Waitrose and Morrisons come top of vegetarian & vegan-friendly supermarket poll

Now we can announce that the winners of the 2007 Animal Aid Vegetarian & Vegan Supermarkets of the Year are Morrisons for its vegetarian provision and Waitrose for its vegan provision. Overall, Waitrose was found to be the most vegetarian and vegan friendly supermarket in Britain owing to its provision of meat-and dairy-free products across the spectrum.

Waitrose is renowned for its ethical stance and this latest award follows last year’s announcement that it had been named the most farm animal-friendly supermarket chain by Compassion in World Farming. A month later, it was named as the most environmentally-friendly supermarket group in a study by the National Consumer Council.

Says Animal Aid’s Vegetarian Campaigner, Kelly Slade:

‘The demand for non-animal food products is growing rapidly. Animal Aid’s survey shows that, while some supermarkets provide a good range of vegan and especially vegetarian foods, and stock a wide selection of fresh, frozen and chilled products, others have a very long way to go.

‘Animal Aid would like to see supermarkets taking vegetarian and vegan consumers seriously and increasing their provision of chilled and frozen products, especially dairy-free alternatives. This would also be welcomed by a significant proportion of the population who are lactose-intolerant. Our survey showed that labelling is key to reaching target customers and, although the majority of supermarkets have now adopted vegetarian labelling of their own-brand products, most still do not label their vegan products.’

* The supermarket branch that scored highest of all 622 stores surveyed was Waitrose in Beaconsfield.

Notes to Editors

• View the supermarket survey report
• According to a study by the leading market research company, Consumer Analysis Group, six per cent of the population is totally vegetarian and a further 2000 people a week stop eating meat. Already, 40 per cent of the population avoid eating meat at least once a week. Britain has the second largest number of vegetarians in Europe after Germany, with the UK vegetarian food market valued at £700 million per annum in 2006. There is also a rising population of vegans in Britain, currently estimated to be around 250,000.