It is no surprise that the pandemic has changed people’s behaviour. After all, a once-in-a-lifetime event is likely to impact even the most stoic individuals. Since the first lockdowns, people have been speculating about how people are changing and which changes will stick. In this sense, the pandemic has had its silver lining for the vegan meal delivery industry.
This has occurred worldwide, and can be seen particularly strongly with vegan meal delivery in Canada. This is due to a combination of the strength of Canada’s meal kit industry and the population’s environmental awareness. But even here in the UK, a lot of people have started using vegan meal delivery services.
There are a few reasons why vegan meal delivery services have exploded in popularity worldwide.
We’re more health conscious
Unsurprisingly, the pandemic has raised our consciousness of physical health matters. A deadly virus is bound to make people think about their vulnerability. This increased consciousness is especially poignant when it comes to nutrition. While the virus targets a person’s respiratory system, food-related issues are some of the biggest comorbidities.
Among people with diabetes who contracted COVID-19, the fatality rate is over 9%. Obesity is another major underlying factor that increases the severity and fatality of the virus.
For this reason, many are turning to healthy vegan food options, cutting down on meat if not cutting it out completely. People are also trying to avoid fast food as much as possible, while unable to go out to restaurants.
Home-cooked meals
There are restaurants which have healthy vegan options, but ordering in from them multiple times a week becomes very expensive, very quickly. Furthermore, good, fresh food does not travel nearly as well as processed fast food.
Meal kits give people the opportunity to cook for themselves and their families without spending hours in the kitchen. After a day working from home, few individuals want to go straight to work at cooking dinner. Meal kits make it easy by providing cut and prepared ingredients with an easy recipe to follow.
Meal kits are not cheap, but they are far more cost-effective than restaurants. Also, time is money, and they save you a lot of time.
“Nature is healing”
One of the memes popular at the beginning of the pandemic was that humans were the real virus. After all, we stopped going out and nature started healing. Without us, the natural world is far better off.
Of course, this could not last, and when the world is back up and running fully, the environment will continue its descent towards climate disaster.
However, the clarity of just how badly humans have been harming the environment was a wake up call for some. They realised just how severe the consequences of their own actions could be. Along with an increased awareness of nutritional health, this has given people the push they needed to start eating vegan.
Since vegan meal deliveries are becoming ever more popular, let’s take a look at the services which have emerged over the past year.
Meal kit companies in a COVID-19 world
Meal kit companies around the world have taken advantage of the increased demand. They have amped up their marketing and widened their ranges. For this reason, most of the big meal kit companies offer a good number of vegan options. HelloFresh is one excellent example of this, as they operate in North America, Europe, and even Australia.
There is also a growing number of specifically vegan meal kit delivery services. In the UK, we have Mindful Chef, who offer a great selection at a good price. They are not the cheapest on the market, but neither are they the most expensive. You can also get pre-made meals from companies like AllPlants, Planty, and Vibrant Vegan Co. In Canada, you get companies like Plant Prepped offering plant-based meals at great value.
The best thing about vegan meals from these companies is their variety. Many people who are new to plant-based eating assume that there are few options when designing a meal. They imagine that every vegan meal is simply a protein meat substitute and some cooked vegetables. The reality is that there is so much you can do with plant-based food without having to resort to poor meat substitutes.
Meal kits give people the opportunity to actually engage with the different meals available. With meals that are easy to cook, new vegans can pay attention to what is going into their meals and how to put them together from scratch.
Will the trend continue?
Many behaviours have changed over the course of the pandemic. Many things we took for granted now seem absurd (like blowing out candles over a birthday cake!). But the question remains as to how many of these changes are permanent.
When it comes to societal changes, it is unlikely that certain changes will simply go away. Office buildings will continue to sit empty as more people work from home. However, with individuals, there will be a fair number who revert to old ways.
That said, the numbers of people who eat plant-based meals will remain higher than it was before the pandemic. The availability of vegan meal delivery services will ensure that it is still no trouble to eat healthy. And with more people eating vegan, the number of services catering to us will only grow.
For more information on switching to a vegan lifestyle, check out this informative article.
