Supermarket giant Sainsbury’s will be launching the UK’s first meat-free butchers to mark World Meat Free Week.

The butcher shop will be based at the Bethnal Green Road branch of By Sainsbury’s in London and will be open from 21 to 23 June, selling plant-based meat alternatives including sausages, burgers and mince.

An in-store butcher trained in plant-based cooking will give advice and tips to customers encouraging them to try more plant-based foods during World Meat Free Week.

Customers will be able to taste the plant-based products for free as well as being able to buy the plant-based raw ingredients. The meat alternatives that customers can buy include sweet and smoky barbecue pulled jackfruit, Cumberland ‘shroomdogs’, veggie ‘ribz’ and Moroccan ‘vegbabs’.

Sainsbury’s has seen a 24% rise in customers searching for vegan products online and a 65% increase in sales of plant-based products year-on-year, seeing sales double in the last year compared to the previous year.

Sainsbury’s buyer James Hamilton said: “Whilst we’re seeing a huge climb in sales of our plant-based foods, we know from conversations with customers that there is a sense of trepidation about cooking with them. So, our Meat-Free Butchers has been launched to encourage people to get up close to the products, try what they like and take home some valuable cooking advice and recipe inspiration.

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“We have carefully selected the products on offer from the growing range of over 100 plant-based products now available at Sainsbury’s, so customers are in for a real meat-free treat when visiting the butchers.”