Can Britain’s butchers survive the vegan boom?
When you get down to the pure numbers of people that are vegan they are very small. What is having an effect is flexitarianism – those making a reduction, maybe one less meal a month.
JAMES TAPPER: ‘With Veganuary in full swing and scientists delivering an onslaught of post-Christmas advice about the perils of meat eating, butchers are under pressure from all sides, caught in the cleft of consumer demands for better quality food at ever cheaper prices. Take Robert Byford. A year ago, his shop in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, was one of four serving a population that was enthusiastic about steak and bacon. Now Byford Food Hall is the last one standing. “Where we are, three butchers have closed in the last 12 months,” Byford said…
Britain had about 15,000 butchers’ shops in 1990, a number that declined rapidly during the BSE crisis in the following decade and the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in 2001. By 2010 there were just 6,380, according to the Office for National Statistics, and now there are 5,830. About 100 shops a year are closing down without being replaced.
That decline may be speeding up again, and it certainly isn’t hindered by dietary advice such as that issued last week in the Lancet, by scientists suggesting people reduce their weekly red meat intake by 50%… Everyone has a different explanation. Some blame vegans, “When you get down to the pure numbers of people that are vegan, the numbers are very, very small. What is having an effect is flexitarianism – those making a reduction, maybe one less meal a fortnight or one less meal a month”, Matt Southam said’. SOURCE…
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