44 more 

Many supermarket vegan ranges appear to be cheaper than their traditional equivalents – but in reality offer less value for money, new research has revealed.

The findings are drawn from analysis of 120 vegan products across six UK supermarket own-brand ranges (Aldi, Asda, Morrisons, M&S, Sainsbury’s and Tesco). It was conducted by Insure4Sport, a sports insurance specialist, which compared each vegan product to a meat and/or dairy-based own-brand equivalent from the same supermarket.

The average cost of each individual vegan product was 9p cheaper than the non-vegan version. But in many cases, the vegan items are sold in smaller sizes and therefore provide fewer servings per pack. 

In fact, the cost-per-kilogram for vegan products was found to be 99p  (or 11%) pricier, with an average of three portions per pack compared to four portions per pack of non-vegan products. The average weight of each vegan product was 305g, in comparison to 349g for the like-for-like, non-plant-based alternatives – making them 14% smaller in size.

Insure4Sport carried out similar research in 2021 and, at that point, found that vegan products were 35p more expensive than their non-vegan versions. Two years on, however, while individual items may appear cheaper, it’s clear that little has been done to deliver a true cost saving.

The research comes during this year’s Veganuary – following a record 629,000 people pledging to go plant-based for a month in 2022. Making the switch for a longer period, though, could prove costly.

Tesco’s Wicked Kitchen Range was found to provide worst value-for-money in the research. Its vegan products were 41% more expensive on average than non-vegan equivalents per serving. The brand’s Wicked Kitchen Meat Free Crumbed Ham Style Slices, for example, cost £2.50 for four servings vs. Tesco British Pork Crumbed Ham priced at £2 for six servings, a difference of 88%.

Elsewhere, other costlier vegan products include M&S Plant Kitchen No Pork Sausage Rolls at £1.60 per serving vs. M&S Large Sausage Rolls at 53p per serving – a 205% difference.

To put this into context, buying a vegan product three times a week would equate to a spend of £517.92 over the course of a year for a family of four. By contrast, feeding the same number of people with a comparable non-vegan version would cost £402.48 – a saving of £115.44.

A full breakdown of Insure4Sport’s findings can be found here.