Nougat croissants are one of the best-selling products in vegan supermarkets

Pure plant foods have been playing an increasing role in the diet of Austrians for years. This is reflected, among other things, in the strong increase in sales of plant-based products, which, according to the Good Food Institute of Europe, have risen to 22 percent in two years. Plant-based meat products are particularly popular, seeing sales growth of 26 percent, and plant-based milks and desserts, which have increased sales by 21 percent. At the same time, meat consumption is changing significantly: according to Statistics Austria, meat consumption has decreased by about ten percent from 2012 to 2022. This social change is also affecting the food retail sector.

Exactly a year ago, Bella opened Austria’s first classic food retailer, Plantilla, offering a purely vegan range. The range consists of more than 2,500 plant-based products, with a further 800 products to be added by the end of October. Until now, vegan nougat croissants have mostly ended up in shopping bags. New to the lineup are Revo Foods’ 3D-printed vegan salmon fillets.

137,000 customers

“Enjoying purely plant-based food is a sustainable development in our society and is no longer a trend. We see this in the high demand at Bella Plantella, which already has around 137,000 customers since it opened a year ago, and in Billa’s head of plant-based business development, Verena Wiederker. In the plant-based food range of the Billa and Billa Plus markets.”