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A look at the global appeal veganism has had in the recent years.

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Increase in Veganism: Is Veganism Growing in 2022? How Fast Is It Growing?

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There are many different ways to measure the growth of veganism. One way to do so is by looking at how popular the term is on Google Trends.

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Vegan companies know that they have to curtail their product to whom it sells most to. This is why veganism is on the rise.

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To be successful, you first need to take some time to understand your product and learn about your market. Based on this knowledge, you can begin to create strategies for where you will sell your product, how much you are going to charge, and how you will promote it.

What is your product?

Ask yourself the following questions: Is my product significantly different from those currently on the market? Do I want to offer a new twist to an established product? What makes mine different from-or better than- all the others out there? Is it a product people would eat every day or something they would serve on special occasions?

Visit a couple of places where products like yours are sold. How would your product compete? What could you do better? Take cues from how others are selling your type of product. Is this something people want to purchase fresh, frozen, canned, or dried? Check out the ingredients, packaging, and labels of these products.

Who is your market?

Your target market is the group of people who are willing to buy your product. Learn about the people in the area where you want to sell your product. Look for age, gender, education, occupation, income level, and household type. This information can help you predict buying patterns of people in the area. For example, if you were looking at an area where few residents had small children, would you expect a lot of interest in baby food products? Would a traditional Pennsylvania product such as pickled ham hocks sell in an area populated by young, affluent professionals? Even with just the right marketing strategy, many matters are still outside your control. Timing, cost of market entry, and competition from others are only a few factors that make introducing a new food product a calculated risk. It is important to "calculate" as carefully as possible.

Developing a Marketing Strategy

Your entire marketing strategy centers on deciding where you will sell your product, what you will charge for it, and how your customer will benefit from choosing your product.

Where will you sell it?

Your product and your market are major factors when considering the right place to sell your product. You may be able to sell your product directly to the customer at a roadside stand, a farmers' market, a fair or festival, door to door, or even on the Internet, if you comply with all appropriate regulations. For instance, dried fruit may be sold safely and legally over the Internet; meat products, however, cannot be sold over the Internet unless they are made in an establishment inspected by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and are protected from spoilage. The alternative is to sell your product indirectly through large grocery chains, small local stores, specialty shops, brokers, or restaurants.

Direct selling may not require a lot of cash investment, but it requires plenty of time and energy to make a sale-both of which may be in short supply if you are also processing and packaging your own products. Indirect selling usually costs more in terms of brokerage and shelf-space fees. Paying others to represent your product to potential wholesale customers frees you up to work on improving your products and creating new ones. Many entrepreneurs who are just starting out find beginning with small-scale direct sales useful so they can tweak their products to match the wants and needs of their target market.

What you will charge for it?

Determining how much to charge for a product is often a difficult task for people entering the food business. Charge too much, and no one will buy your product. Charge too little, and you will not be able to make a profit. You are more likely to find the right price if you have done a good job researching your product and your target market.

"You have to know your product and you have to know your customer." -- Pa. food entrepreneur

How will you convince potential customers to choose your product?

You have your product and you know the best way to sell it and what price to charge. Now you will need to increase consumer awareness of your product and convince potential customers to buy it. Creating ads in local newspapers or commercials for radio and television are traditional ways that businesses promote their products. Unfortunately, these media are inappropriate for most start-up food businesses since they are expensive and advertise to everyone instead of focusing on your target market. Word-of-mouth advertising is an alternative when your focus is building customer loyalty for a target group rather than saturation of a larger market. This is because a satisfied customer often has like-minded friends who can be persuaded to try your product. This builds sales slowly, creating a stronger following for your new product, and will eventually create a demand from local independent grocers and farm markets.

Perhaps the most important way to communicate to the potential buyer is by effectively using your label. Remember that the way your product is packaged has an important function: it sends a first impression of your product to the consumer. The color, visual texture, choice of words, and overall design quality can directly influence sales. To select a design that will attract your market and fit in with your sales location, you must study how established food processors use their labels and packaging. Beyond what regulations dictate as the minimum information required on packaging, many strategies can be used to incorporate labels in your marketing strategy.

