Tesco will launch a plant-based brand called Root & Soul, despite a slowdown in vegan food sales across the sector.

The supermarket has applied to register the trademark name with the Intellectual Property Officer, under classes 29, 30 and 31 – which covers a range of plant-based products, such as milk alternatives, meat alternatives and fruit and veg, according to The Grocer.

The new brand follows the UK’s largest retailer unveiling its Finest Signature Vegetables range earlier this year, as part of its ‘plant-forward’ initiative.

Subscribe to Grocery Gazette for free

Sign up here to get the latest grocery and food news each morning

Tesco director of food product development and innovation Breige Donaghy said at the time: “We see the next stage of our strategy as ‘plant forward’ and our latest range has been developed as we’ve seen a growing demand for veggie options featuring wholefoods, vegetables and dairy products as the central part of the dish, rather than meat mimics.”

“People are discovering just how delicious this way of eating can be when you bring together unique textures and tempting flavours and we want to help our customers on this journey.”

However, it comes amid a slowdown in vegan products as sales for meat alternatives fell 13.6% over the past year.

Meanwhile, plant-based vegan brand Beyond Meat revealed earlier this month its revenues had plummeted by 9%, leading it to cut a fifth of its workforce.