Veganuary

November saw the world premiere of It'll Never Catch On: The Veganuary Story marking 10 years from the creation of the global phenomenon encouraging everyone to 'try vegan for January'. In the film, founders Jane Land and Matthew Glover reflect on their struggles and surprising successes; celebrities Chris Packham (pictured above, left), Jasmine Harman (pictured above, right), Kellie Bright and Jane Fallon reveal how taking part in Veganuary changed their lives; and food industry giants including ASDA, Burger King and BOSH! discuss how it has revolutionised the food landscape in Britain. View the trailer: www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUhkj-YRAhk

Elevate your skincare for Veganuary

Veganism is one of the fastest-growing global movements, witnessing significant growth over the last decade. Today, we can find vegan options for nearly everything with most major brands offering vegan alternatives. While food is a crucial aspect of being vegan, it is only one component of veganism. To fully embrace a vegan lifestyle, people also examine all areas of their lives that may cause harm to animals, such as clothing, perfumes and skincare.

Some skincare products are not vegan-friendly. Some may have been tested on animals or contain animal-derived substances such as beeswax and lanolin (found in sheep wool), which are often used in soap bars, moisturisers, and lip balms.

With so much choice available, finding the right vegan skincare product can be challenging.

This is why it is more important than ever to make sure you select the right products to make it easier for customers to find the right vegan product for their skin. It is also a positive step towards building trust with your customers and showing them that you are also passionate about choosing products that are better for animals, people and planet.

Here are some useful tips for selecting vegan skincare and beauty products for your store.

Vegan accreditations
– Choose brands with logos from reputable vegan organisations such as The Vegan Society, PETA, Leaping Bunny or Choose Cruelty-Free.

Check the ingredients
– Make sure that you check the product's ingredient list and avoid any that contain animal-derived substances such as lanolin, beeswax, honey, goat's milk collagen and milk proteins.

Cruelty-free statement
– Look for statements on the packaging or in product descriptions showing that the product is cruelty-free, meaning it has not been tested on animals. However, it's important to check the ingredient list too because not all cruelty-free products are vegan.

Labelled vegan
– Most vegan skincare products are labelled with the word “vegan” prominently on the packaging or in their marketing materials.

Consult online databases
– There are plenty of useful online resources dedicated to helping you find the right vegan skincare products, such as the Vegan Society's product directory.

Research the Brand
- If in doubt, check the brand's website and if you're still in doubt then reach out to their customer support for clarification on their vegan status and animal testing practices.

At Friendly Soap, we believe that beauty should never come at the cost of cruelty. Since 2008, we have proudly used sustainable, ethical and vegan ingredients and are 100% plastic-free.

Opting to choose vegan skincare should become a natural extension of your ethical and compassionate values. Let's work together to make a real change for ourselves, animals and the planet.

Chris Mather
Friendly Soap marketing assistant

Challenging the VMS industry

Dr Vegan, a fiercely plant-based and ethical supplements company, is running promotions throughout Veganuary with its retail partners, including Revital and Wholefoods Market, and wants to do the same with new retailers listing the range.

The company provides all stockists with comprehensive training support, including in-store training, product training guides, an online product catalogue, counter display units, window and in-store posters, plus a refillable pill tin as a gift for customers.

“Veganism has moved on enormously from even five years ago,” says CEO & Co-Founder Gordon Lott. “It's not an activist movement as it may have once been perceived, but increasingly everyone is trying to be a little bit vegan where they can be, reducing their waste, being conscious of the environment, and opting for products that don't contain animal ingredients unnecessarily.

“We believe it's time consumers demanded more from the supplement industry. You don't need animal ingredients, artificial or plant-sweeteners, or any nasty additives in supplements in order for them to be effective or to taste good, and we believe consumers shouldn't have to make compromises between their health and the planet.

“Ninety per cent of our customers are not vegan – they choose us because our supplements work, they're healthier for them, and our products are better for the planet.”

Easy vegan meals and handy planograms

Proud Veganuary supporter Suma is pulling out all the stops with its wholefoods and plant-based ranges.

Aware that busy real-world people don't cook from scratch every single night, the workers co-operative has come up with a range of 11 meat-free ready meals in a can. They're affordable too, coming in at a much lower price point than most other supermarket ready meals. As ambient products, they're store cupboard staples and take up no valuable fridge space.

They include a vegan Spag Bol, vegan Meatballs in a Bolognese sauce, a spicy vegan Chorizo Stew and a Veg Stew and Dumplings, plus much-loved Baked Beans and Vegan Sausages, classic Mac n Cheeze and three raviolis.

A range of 10 vegan soups makes for an impressive display and includes Pea and Ham, Tomato, Tomato and Basil, Minestrone, Spicy Lentil, Creamy Mushroom, Rustic Vegetable, Pea, and Tuscan Bean.

A new planogram for sustainable and ethical vegan products shows retailers how to optimise shelf space with products from brands including Love Raw, Oatly, Minor Figures, Manomasa, Clif Bars, Vego and own-label Suma. These span everyday ambient items including plant-based milk, healthier snacks and sweets, and vegan ready meals with products displayed in one bay or integrated throughout the store.

“We've done the hard work for retailers by carefully selecting a depth of range that goes hand in hand with sustainable and ethical vegan shopping,” said Suma Wholefoods head of convenience sales Johnny Spencer. The vegan-focused ranges will add to Suma's existing vegan student, free-from, chilled, frozen and green cleaning planograms.

Veganicity's always on board

Veganicity has supported Veganuary since it started. There's a clue in the name – promoting veganism for the benefit of people's health, the environment and to stop the needless suffering of animals.

More than 100 products from Multi Vitamin & Mineral to Vollagen Extra are approved and registered with the Vegan Society, and most are free from sugar, gluten, yeast, lactose and wheat, with no colourings or preservatives.

To celebrate, enjoy an extra 10% off the standard 40% trade prices across the entire range throughout December and January. Stock up before the Veganuary rush to make sure your customers are ready.
Phone 01323 388150
Email: [email protected]
www.veganicity.com

Get involved

Veganuary's corporate collaborations page is at veganuary.com/get-involved/corporate-collaborations where you can download the 2024 Business Support Toolkit that covers all aspects of getting involved from a product and promotion perspective. Businesses can take part in Veganuary internally by getting staff to sign up to the pledge and offering plant-based meals in-house to help them. Visit veganuary.com/get-involved/workplace-challengee.