How you use packaging to assist in promoting your product depends on your target market and your advertising budget since specialized labels can be quite costly. A simple label with just enough information to satisfy regulations may be suitable for the traditional or conservative customer looking for some everyday food at a roadside stand or local grocery store. In contrast, a more elaborate and colorful design that includes detailed information about your company and your product may fit right in at an upscale specialty store that attracts affluent shoppers looking for a new food experience.

For more information, contact the Penn State Extension office in your county or visit Penn State Extension's Food Entrepreneurs .

Collaboration of Penn State Extension and Penn State Department of Food Science.

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Food For Profit: Marketing Your Food Product

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To be successful, you first need to take some time to understand your product and learn about your market. Based on this knowledge, you can begin to create strategies for where you will sell your product, how much you are going to charge, and how you will promote it.

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Is going vegan Really good for the environment? Research shows that even fruits and vegetables emit green houses gases and leave a carbon footprint.

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It has all the makings of a delicious smoothie - a dollop of almond butter, an avocado, a few slices of mango, a handful of blueberries, a sprinkle of cocoa powder and perhaps a glug of soya milk.

As a tasty, vegan-friendly drink to start your day, it is packed with nutrients and will do wonders for your health. But it may be doing far less good for the planet.

There is no doubt that meat - beef in particular - makes an unsurpassable contribution to the planet's greenhouse gas emissions. It also devours more land and water and causes more environmental damage than any other single food product. The recent rigorous report by the EAT-Lancet Commission recommends reducing our consumption of animal products to not only benefit human health, but the health of our planet. Even the "greenest" sources of meat still produce more greenhouse gases than plant-based proteins.

But anyone looking to adopt a vegan or vegetarian diet for environmental reasons may also want to consider whether there are some plant-based foods that also come with a heavy price.

"Nothing really compares to beef, lamb, pork, and dairy - these products are in a league of their own in the level of damage they typically do to the environment, on almost every environmental issue we track," says Joseph Poore, a researcher at the University of Oxford who studies the environmental impacts of food. "But it's essential to be mindful about everything we consume: air-transported fruit and veg can create more greenhouse gas emissions per kilogram than poultry meat, for example."

Delicate fruits like blueberries and strawberries, for example, are often imported to Europe and the US by air to fill gaps left when local fruit are out of season. Research by Angelina Frankowska, who studies sustainability at the University of Manchester, recently found that asparagus eaten in the UK has the highest carbon footprint compared to any other vegetable eaten in the country, with 5.3kg of carbon dioxide being produced for every kilogram of asparagus, mainly because much of it is imported by air from Peru. She and her colleagues found, in fact, that the succulent green stalks have the largest environmental footprint of any of the 56 vegetables they looked at, including its land use and water use (which was three times greater than the next highest).
More from The Vegan Season on BBC Good Food
Without carefully considering where our food comes from and how it is grown, our diets can have unintended consequences. Take the strange case of two vegans in an Italian study who were found to have an environmental impact considerably higher than many meat-eaters. When the researchers dug a little further, they discovered the pair exclusively ate fruit.

"They ate a huge quantity of fruits," explains Francesca Scazzina, an expert on human nutrition at the University of Parma, Italy. "In fact, I remember [it was] 7-8kg (15.4 to17.6lb) per day of fruit. We collected their data in the summer so they especially ate watermelons and cantaloupes."

The water, land and carbon footprint of growing and transporting such large, perishable fruit meant the environmental impact was far larger than they had expected. Once the data from all 153 vegans, vegetarians and omnivores in the study was taken into account, however, it showed that eating meat was on average worse for the environment.

But there are other general points to consider when we think about food crops that can drive up the environmental impact. Artificial fertilisers, for example, account for at least 3% of global greenhouse gas emissions, according to the industry. The production of synthetic fertiliser emits carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane into the atmosphere, while their use on fields releases nitrous oxide, another potent greenhouse gas.

