Bristol is vegan capital of the world, a new study claims

The UK city was found to have the most Google searches relating to veganism than anywhere else in the world

Bristol is the vegan capital of the world, a new study claims.

Researchers from Chef’s Pencil – an online cookbook where chefs share their favourite recipes – used data from Google Trends to look up the number of vegan-related searches made in any language.

It worked by Google assigning a score for each location (broken down by country and city) that showed the interest level of a given topic by comparing searches made for that topic to all Google searches made in that particular location

Somewhat surprisingly, barbecue-loving Australia was found to be the most vegan country, with the UK coming second.

Bristol was the top city, followed by Portland, Edinburgh, Vancouver and Seattle.

A spokesperson for Chef’s Pencil says: “Move over Berlin and London… Bristol is the new European and worldwide vegan capital.

“Bristol’s concentration of vegan-related searches on Google surpassed every other city in the world.

“While this may come as a surprise to many, the locals know all to well that their city has turned into a vegan Mecca.

“There are lots of vegan restaurants, cafes, vegan hair and beauty salons and even an active Bristol vegan community.”

Bristol has a reputation for being a liberal city. It’s home to the Viva! animal rights action group, while three out of Bristol’s four MPs say they are vegetarian or vegan.

September last year saw the opening of the first fully plant-based restaurant in the city, Suncraft, and a vegan food market, House of Veg, is set to open in February.

Veganism has become increasingly popular in recent months, with celebrities such as Beyoncé, Ariana Grande and Lewis Hamilton all devotees of plant-based diets.

An estimated 3.5million people in the UK are believed to be vegan, meaning seven per cent of the population are now shunning animal products altogether, for reasons including animal welfare, reducing their environmental impact and health benefits.

Because of this, there are more vegan options in restaurants and supermarkets than ever.

But not everybody is convinced – following the release of a Gregg’s vegan sausage roll earlier this month, Piers Morgan condemned the Newcastle-based bakery chain, calling them “PC-ravaged clowns” and blaming the sausage roll for making him sick.