Are people turning their backs on veganism? Scottish businesses to support if you're on a plant-based diet

As we continue slowly into January – the month that feels like two thanks to a longer wait for pay and the comedown from Christmas – many of us see this as time for new beginnings, starting a new diet or cutting out or down on alcohol.

It is a chance to reflect on the year ahead and make plans and goals, which is why concepts like Dry January and Veganuary have gained in popularity in recent years.

While I am trying to cut back on drink this month thanks to a particularly busy festive season, I’ve never been able to face going fully vegan. A slow slide into vegetarianism has happened organically in my home, fuelled by a local weekly vegetable box delivery and my hesitancy to eat meat, which started from a hatred of lamb and has grown to include chicken and certain cuts of beef.

I’m also keen to shop locally for what meat I do buy, and was impressed by D. Campbell & Son Butchers in Callander, where we bought the traditional new year’s day steak pie. They had a noticeboard with full traceability codes and farms for all their meat.

Veggie haggis is also vegan.

This trend of shopping locally, with sustainability in mind, is on the rise and may be putting paid to some people’s plant-based plans. While the trend of going vegan isn’t going away – around 3 per cent of the UK population follow a plant-based diet – some are choosing to incorporate locally sourced meat and dairy again for sustainability reasons.

In 2019, analysis by the Guardian found nearly a quarter of all food products launched were labelled vegan. But by late spring 2023, big names such as Nestle, Innocent drinks and Oatly had withdrawn some vegan products from the market. Sales of coconut milk and almond milk also fell last year, with sustainability reasons cited.

While I couldn’t live without cheese, what about those that want to continue a vegan diet, but also want to support local or Scottish companies? Scotland is home to a wide variety of vegan produce, including Brose oat milk that’s made in East Lothian using only Scottish oats to Sheese, vegan cheese made on the Isle of Bute.

If you want to indulge in vegan chocolates, Fetcha chocolates in Campbeltown are delicious and you’d never know there’s no dairy in them. Oatcakes too can be vegan as are many beers and pickles such as Galloway Lodge Poacher's Pickle. Plus don’t forget whisky, which is also vegan as there’s no animal derivatives used in the fermentation process.

Campbeltown's Fetcha chocolates can be enjoyed by vegans.

It may also come as a bit of a surprise to know that a lot of our traditional recipes are also vegan, including Skirlie (so long as it’s fried in vegetable oil), rumbledethumps and, if made with vegan marg, potato scones. January too is when we celebrate Burns night, and with veggie haggis also being vegan, it's easy to have a plant-based Burns supper.

Despite ingredients coming from far-flung places putting people off pursuing a vegan diet, it can be done for those who want to, while supporting Scottish businesses. As soon as a mature vegan cheddar can be made to taste like the original, I may be tempted to join them.