Agricultural practices such as the tilling of fields also releases large volumes of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere and helps to speed up erosion.

These all combine to differing degrees depending on the crop, but there are clearly some plant-based foods that have a disproportionate impact on the environment. Here BBC Future takes a look at some of the worst offenders:
Avocado
The rich green flesh of this fruit is being smashed, blended and chopped in hipster cafes, smart restaurants and home kitchens around the world. Avocadoes can be an important source of protein, vitamins and fatty acids for people cutting out meat from their diet.

But they also guzzle up huge amounts of water. A single mature tree in California, for example, needs up to 209 litres (46 gallons) every day in the summer - more than would fill a large bathtub. It is a staggering amount in the dry summer months in water-stressed regions such as California, Chile, Mexico and southern Spain, where many commercial avocado crops are grown, and puts huge pressure on the local environment.

Together with the amount of waste, special storage conditions and packaging needed for avocados, this helps to give the fruit a hefty carbon footprint - the equivalent of 2.2kg of CO2/kg for avocados imported to the UK according to one study. It also estimated mangoes emitted 4.4kg of CO2/kg.

A detailed analysis by researchers at the University of Michigan's Center for Sustainable Systems, however, which gathered data from around the world and takes into account other aspects of food such as packaging and the amount of waste created during production and transport, puts the global carbon footprint of avocados at 0.55kg of CO2/kg while mangoes come out at just 0.6kg of CO2/kg. These figures may be lower because not all countries have to freight their fruit by air to get it fresh.
Mushrooms
From dark rooms filled with steaming piles of compost buds a mainstay of the vegan diet. Mushrooms are a rich source of nutrients and, with the exception of bizarre debates over how vegan some mushrooms really are - oyster mushrooms are "predatory'' and secrete sticky toxins to catch nematode worms which they digest to obtain vital nitrogen - they are considered to be a very good meat substitute. They are commonly used in many meat-free alternatives.

And from a climate change point of view, they make an ideal meat replacement, producing just a fraction of beef's emissions. But for a crop that flourishes without light by feeding on rotting organic waste, they can have a surprising impact.

One study, funded by the US Department of Agriculture, showed that producing a kilogram of Agaricus bisporus - the common button, chestnut and portobello mushrooms we buy in the shops - emits 2.13-2.95kg of CO2, while the US Mushroom Council says a kilogram of mushrooms produces less than 0.7kg of CO2.

Most of the emissions come from the energy needed to keep the rooms where mushrooms are cultivated warm. Growing rooms and compost need to reach temperatures of up to 62C, depending on the system being used, in order for the mushrooms to grow.

But carbon dioxide is also produced by the mushrooms themselves as they respire and grow. Much of this is kept inside sealed rooms where the carbon dioxide concentrations are carefully controlled. Different mushrooms will grow at different sizes and shapes depending on the CO2 concentrations and at times varieties can require CO2 levels that are up to 48 times higher than the outside air. At times, excessive CO2 is often exchanged with fresh air.

Analysis by the University of Michigan found cultivated mushrooms produced 3kg of CO2/kg on average. Still far less than beef. And less than the "greenest" farmed meat - chicken - which produced 4.1kg of CO2/kg by their calculations. But it came out the same as saltwater fish and more than tuna, which release 3kg of CO2/kg and 2.2kg of CO2/kg respectively. Of course, fishing has its own environmental and biodiversity issues on top of that, though.

One further consideration is the use of peat in many of the composts used by the mushroom industry. Unless extracted sustainably, this can damage delicate bog ecosystems and deplete their ability to store carbon in the future.

But there are hopes that by using more food and agricultural waste to create sustainable compost substrates for mushrooms to grow in, using the material left after harvesting to make biodegradable packaging, and piping carbon dioxide into greenhouses to grow plant-based crops, it may be possible for mushrooms to become truly green.
Mycoprotein
Another popular meat substitute grown from fungi, mycoprotein has some surprising environmental impacts. Making it uses a fraction of the land compared to chicken, pork or beef, but the carbon footprint is estimated to be 5.55-6.15kg CO2/kg by one study. More than half of this, however, comes from processing after the fungi produces the protein - some vegetarian mycoprotein products, such as mince, are combined with egg white to bind it together. Fertiliser is also needed to grow sugar the fungi feeds on, which accounts for 11% of the emissions.

