Cadbury’s have opened a pop-up plant-based ‘Mean Tweetshop’ in Soho, London, to tackle the negative reputation associated with vegan chocolate and promote their new line of Plant Bars while they’re at it.
Seemingly in response to growing consumer demands for plant-based options, the creators of the popular Dairy Milk Bar have now released their Plant Bar – a vegan alternative to their best selling product.
Chocolate is often cited as the food item that vegans miss most when making the transition to a plant-based lifestyle – vegan chocolate does not have the best reputation. Cadbury’s are attempting to convert the sceptics with their new Plant Bars, and they’ve chosen an interesting way to market them. By wrapping their vegan chocolate bars in limited edition packaging that features ‘mean-tweets’ by people, they hope to invite vegan chocolate sceptics to eat their words.
Some of the tweets featured on the wrappers include “Try vegan chocolate. It’s so horrible you won’t want a second piece.” and “Vegan chocolate? Sounds grim.” Available between 22nd and 27th March 2022, curious customers can visit the store and purchase one of two new plant-based chocolate flavours: Smooth Chocolate or Smooth Chocolate with Salted Caramel.
This comes off the heels of Veganuary, where people are encouraged to get a taste of the vegan lifestyle throughout the month of January. A Veganuary survey conducted in September 2019 showed that of the 1368 respondents, the majority wanted to see more sweet products veganised.
The product that had by far the highest demand for plant-based reform was Cadbury’s Dairy Milk Chocolate with 28% of votes, followed by Mars Bars with 14% of votes. The voting options also included ‘cheesy’ products such as cottage cheese and Walker’s cheese and onion crisps, though these were all out-voted by the chocolate products, indicating that there is a higher demand for vegan sweet treats.
With 2022 well on its way, it’s fair to say that the image of veganism is undergoing the most radical change in its history.“It’s no longer portrayed as an unusual lifestyle, it’s easy and accessible, and many people now incorporate vegan options in their everyday choices.
Ericka Durgahee, Marketing Manager at The Vegan Society
According to YouGov, over a third of Britons have an interest in changing to a vegan lifestyle, and as more companies incorporate vegan options into their offerings, we imagine the transition will only become easier. Additionally, as more people express an intention to adopt a plant-based diet, we are likely to see a rise in chocolate makers developing their own products without animal ingredients.
