The organisers of the annual Veganuary campaign are celebrating after increasing the number of participants by more than 150,000.
The 2020 campaign, which took place in January, saw more than 400,000 people take the pledge, a huge rise on the 250,000 in 2019 and exceeding the target of 350,000 for 2020.
Hundreds of new plant-based products were launched, with sales exceeding expectations. Retailers also saw interest in vegan products soar, for example, M&S’ Plant Kitchen No Chicken Kiev sold at a rate of four every minute since it launched on January 2.
April Preston, Director of Product Development at M&S, commented: “Veganism is a trend that we are absolutely loving at M&S, and as our customers continue to experiment and adopt more flexitarian diets, we too are having fun creating new products to fit within this.”
In addition, more than 50 companies took part in the Veganuary Workplace Challenge, encouraging employees to try vegan and providing more vegan options in the workplace. And Veganuary launched its first-ever TV ad on major networks in five countries including Sky News in the UK.
Veganuary’s Head of Communications, Toni Vernelli, commented: “With the link between animal farming and the climate crisis making headlines nearly every day, we expected Veganury 2020 to be the biggest yet, but it exceeded all of our expectations. We applaud everyone who took part and encourage them to continue eating vegan food as often as possible. And we’re grateful to all of the businesses embracing Veganuary and making it easier for more people to eat more plant-based food more often.”
If our annual Organic & Natural Business Product Awards have told us anything it is that product innovation and excellence is alive and kicking in our sector.
With a hugely varied range of products in the running for one of our awards, and with some new categories introduced to reflect the sheer number of new launches we have seen, our awards have proved more popular than ever.
And it gives us great pride and delight to be able to reveal all those brands whose products have won a coveted accolade. The reasons for why retailers felt they should be a winner were varied, but all were rooted in their excellence, ethics and innovation. Many congratulations to those who won or were highly commended and we thank all retailers who took the time to vote- winners below:
Best Skin & Bodycare:
Winner – Salt of the Earth Natural Deodorant
Highly Commended – Weleda Skin Food collection
Best Personal Care:
Winner – Organ(y)c Sanitary Pads
Highly Commended – JASON Himalayan Pink Salt 2-in-1 Bath Soak & Body Wash
Best New Beauty & Healthcare:
Winner – ATTITUDE Living BULK to go Hand Soap Orange Leaves
Highly Commended – My Beauty & Go Beauty Sleep Shot
Best Healthcare:
Winner – Celtic Nutrition Healthy Heart with Plant Sterols
Highly Commended – Salus Floradix Vitamin B-Complex
Best New Food & Drink:
Winner – Organico Perfect Gluten-Free Pasta
Highly Commended – Plamil So free Vegan Cocoa Bites
Best Food:
Winner – Tiana Fairtrade Organics Odourless Cooking Butter
Highly Commended – Navitas Organic Cacao Sweet Nibs
Best Drink:
Winner – Veg of Lund My Foodie Organic Drinks
Highly Commended – Pukka Cacoa Maca Magic Herbal Latte
Best Household:
Winner – Natracare Safe to Flush Moist Tissues
Highly Commended – ATTITUDE Living BULK to go Bathroom Cleaner
Read about them all here
A new initiative designed to support advocacy for social justice, animal rights and environmental sustainability in the UK has been announced by Dr Bronner’s.
The natural soap brand has created the pilot programme, called All-One UK Initiative, which is an extension to the existing All-One International that seeks to ensure mission aligned advocacy is supported in the markets that Dr Bronner’s sells its products in. Through the initiative, at a minimum, one per cent of Dr Bronner’s sales to the UK market each year will be donated to local advocacy efforts in support of social justice, animal advocacy, and environmental sustainability.
The launch of the initiative in the UK market, as well as Germany, is a pilot programme for 2019.
Michael Bronner, President of Dr Bronner’s, explained: “In the UK, our distributors are deeply inspired by the extraordinary organisations we are supporting and are happy to help elevate awareness of these causes globally.”
By the end of 2019, Dr Bronner’s All-One UK will have donated to three highly effective organisations and initiatives within the country that are aligned with the company’s core focus areas; Animal Advocacy with Compassion in World Farming, Environmental Sustainability with UK Youth Climate Coalition, and Social Justice with Emmaus.
In addition to financial donations, the company has donated its soaps and other products to festivals, community and educational events, fundraisers, animal sanctuaries, and direct-action campaigns across the UK and around the world throughout the year.
Organic & Natural Business magazine