Vegan and vegetarian alternatives cost consumers 30% more per calorie than dairy or meat equivalents, an 18-month study has revealed.

The study commissioned by Kite Consulting and AB Dairy compared two baskets of randomly selected vegan and vegetarian foods and brands, every month, with their conventional ‘twins’ from three supermarkets – Tesco, Sainsburys, and ASDA – between June 2022 and November 2023.

Meat-substitute mince was compared with beef mince, vegan sausages with pork sausages, vegan burgers with beef burgers, fish-free fish fingers with fish fingers, vegan cheese with cheddar, and oat or almond ‘milk’ with milk.

Standard, premium, branded, and supermarket ranges were included in the study, with vegan and conventional products within the same categories being compared.

The kcalories /100g were recorded and the retail price of each product was used to calculate the cost per kcalorie.

Analysis showed that across all products, from all supermarkets, consumers paid an average of 42p per kcalorie for vegan alternatives, compared to 30p per kcalorie for conventional foods and brands.

“We hear a lot about plant-based diets, and how we should eat more of them,” said John Allen at Kite Consulting, an AB Dairy Business. “But despite the current cost of living crisis, we don’t hear comments on the nutritional quality of these products in relation to their cost.

“Our simple but long-term study has shed light on this, and it clearly shows that when it comes to buying calories – which is effectively what we do when we buy food – meat and dairy products give consumers far more bang for their buck than vegan and dairy alternatives.”