Save 43% by Going Plant-Based This Christmas

The 1st of November marks International Vegan Day, a global celebration of veganism and the positive impact that it has on the planet. While animal welfare, environmental concerns and weight management play a large part in the decision to abstain from meat and animal products, one of the lesser known benefits of veganism is that it can also save you money. With the cost of living playing on everyone’s mind this year, we at Moneyzine reveal that going vegan this Christmas could cut the cost of your festive dinner by an astonishing 43%.

A recent study by Oxford University has revealed that a balanced vegan diet in the United Kingdom can be as much as a third cheaper than a meat-based diet, and with the notoriously expensive festive season fast approaching, many will be looking to save money wherever they can. Indeed a recent report by PwC has revealed that almost a third of British adults are looking to spend less on Christmas this year, with 80% citing rising food costs as the main reason, and for those worried about spiralling grocery bills the news that the price of Christmas turkeys is soaring by up to 20% could well be the last straw for the traditional meat-based dinner. The Grocer cites high production costs across the poultry sector as the reason for the rise. The majority of retailers appear to be passing on the pain, with price hikes of at least 10% seen across 13 of the 21 frozen turkey lines currently available in stores. The largest price hike was seen in Aldi, which just last year was crowned as the cheapest supermarket for a Christmas dinner, with the essential ingredients costing an average of £22.30 for 2022.

Aldi was therefore the starting point for our research: can the well-known budget supermarket still deliver market-leading prices in 2023, and how much can be saved by switching out animal-products for vegan-friendly ones? We examine a base set of ingredients at current prices:

Somewhat surprisingly, the price of the traditional Aldi Christmas dinner comes in at just £21.90: 1.79% cheaper this year, despite the fact that inflation has been running at 6.7% over the last 12 months. What is more surprising, however, is just how much lower the vegan Aldi Christmas dinner costs, at just £12.56: a saving of £9.34.

The savings were made by substituting the frozen turkey crown for a festive vegetable wellington, and the sage and onion mix, which isn’t vegan, for onion gravy which is. By making these changes, a vegan Christmas dinner is 1.74 times cheaper than its meat-based counterpart.

For those who simply do not want to compromise on quality, Waitrose is often the supermarket of choice, but was found to be the most expensive retailer for purchasing Christmas dinner in 2022. That does not mean, however, that there are not still savings to be had by choosing vegan alternatives over meat:

In this scenario, we substituted the Waitrose essential turkey crown for a plant-based festive wellington. While Aldi’s cheapest cranberry sauce was suitable for vegans, the Waitrose equivalent was not (it contained gelatine), so for the vegan menu we selected the lowest-priced vegan alternative. Unlike Aldi’s sage and onion stuffing, the Waitrose’s equivalent is suitable for vegans and could therefore be used for both.

Overall, the ingredients for a traditional Waitrose Christmas meal comes in at £43.02, but the vegan equivalent, while pricier than Aldi, comes to just £25.92: a saving of £17.10 or nearly 40%.

For the one in four adults who have already made the decision to eat less meat in a bid to save money, this will come as no surprise. In fact, meat consumption in the United Kingdom is at its lowest level since records began, and the trend is said to be driven by both the cost of living crisis and the continued impact of Covid. Since 2012, there has been a 14% decrease in the amount of meat eaten in the country, with beef, pork and lamb consumption falling by 26%, and chicken consumption falling by 11% in the past decade.

While the industry will no doubt be desperate to do what it can to reverse this trend with competitive pricing, it seems that it is simply not possible: the ONS reports that the price of chicken breasts has increased rapidly in the last year, rising by 33p, with 600g now costing an average of £3.60. Milk also increased exponentially from September 2021 to September 2022, rising by 35p and bringing the cost of an average four pint carton to £1.52.

By contrast, the vegan-staples of lentils, pulses and beans cost an average of just £2.40 per kg, and with a simpler production and supply chain are far less susceptible to the unpredictable and uncontrollable cost-drivers that apply to their animal-based rivals.

Jonathan Merry, personal finance expert, at Moneyzine, is not surprised by this trend:

Long before the cost of living crisis hit we were seeing a rise in ethical consumerism, and attitudes towards veganism have undergone a major generational shift over the past decade. For many there will always have been that latent desire to move away from animal-based products, and now there is a very real and very immediate financial incentive to take that step. The team at Moneyzine has shown us how we can make savings on Christmas Day, but those who embrace a new diet will have the potential to cut their grocery bills by hundreds, if not thousands, of pounds during 2024.

Jonathan Merry, personal finance expert at Moneyzine