January is synonymous with new beginnings and healthy resolutions. In support of a healthy mindset, there is a growing movement to adopt a vegan lifestyle during the month of January. To gain more insights about this initiative and Americans' attitudes toward veganism and vegan-focused products, Wakefield Research surveyed 1,000 nationally representative U.S. adults for Saputo Dairy USA's Vitalite dairy-free cheese brand.

Whether for personal health or planetary health reasons, many Americans are intent on eating more plant-based foods, but still struggle to commit to the lifestyle. In fact, more than 2 in 5 (42%) Americans previously made a New Year's resolutions to add more plant-based foods to their meals but did not stick to it.

And while keeping a vegan-focused New Year's resolution might be tough, the interest in a vegan lifestyle remains high. Survey data shows 68% of Americans have tried a plant-based meat or a dairy alternative. The data also revealed that a third (31%) of Americans substitute meat, cheese or dairy with a plant-based alternative in an average of eight meals a week, suggesting that while they may not go fully vegan, there is a growing appetite to follow an occasional plant-based or flexitarian diet.

Among the 32% who have never tried plant-based alternatives, the top reason they say they won't consider trying is the assumption that products will taste bad (45%). Additional contributing factors are not being convinced of the health benefits (23%) and not supporting veganism (16%) are also contributing factors. More than 1 in 10 (12%) say it's because they don't know how to cook with plant-based substitutes.

"It's clear from our survey that while misconceptions remain about plant-based foods and vegan cheese in particular, tasty plant-based alternatives can find more room on everyone's plates," said David Cherrie, Saputo Dairy USA Vice President, Marketing and Innovation. "Our goal in launching the Vitalite brand was to ensure there's a delicious and melty vegan, dairy-free cheese that addressed the misconceptions. As we begin the new year, we're challenging consumers to give plant-based foods a go."

More than one-third of Americans (34%) expressed some interest in adopting a vegan lifestyle, and 18% would be more open to doing so if they could make non-vegan exceptions, which indicates that the plant-based food market has room to grow.

In addition, the survey shows that some generations appear more eager to embrace plant-based foods. Millennials (81%) are more likely than Gen Z (68%), Gen X (67%), and Boomers (57%) to have tried plant-based alternatives.

Sampling plant-based alternatives is higher among adults with kids (81%) than those without kids (61%). And the number of males (73%) who try to incorporate plant-based meat and dairy alternatives in their diets is higher than females (63%).

More than half of Americans (56%) would be reluctant to let others know if they were vegan or vegetarian. Top reasons cited were concerns about sticking with a vegan or vegetarian diet (23%), not wanting to impose their choices on others (21%) and not wanting others who eat meat or dairy to feel judged (18%).

When it comes to different categories of food, trying plant-based alternatives for meat (49%) and milk (46%) is most common, with only 30% having sampled vegan cheese.