The Rise of Vegan Chocolate

Vegan food is now big business. In 2019, the vegan confectionery market alone was valued at US$816.0 million. It’s expected to have a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11.8% from 2020 to 2027. Vegan chocolate is the stand-out star of the vegan confectionery show. It just keeps getting more and more popular.

From craft brands to commercial success

Vegan chocolate is actually nothing new. Dark chocolate tends to be vegan by default. It just didn’t market itself on its vegan credentials. Instead, it was produced by craft brands and sold to chocolate connoisseurs. Mainstream consumers stuck to milk chocolate with the odd bit of white chocolate.

In 1991, however, Green & Black’s arrived on the scene. They astutely carved out a niche for themselves at the premium end of the mainstream market. Their strategy was to create “hybrid” chocolate bars. In other words, they created milk chocolate with a high percentage of cacao to give it a more powerful taste.

Green & Black’s didn’t take over the UK chocolate market. Even today, most UK consumers still prefer the flavour of milk chocolate. They did, however, bring “craft chocolate” into the mainstream. By doing so, they essentially pushed open the door for modern vegan chocolate which, by definition, has to be made without milk.

Arguably, the spiritual successor to Green & Black’s is LoveRaw, founded in 2013 by Rimi Thapar. It is purely focused on vegan confectionary and its brand is very much based on its support for the vegan lifestyle. Now, however, LoveRaw is facing competition from major confectionery brands like Mars along with many retailers.

From Aldi to Selfridges

Aldi, Tesco, Marks and Spencers and Selfridges are very diverse brands. They do, however, all share a common desire to claim their share of the vegan chocolate market. All of these retailers have significantly increased their vegan chocolate offering, notably over Easter. This follows on from a massive (90%) increase in Christmas sales of vegan confectionery at Selfridges.

It’s easy to see why. Over 12% of UK shoppers are vegetarian or vegan and another 21% are flexitarian. That’s already a third. Then there are people who are lactose intolerant. These people might use animal products in general but would need to avoid products made with dairy milk. Finally, there are people who just want healthier, more sustainable chocolate.

The momentum keeps growing

It was only a few decades ago that vegetarianism was “the new food trend”. Now even steakhouses have vegetarian offerings (presumably to cater for groups). Veganism is a logical next step and is clearly following along the same path from niche interest to mainstream acceptance.

If anything, veganism is likely to have a shorter journey. This is partly because vegetarianism went before. It’s also partly because the concerns which fuelled the movement are still very much present today. In fact, if anything, they have grown rather than subsided.

Like vegetarianism, veganism (and flexitarianism) is being fuelled by a combination of health concerns and concerns about sustainability, the environment and animal welfare. None of these looks likely to disappear any time soon - quite the reverse.

Not just for retail

Vegan treats aren't just for the big retail stores, as well as making their way into the many household retail names, SME's have also taken the vegan plunge to expand their target audience and provide better, quality products that will appeal to more people.

Promotional vegan chocolates for example are sweeping their way through offices and commercial spaces such as trade shows and business events which enable businesses to stand out amongst the other luxurious chocolate brands that have enjoyed the spotlight for so long.