In the final month of our trial of a range of meat-free Quorn products, we have been pleasantly surprised to find that the brand is building a loyal following.
As reported in July’s issue (hence the June sell-by date in the picture above), we have been trialling a range of five meat-free products from category champion Quorn. The trial is part of our attempt to embrace the burgeoning ‘free-from’ opportunity, despite our reservations that our corner of Falkirk is perhaps not quite ready for this new trend!
- The meat-free category is now worth over £270m
- 73% of meat-free product purchasers are non-vegetarian
- Almost 9.5 million people buy into the category
- The Quorn brand accounts for more than half of all meat-free sales
With around 9.5 million people buying into meat-free products these days, according to IRI data, and almost three quarters of those non-vegetarians it seems that a significant minority of shoppers are looking for healthier, guilt-free products. It also helps that meat-free shoppers spend four times as much in-store as non-meat free shoppers, according to Kantar.
After having sold a surprising 62 units in just the first few weeks of the trial, we now have more robust data to analyse. The results, as you can see, show that sales have slowed a little but remain remarkably consistent. Bear in mind that July was a slow month generally in Woodlands as it tallied with the traditional Falkirk holiday period, so we are more than pleased with the results.
- Quorn Sausages – 31 (£1.99 RSP)
- Quorn Cottage Pie – 22 (£2.29 RSP)
- Quorn Deli Ham – 16 (£1.50 RSP)
- Quorn Lasagne – 15 (£2.49 RSP)
- Quorn Nuggets – 34 (£2.29 RSP)
The clear favourites were Quorn Nuggets and Quorn Sausages but every line has sold in reasonably solid volumes.
The lines will be permanently listed now and we’ve also added a range of gluten-free and dairy-free products as we see just how far we can go with the free-from market.
