International retail giant Marks and Spencer (M&S) has expanded their range in the United Arab Emirates. The popular store has launched a range of vegan and vegetarian meals, according to best-selling UAE magazine, Ahlan!.
The range includes beetroot falafel, lentil and beetroot burgers, roasted mushroom and red onion sausages, mince and edamame bean burgers, among others. All of the new additions are suitable for vegetarians with several also being vegan-friendly.
The range is “packed with plenty of protein”, according to the publication, including soya mince which is “naturally low in fat”. Some of the items, such as the sweetcorn burgers, also provide one of your five a day.
Increasingly, vegan products are becoming appealing to consumers who wish to indulge without the health risks. A growing amount of research is linking dairy and meat with heightened disease risk. Fortunately, many of these well-loved favourites have been replicated without the use of animals. Even vegan ice cream can be made with substantially less saturated fat and no cholesterol.
While this appears to be the first time that these items have reached M&S stores in the United Arab Emirates, M&S stores in the UK launched some of these products late last year. Several other popular retailers, including Tesco, Trader Joes, Waitrose and Woolworths, also recently increased their number of vegan options. Notably, M&S also catered to their veg-curious customers last Christmas with new plant-based festive food products.
Of the original launches, M&S product developer Katie Squire said: “[w]e have been on a mission to find the tastiest plant-based alternatives to meat, and are very excited to be finally launching these products. They have been scientifically developed to replicate meat in terms of taste, texture and even smell, appealing to those taking a ‘flexitarian’ approach to meat reduction”.
The ever-growing vegan movement is rolling out rapidly across the globe. In Germany, the number of people ditching meat has doubled. The vegan market in China is expected to become one of the fastest growing around the world while vegan and vegetarian Aussies are at an “all-time high”.
Image Credit: Marks and Spencer