Some companies are now exploring whether mycoprotein fungi could grow on agricultural food waste rather than sugar, which could halve the amount of carbon emitted by the process.

Quorn, one of the leading mycoprotein manufacturers, recently released a detailed breakdown of the different emissions from its products. To make the mycoprotein itself produces just 0.8kg of CO2/kg. But to produce its vegan chicken-free slices, for example, releases 3.1kg of CO2/kg, mainly due to the energy needed to process the products.

The company says it hopes that by publishing the information it can help its customers make informed decisions about what impact the food they eat is having on the environment, and has called on other brands to follow its example.
Cocoa
It may have developed something of a reputation as a health food in recent years, but cocoa and raw cacao products have a dark side when it comes to the environment.

"Cocoa is also a major driver of tropical deforestation and one of the biggest contributors to global biodiversity loss after beef, pork, and poultry meat," says Poore. Exact figures for how much forest is being lost due to cocoa production are hard to pin down, but it is estimated that 2-3 million hectares (4.9-7.4 million acres) of tropical forests were lost to cocoa plantations between 1988 and 2008.

Others have found that 2.1 million hectares of forest were cleared to make way for cacao trees in West Africa alone between 1998 and 2007. As demand has gone up, so has the amount of land being cleared for use by cocoa plantations.

But the crop still accounts for only a tiny proportion of the areas of forest being cut down globally each year - palm oil and soy account for far more. What really concerns conservationists most is where the deforestation is happening for cocoa - primarily in sensitive biodiversity hotspots in the rainforests of the Amazon, West Africa and South East Asia.

Then there is the carbon footprint of cocoa and its associated with products. The University of Michigan's analysis found that 1kg of chocolate produces on average the equivalent of 11.2kg of CO2, while 1kg of cocoa powder would release 33.6kg of CO2.

But Poore says that the amount of greenhouse gases released by products like chocolate can vary wildly. His own detailed research has shown that a small 50g bar of dark chocolate can create up to 7kg of CO2 emissions in extreme cases - the equivalent of driving around 17 miles in the average American car. That's more than 250kg of CO2 for every kilogram of dark chocolate. But he and his colleagues also found some dark chocolate can actually have a positive effect on the climate because the trees pull carbon out of the atmosphere. The main reason for the variation stems from whether rainforest was cut down to make way for the crop.

Tropical rainforests are some of the world's most important carbon sinks, pulling carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere as they grow.

"Two products that look exactly the same in the shops can have dramatically different impacts on the environment and today we have no way of telling them apart," says Poore.

He believes better information on product packaging could help consumers, whether vegan or not, to keep their carbon footprint low by choosing low-impact foods.
Almonds and cashew nuts
Tree nuts in general are perhaps the anti-heroes of the vegan diet. They are packed with valuable nutrients and proteins, yet they arguably take more than their fair share of environmental resources.

Cashew nuts, almonds and walnuts are some of the most water-intensive large-scale crops grown on the planet. Poore estimates that between them, tree nuts consume 4,134 litres (909 gallons) of fresh water for every kg of shelled nuts that we purchase.

Almonds, he says, need comparatively large amounts of water, pesticide and fertiliser, which makes their environmental impact disproportionately large. One study, funded by the Almond Board of California, found that the average almond grown in the US state requires 12 litres of water, or 10,240 l/kg of kernels.

The researchers behind this study, however, also compared the amount of water needed against the nutritional value of different foods. When looked at in this way, almonds come out looking a more attractive option compared to other thirsty crops with lower nutritional value, such as rice, olives and oats.

"Almonds have a high water footprint in part because they are a thirsty crop and also have high fertiliser inputs, but also because they are a dense product," says Julian Fulton, an environmental scientist at California State University, Sacramento, who led the study. "Only a small part of the almond fruit is harvested and it's dry, so all that water went into producing a more compact product."

