The city with the most vegan-friendly restaurants and enthusiasts on social media is Bath!
In celebration of Veganuary, we’ve created a new Vegan Index which reveals the best UK city for vegans. Reports state a 360% increase in vegans in Britain between 2006 – 2016 with plant-based diets trending now more than ever online. Veganism gains over 3 million Google searches every month and nearly a million mentions of #vegan across Twitter and Instagram in the last year.
In light of this, we conducted research to find out where in the UK is the best place to be vegan, and where the vegan capital of the UK is?
The study combines three data points to create a UK veganism index including:
- The number of Google searches for vegan content in each city
- The number of vegan restaurants in each city
- The number of social media mentions of vegan. Veganism and #vegan, broken down by the city.
Each data point was calculated in relation to the city’s population and combined to create an overall score. The study reveals Bath as the Vegan capital of the UK, followed by Manchester, Cambridge and Leeds.
Vegan capital
The UK vegan index reveals that Bath is the vegan capital of the UK with 153 vegan-friendly restaurants and around 360,000 Google searches each month for Vegan related content, Bath comes out on top as the Vegan capital of the country. The data is calculated relative to the population.
Despite having 776 vegan-friendly restaurants, London ranks 5th on the UK vegan index and is beaten by Manchester (2nd), Cambridge and Leeds.
Swansea ranks the last place on the vegan index, but Plymouth has the least amount of vegan-friendly restaurants with just 24 locally.
Nearly a third of Brits become a vegan just to lose weight
Recent reports reveal that while some Brits take up the vegan lifestyle due to their beliefs on animal cruelty, nearly a third (29%) adopt the diet in a quest for weight loss.
Supermarket brands across the UK are having to stock up on more vegan options to keep up with demand. Mintel has reported that the UK meat-free food market is worth 572 million, up from 539 million only two years earlier.
As George Hamlyn-Williams, Principal Dietitian here at The Hospital Group said:
“Not all vegans choose to take up the diet purely for ethical reasons, a third of people do so in order to lose weight. Incorporating more plant-based foods into your diet is a great way to make healthier choices in 2019.
“Meat and dairy are often difficult for the body to break down, so a vegan diet can also be beneficial from a digestive point of view also.
“When it comes to weight-loss, finding a diet that fits the individual is key to seeing weight loss success. There’s no quick fix or easy solution so committing to a change that can be maintained is key. Opting for a long term lifestyle solution over fads and quick fix products is the best way to see lasting results – giving the body all the nutrients it needs to remain healthy and functioning throughout the journey.”
For further information on long term weight loss solutions give our friendly team a call who can talk you through the options and book you in for a free consultation to see if weight loss surgery could be an option for you.
Sources:
The Hospital Group, Internal Weight Loss Surgery Research (Questionnaire results) – April 2018. The questionnaire was sent to 3.7k THG customers who have had weight loss surgery with us in the last 3 years and generated 435 responses.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/food-and-drink/news/number-of-vegans-in-britain-rises-by-360-in-10-years/
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/6392929/over-half-of-young-brits-have-attempted-to-become-vegan-in-last-12-months/
Social listening data was collated in January 2019 using Linkfluence platform. We analysed social media posts across the past year looking at vegan specific keywords.