‘Doubling down on meat’: is the UK’s love affair with vegetarian food over?
McDonald’s, Wagamama and others scale back plant-based choices in the UK in favour of ‘high-margin’ meat-led dishesIn 2021, vegetarianism and veganism were booming and menus reflected it.Restaurants and fast-food chains rapidly expanded their meat-free offerings, racing to meet growing demand from diners.McDonald’s launched its first plant-based burger, joining a wave of operators embracing non-meat options.Fast forward to 2026 and the landscape looks markedly different.Last month, the fast food chain announced it was axing most of its vegetarian range – sparing only its McPlant burger – owing to weak sales.
Wagamama has removed some vegan dishes from its menu, while Domino’s has also scaled back its plant-based options.The final Veggie Pret, a standalone concept store from the high street sandwich chain that started in 2016, closed in February 2024.Some industry observers say the shift reflects growing consumer scepticism around ultra-processed foods, with certain vegetarian meat alternatives criticised for being overly processed.In their place, data shows whole sources of protein are regaining ground, particularly chicken.Others argue the change is less dramatic: rather than retreat, the sector is stabilising after a rapid boom.
Data from Lumina’s Menu Tracker shows that in the first three months of 2025, pubs and bars served two fewer dishes compared with the same period the previous year.Vegetarian options were described as “explicitly shrinking”, as average main course listings remained high at 54 items but menus leaned more towards meat-led dishes.Liv Warren, an insight manager at Lumina, said pubs were “stripping back lower-volume categories, with vegetarian dishes shrinking, while doubling down on high-margin core meat dishes”.A similar pattern has emerged in restaurants.Traditional meat mains grew in prominence, with pizzas and burgers recording an uptick.
“Vegetable dishes were present but declining marginally,” Warren said.High-protein chicken dishes were a key driver, increasing by 4.2 percentage points of mains share over the period analysed.Looking across the first half of 2025, Warren said that while menus were expanding in some channels, growth was firmly meat-led.“Pubs are explicitly reducing vegetarian dishes,” she noted, with expansion driven by “chicken and protein”.
She added: “Vegetable dishes are present but not leading growth … indulgence and protein are outperforming plant-based innovation,”Operators were reallocating menu space towards higher-margin meat dishes, particularly chicken, she said,The shift reflects ongoing cost pressures, a normalisation of demand after the plant-based boom and a change in health messaging from “meat-free” to “high-protein”,Bia Bezamat, the cultural insights director at the market research firm Kantar, said: “A lot of people won’t realise how algorithm-driven food trends can be, too,TikTok is full of micro-trends like high protein, which often lean heavily towards meat, and gut health which is behind the rise of fermented foods like kefir and pickles.
“The rise of GLP-1 medicines also means there’s a trend towards smaller and more nutrient-dense meals.So, restaurants are ultimately responding to all of these different trends.”Kara Buffrey, the founding partner of restaurant agency Chomp, believes the changes amount to adjustment rather than reversal.“The scaling back of veggie options at McDonald’s and Domino’s, along with the closure of concepts like Veggie Pret and other fully vegan restaurants, feels more like a market correction than a cultural reversal,” she said.“Veganism arguably went through a hype phase and brands were bold in responding to that momentum.
But fast food operates on very tight margins and is entirely demand-led.If people aren’t ordering veggie takeaways in high enough numbers, those products won’t survive.”She added that the pressures of rising menu prices may also be influencing consumer choices.“I don’t think vegetarianism itself is necessarily declining, rather, with eating out becoming more expensive, consumers may feel they get more value from meat options.This looks like brands responding pragmatically to purchasing behaviour rather than making a broader ideological shift.
”Inflation, higher wages, increases to national insurance and business rates are all squeezing margins – and with nearly 38% of diners now eating out less than they did a year ago, citing rising costs and the need to save money, businesses are making difficult decisions about which dishes to cut.Laura Hellwig, managing director at the vegan charity Viva!, agreed that wider economic factors could not be ignored.“Hospitality is dealing with higher wages, inflation and rising costs … Across the sector, operators are cutting lower-performing items from menus.”According to Hellwig, consumer interest in plant-based lifestyles is still strong – and actually growing.She cited the Good Food Institute, which released research in May last year stating that 31% of people in the UK were actively reducing their meat intake while 9% said they followed meatless diets.
Veganuary 2026 was record-breaking, with about 30 million participants worldwide, up from 25.8 million the previous year.For these reasons, she rejected the idea of a plant-based collapse.She also emphasised that Wagamama still offered an extensive vegan range and argued the sector was entering a period of consolidation.“It’s normal.
That level of rapid growth wasn’t sustainable long term.Many brands jumped on the plant-based bandwagon and launched large numbers of products; it’s inevitable that some of those would fall away.”Importantly, Hellwig said, strong performers were still in place.“The McPlant remains very popular.The products that work are sticking.
” Affordable high street options, such as the McPlant and the Greggs vegan sausage roll, continue to sell strongly.Helllwig added that “minimally processed, whole-food and naturally high-protein options such as tofu, tempeh, seitan and falafel are growing, as are functional foods with additional health benefits”.
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