Birds Eye has dropped a vegan sausage roll
Birds Eye just dropped its first vegan sausage roll.
Vegans and flexitarians may not be able to get to a Greggs right now to enjoy a meat-free sausage roll, but thankfully Birds Eye are offering the next best thing.
Launched to coincide with National Sausage Roll Day (today, Friday June 5), the company have launched their new meatless sausage rolls.
Made from a seasoned pea protein filling, which is encased in a flaky puff pastry, the vegan version is said to resemble the taste and texture of Birds Eye’s traditional frozen sausage rolls.
“We know that sausage rolls are one of the nation’s favourites snacks, so we wanted to create a meat-free version that perfectly replicates the taste and texture of high-street outlets, but with the convenience of being able to cook at home straight from the freezer,” Anne-Marie Gayer, the company’s senior brand manager, said in a statement.
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She continued: “As the pastry is only cooked once, it results in a lighter and flakier pastry compared to just warming through a chilled sausage roll. We’ve also ensured that our recipe has the perfect ratio of seasoned vegan sausage to flaky pastry.”
The meat-free sausage rolls are available at Tesco and Sainsbury’s and are usually priced at £2.50 for a pack of four (although they are currently on sale at just £1.50 in Sainsbury’s)
The plant-based released forms part of Birds Eye’s Green Cuisine, which was launched last year to encourage people to try more meat-free foods.
The range includes meatless burger patties, meatballs, and sausages.
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It’s hardly surprising Birds Eye are keen to take a bite of the vegan pie as recent figures reveal in the UK alone, 7% of the national population identify as vegan.
And we’re consuming more vegan ‘meat’ than ever before. A recent report from Mintel revealed the sale of meat-free products increased by 40% between 2014 and 2019, with researchers predicting the market to grow to more than £1.1 billion by 2024.
It seems we’re going meat-free when it comes to our takeaways too. According to research conducted by the British Takeaway Campaign, orders of plant-based takeaways grew an astonishing 388% between 2016 and 2018 with 600,000 vegans in the UK alone.
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Birds Eyes latest release follows the hugely successful launch of Greggs vegan sausage roll last year, then their highly-anticipated vegan steak bake.
Other fast food chains have also been getting in on the plant-based act with Subway and Pizza Hut also launching vegetarian and vegan alternatives.
Meanwhile, KFC has been trialling a range of ‘chicken’ nuggets and wings in order to appeal to the vegan market.
