Dr Martens has reported a profit surge of 70%, bucking the trend of footwear retailers such as Office and Schuh who have witnessed falling sales in recent years. Sales of their vegan range have proved particularly successful, increasing by “multiple hundreds of percent”, according to CEO Kenny Wilson.
Dr Martens are not the only footwear brand to have found success through veganism. French brand Veja earned £17.3m from their sustainable shoes in 2018. Their vegan range, launched in 2019, has proved equally successful and saw the brand entering the Lyst Index for the first time. Mink Shoes, an early pioneer in vegan shoes, has seen sales more than double in the last decade, reaching gross profits of £1.4m by 2018. Other vegan brands to watch include Beyond Skin, Matt & Nat, and Veerah.
The huge demand for vegan products in the UK has also led to a revolution in the food retailing sector. The number of vegans in Britain quadrupled between 2014-2018 and demand for meat-free food increasing by 987% in 2017. Almost every major supermarket has developed a vegan range to keep up with the demand, and 1 in 6 food products launched in the UK in 2018 carried a vegan claim. With the UK meat-free market estimated to grow to £658m by 2021, this is a new angle on the sustainability trend that retailers should pay close attention to.
Where else will we see brands and retailers increase their product lines to support consumer’s growing desire for vegan products?
Contributed By: Marta Formenton, Integer London
Image Source: Unsplash
