Joint call to action on UK retail protein diversification
How UK retailers can lead on protein diversification, for our health, food security & the planet.
Alongside civil society organisations across Europe, we ask all UK supermarkets to take urgent steps to set specific, measurable targets for 2030 and beyond to significantly increase their ratio of plant to animal-source food sales, and to publicly report their progress on an annual basis.
​
A shift toward plant-rich foods is one of the most powerful levers for cutting UK emissions, reducing biodiversity loss, improving public health, and building long-term resilience in the food system. The EAT-Lancet Commission’s Planetary Health Diet shows that a diet optimised for population health would contain at least 75% plant-based foods by 2050. Increasingly frequent supply chain disruptions – from extreme weather, conflicts and other crises – have created an urgent need for greater focus on food security. Setting targets for the transition to more plant-rich diets also represents a commercial opportunity to build supply-chain resilience, drive category growth to meet consumer demand, and achieve long-term financial viability.
Led by
Our ask
All retailers should:
Sign the call to action
Developed by the five organisations leading civil society engagement with retailers on protein diversification – this call to action represents the unified ask for the UK retail sector.
If your organisation wants to adopt this ask and be part of a coordinated voice for change, add your name below.
Setting targets
Setting targets gives retailers a clear direction of travel and a public commitment to work towards. The targets below outline the level of ambition required to balance viability and sustainability.
2030 ambition
Protein-source foods (Food Group 1)
UK Retailers should aim for at least 30% of all protein-source foods (Food Group 1) to be plant-based by 2030, in line with the recommendations of the WWF Livewell Diet.
Dairy
UK Retailers should aim for Dairy category sales to account for around 8% of overall sales by 2030*, measured according to the WWF Basket Diets Methodology, and aligning to the WWF Livewell Diet and Eatwell Guide recommendations.
2050 ambition
Beyond 2030, retailers should set progressively more ambitious plant-based targets to align with recommendations of the Planetary Health Diet by 2050. This would put UK retailers in alignment with the progress and ambition of leading European supermarkets.
​
As per the Plant-Rich Europe Call to Action, the shift should be driven primarily within the protein and dairy food groups with targets focused accordingly:
Protein-source foods (Food Group 1)
Protein-source foods (Food Group 1) should reach 33% plant-based by 2035 and 60% plant-based by 2050.
Dairy
Dairy category sales should align with the Planetary Health Diet by 2050.
Whole assortment
While the shift should be driven primarily within the protein and dairy food groups, across the whole assortment* 60% of all foods sold should be plant-based by 2035. By 2050, this should rise to 75%.
More detail: Target setting
Why it matters
Diversifying protein-source foods in UK retail unlocks key impacts at scale:
Drives climate and nature action
Adopting plant-rich diets is the single most effective intervention to reduce food system greenhouse gas emissions and is critical to reducing biodiversity loss.
Prevents chronic disease
Plant-rich diets are associated with lower risk of cardiovascular disease, premature mortality, and type 2 diabetes, with huge savings for healthcare systems globally. In the UK almost a third of the meat
we eat in the UK is processed, with
32% of the red meat we import from
overseas comprised of processed
meat. This makes imported, processed meat an obvious target for reduction given the health risks.
Opens up new markets for UK farmers
Protein diversification creates new domestic markets for UK farmers as growing numbers start to diversify into pulses, vegetables and fruit. It also creates the conditions for remaining livestock production to transition towards higher welfare systems.
The role of retailers
Retailers play a crucial role in shaping our food choices, with unique decision-making power over product ranges, pricing, promotion and placement – all of which affect whether sustainable choices are available, accessible, affordable, and appealing for consumers.
When retailers set clear, science‑based targets aligned with the Planetary Health Diet and disclose their progress, the whole retail sector can systematically track and steer its sales toward healthier, more sustainable options.
We recognise that implementing our ask will take time and resource; now as a collective, civil society organisations stand by to support UK retailers on this journey.
For retailers diversifying protein-source foods would mean:
Meeting Scope 3 emissions targets
For most retailers, around 90% of emissions sit in Scope 3, driven overwhelmingly by agricultural supply chains. This means action on agriculture and diets represents one of the greatest opportunities to make progress against Scope 3 targets.
Building commercial and supply chain resilience
Climate change poses a growing threat to UK food supply chains, and retailers heavily reliant on livestock supply chains face increasing input cost volatility. A more diversified protein offer provides a natural hedge, spreading supply chain risk. The commercial case is already being demonstrated by first movers. Diversification also creates the opportunity to prioritise UK-sourced meat over imported alternatives, which are often produced to lower animal welfare standards and are more heavily processed, further strengthening supply chain resilience while improving the health and welfare credentials of products on shelf.
Aligning with EU industry and policy
Across Europe, leading retailers have already set ambitious protein split targets and are beginning to deliver against them. UK retailers that delay risk falling behind both their European competitors and the trajectory of expected regulation.
Measurement and methodology
The WWF Basket Diets Methodology supports retailers in a standardised approach to setting stepwise sales targets, laddering up to the Planetary Health Diet by 2050. 10 out of 11 of the UK’s top food retailers already participate in the WWF Basket using this methodology.