Pieminister has launched its first vegan pie through its own restaurants and selected Waitrose stores.

Priced £2.80 and named ‘Kevin’, the 270g pie is made with British chestnut mushrooms, tomato & red wine with baby onions, as well as red quinoa and thyme.

The pie has been registered with the Vegan Society and carries the Vegan trademark.

Pieminister said its first vegan pie was designed to appeal to the growing vegan community, and to encourage others to try veganism. Its launch comes as the ‘Veganuary’ campaign encourages consumers to switch to a vegan diet.

“We believe everyone should be able to indulge in a really good pie and, having nailed our classic and gluten-free pastries, we thought it was high time we created a 100% plant-based recipe,” said Pieminister’s co-founder Tristan Hogg.

“We’re really pleased with the result and think even the most carnivorous customers might be very pleasantly surprised by Kevin – we’re hoping it will inspire a few Veganuary pledges in 2018 too.”

In another sign of the growth of plant-based eating, Sainsbury’s has launched Sweet & Smokey BBQ Pulled Jackfruit, which it claims is a supermarket first, and ‘Shroomdogs’ (mushroom hot dogs), available in two flavours.

The Vegan Society’s Dominika Piasecka recently wrote in British Baker about the opportunity veganism can offer the baking industry.