"For consumers wishing to get the most nutrition 'bang' for their water 'buck', almonds end up looking pretty good especially for sourcing things like protein and calcium."

When it comes to carbon emissions, the results vary. The University of Michigan study estimates almonds produce about 2.3kg of CO2/kg of nuts. Those emissions can increase depending on the product bought at the end of the day. A study by Italian researchers estimated that buying almonds in 100g bags emits 2.61kg of CO2/kg, while a jar of almond paste emits 2.89-3.07kg of CO2/kg.

Of all the nuts, however, the University of Michigan estimates that cashews release the most carbon - 4.99kg of CO2/kg by his calculations. This may partly be because they are a low-yield crop. Newly harvested cashew nuts are also encased in layers of hard shell, in between which is a caustic oil which can burn the skin of people handling them. During processing this oil is often extracted but needs careful handling to ensure it doesn't escape into the environment.

What is clear is that while plant-based foods and meat substitutes can be far better for the environment than livestock production as a whole, if we really want to make a difference to the environment we need to take care about what we choose to replace meat with.

Sticking to locally produced fruit and vegetables that are in season is the best approach, says Scazzina.

"My general recommendations end up being, reduce meat consumption, and pay attention, if you can, to how foods are grown and transported," adds Martin Heller, a sustainability researcher who led the University of Michigan study. "Try to avoid heated greenhouse grown fruit and veg, and stuff that may have been air freighted."

Eating a little less can't hurt either - especially if you're eating watermelon.

--
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The vegan diet is widely regarded to be better for the planet than those that include animal products, but not all plant-based foodstuffs have a small environmental footprint.

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Vegans have to be very carful with what they consume. Some foods may seem to be "no-brainer" vegan but others are little more confusing.

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Is wine vegan? What about bread? Here are a list of foods you might want to watch out for.

Sure, you know to avoid meat, dairy, eggs and fish when you're vegan. But it's not always easy for a vegan to tell which foods are safe and it can be even harder for someone new to vegan eating to decide which foods are truly vegan. It's important to double-check labels and ingredient lists to avoid hidden animal-based ingredients in your foods and beverages.

Here are 13 foods that aren't always vegan that you might want to watch out for.

1. Chocolate

Cocoa itself is vegan, but sometimes milk or milk products are added-even to dark chocolate. Many chocolate brands call out if their product is vegan, but check the ingredient list for dairy (including whey and casein).

2. Beer and wine

Isinglass, a gelatin-based substance derived from fish, is used as a clarifying agent in some beer and wine. Other non-vegan ingredients sometimes used are casein (from milk) and egg whites. Since those ingredients aren't listed on wines and beers you should ask a store employee or contact the brand if you have questions.

3. Candy

Sugary sweets like gummies, sour candies and marshmallows may contain gelatin. Gelatin is derived from animal collagen and would be listed as an ingredient. Many candies are made with other vegan thickening agents, such as agar-agar.

4. Sugar

Table sugar is made from either sugarcane or sugar beets, both completely plant-based ingredients. Some sugar is processed with bone char, which is used in the refining process and helps whiten sugar. Sugar certified as USDA organic is not allowed to use bone char, and many brands have started calling out when they are vegan.

5. Non-dairy creamers

Don't be fooled by the nondairy description-many of these creamers contain small amounts (less than 2 percent) of sodium caseinate, a milk-based derivative.

6. Red foods

Some red-dyed food and drinks (e.g., yogurt, juices, sodas and candies) may contain an ingredient called carmine (or cochineal or carmic acid), which is derived from an insect, cochineal scale. Look at the ingredient list on foods made with red dye.

7.Worcestershire sauce

Although vegan-friendly brands are available, traditional recipes for this condiment include anchovies.

8.Veggie burgers

Many veggie burgers contain eggs or dairy, so check the labels. Luckily, you can easily find vegan varieties at the store.

