A majority of the respondents eating plant-based for Christmas made the switch within the past four years.

An impressive 20% of Brits are planning to ditch meat this Christmas, according to a survey.

Food delivery platform Deliveroo, which commissioned a survey of 2,000 adults also found that the majority (58%) eating plant-based for Christmas made the switch within the past four years.

46% decided to change their diet to vegan or vegetarian in the last two years.

The survey also revealed that more men are ditching meat in the last year (47%) compared to women (23%).

Plant-based shift

The top reason for ditching meat this festive season was that more than half (55%) of respondents said they predicted having guests who were following a plant-based diet.

Health (32%) and animal welfare concerns (27%) were cited as other reasons for choosing plant-based meals.

Plant-based goes mainstream

The Deliveroo poll aligns with several other recent surveys that confirm how meat has slowly fallen out of favor with consumers.

A previous study by published in the journal The Lancet Planetary Health revealed that meat and fish consumption in the UK has dropped by 17% over the past decade.

Another study by The Vegan Society revealed that around 25% of Brits cut on meat and dairy since Covid-19.

Deliveroo’s own sales data shows that plant-based orders have more than doubled over the past year.

The award-winning delivery service reported a 105% year-on-year growth in vegan dishes since November 2020.

A Deliveroo spokesperson also revealed that ‘vegan’ is now one of the most popular search terms on the Deliveroo app.

• Read: Vegan charity launches first-ever TV ad targeting animal lovers eating meat

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