9.Honey

Honey is a little controversial among the vegan community. Because it comes from bees, many-but not all-vegans choose to avoid honey.

10. Miso soup

Many restaurants use a fish-based broth (dashi) to make their miso soup, so ask if there is a vegetarian version on the menu. However, the ingredient miso is vegan-friendly and you can make vegan miso soup at home.

11. Bread

Some breads may contain milk, eggs, butter or other animal byproducts.

12. Soy-based yogurts and cheeses

You would think these products would be vegan, but not always. Read the label to make sure these soy-based products do not contain the milk-based protein casein.

13. Omega-3 fortified products

Heart-healthy orange juice boasts omega-3s because it contains fish-based ingredients like tilapia, sardine and anchovy. Make sure to check other foods with an omega-3 promise to see if they're vegan.

Watch: How to Meal-Prep a Week of Vegan Lunches

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Surprising Foods You Think Are Vegan But Aren't

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Is wine vegan? What about bread? Here are a list of foods you might want to watch out for. Sure, you know to avoid meat, dairy, eggs and fish when you're vegan. But it's not always easy for a vegan to tell which foods are safe and it can be even harder for someone new to vegan eating to decide which foods are truly vegan.

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Nestlé conglomerate shows tips on how to introduce and make vegan foods more enticing to the public

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Vegan and Plant-Based Marketing Tips - Nestlé Professional

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What’s cooking? Surprise, it’s not meat!It’s not often that the Food Service Industry gets to welcome a whole new category to the menu. But that’s exactly what’s happening with the latest plant-based alternatives to meat.

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Not all vegan food is made equally. Burger King had some vegan controversy over the technicalities of serving their impossible burger

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Get access to exclusive coupons. Discover our menu and order delivery or pick up from a Burger King near you.

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It is difficult to see who's in it for the right reasons. Veganism has seemed to take over Hollywood. No wonder everyone wants in.

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Being vegan doesn't exactly equal good for the planet. When it comes to the heath of our planet, vegan diets are a complex solution.

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Is being vegan REALLY better for the environment?  - BBC News

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Sustainability is hard. Vegan diets can be tough to maintain. Even the famous YouTubers get busted for having a cheat day

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The infamous YouTuber, who became embroiled in a scandal after fans caught her with a plate of fish, has opened up about ditching her 'raw' branding

Vegan lifestyle star Yovana Mendoza Ayres gained notoriety online by sharing her extreme raw vegan diet however it all came crashing down when she became caught in a scandal.

The infamous YouTuber , 29, was slammed for being fake after she was exposed for eating fish with a friend at a restaurant in March 2018.

The star, has now ditched her influencer name 'Rawvana' and opened up about her difficult choice to incorporate animal protein back into her diet due to health reasons.

After numerous apologies and grovelling videos, the social media icon has come out the other side of the fish-video meltdown and is adapting to post-Rawvana life.

In a new interview with The Cut , Yovana talked candidly about her rebranding overhaul and the shocking truth that she now eats eggs and fish.

Before Yovana's egg-eating secret was exposed in a viral video, the star spoke to her vegan hubby about her changing diet and medical reasons.

She said: "It took me months to actually follow my doctor's advice and eat an egg. Honestly, I was just really scared."

The influencer managed to encourage herself to eat an egg by comparing it to 'medicine' that would help her small-intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) and anemia.

She relived the traumatic first taste, saying: "The first thing I tried was a local, organic duck egg. I tried to not put any judgment on it; I just saw it as medicine."

Yovana looked back at her troubled 2018 where she was forced to create a video 'THIS IS WHAT IS HAPPENING" to admit to her loyal fans why she had abandoned strict veganism.

She explained how her extreme diet caused her periods to stop after she completed a 25-day water fast and how her hormone levels became per-menopausal.

Admitting that she thought she could overcome her growing health problems and digestive issues while on a 'plant-based diet', she ignored doctors advice to eat eggs for months before giving in.

The star sent social media into meltdown after her fans turned on her and harshly labelled her as 'fakevana' and 'fishvana' following the controversial saga.

Millions of Yovana's YouTube and Instagram fans had bought into her 'raw, vegan, gluten-free, oil-free, soy-free' lifestyle by purchasing her e-books, motivational videos, and '$99 detox program'.

She explained to The Cut about her recent health improvements: "Once I incorporated animal protein into my diet consistently, which took a few months, my anemia went away, and so did the SIBO.

"When I came into veganism, my relationship with food wasn't perfect, but it helped me to not be afraid of food anymore."

Yovana also admitted that she had her breast implants removed because she wanted to be more 'real' and 'transparent' this year following the scandal.

She finished by insisting she is no longer 'afraid of food' and regrets severely labelling herself as being a 'raw vegan' now that she can see the 'bigger picture'.

The social media said: "I try to stay away from anything that automatically separates me from other people."
Do you have a story to sell? Get in touch with us at webtv@trinitymirror.com or call us direct 0207 29 33033

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Vegan star whose life was ruined when she was caught eating fish speaks out

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The infamous YouTuber, who became embroiled in a scandal after fans caught her with a plate of fish, has opened up about ditching her 'raw' branding Vegan lifestyle star Yovana Mendoza Ayres gained notoriety online by sharing her extreme raw vegan diet however it all came crashing down when she became caught in a scandal.

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Veganism is more than a diet, it is a lifestyle that can be traced back to 2,000 years ago

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We've come a long way!

The Vegan Society was founded in November 1944 and we've made tremendous progress since.

Early vegans

The Vegan Society may have been established 75 years ago but veganism has been around much longer. Evidence of people choosing to avoid animal products can be traced back over 2,000 years. As early as 500 BCE, Greek philosopher and mathematician Pythagoras promoted benevolence among all species and followed what could be described as a vegetarian diet. Around the same time, Siddhārtha Gautama (better known as the Buddha) was discussing vegetarian diets with his followers.

Fast forward to 1806 CE and the earliest concepts of veganism are just starting to take shape, with Dr William Lambe and Percy Bysshe Shelley amongst the first Europeans to publicly object to eggs and dairy on ethical grounds.

The first modern-day vegans

In November 1944, Donald Watson (right and below) called a meeting with five other non-dairy vegetarians, including Elsie Shrigley, to discuss non-dairy vegetarian diets and lifestyles. Though many held similar views at the time, these six pioneers were the first to actively found a new movement - despite opposition. The group felt a new word was required to describe them; something more concise than 'non-dairy vegetarians'. Rejected words included 'dairyban', 'vitan', and 'benevore'. They settled on 'vegan', a word that Donald Watson later described as containing the first three and last two letters of 'vegetarian'. In the words of Donald Watson, it marked "the beginning and end of vegetarian". The word vegan was coined by Donald Watson from a suggestion by early members Mr George A. Henderson and his wife Fay K. Henderson that the society should be called Allvega and the magazine Allvegan.

Although the vegan diet was defined early on it was as late as 1949 before Leslie J Cross pointed out that the society lacked a definition of veganism and he suggested "[t]he principle of the emancipation of animals from exploitation by man". This is later clarified as "to seek an end to the use of animals by man for food, commodities, work, hunting, vivisection, and by all other uses involving exploitation of animal life by man".

The society was first registered as a charity in August 1964 but its assets were later transferred to a new charity when it also became limited company in December 1979. The definition of veganism and the charitable objects of the society were amended and refined over the years. By winter 1988 this definition was in use - although the phrasing has changed slightly over the years - and remains so today:

[...] a philosophy and way of living which seeks to exclude-as far as is possible and practicable-all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing or any other purpose; and by extension, promotes the development and use of animal-free alternatives for the benefit of humans, animals and the environment. In dietary terms it denotes the practice of dispensing with all products derived wholly or partly from animals.

Delving into Vegan Society archives

Our researcher-in-residence, Dr Sam Calvert, has been hard at work delving into our archives at Vegan Society HQ, discovering how The Vegan Society began and how we have grown over the decades. Her findings are published as a pdf entitled Ripened by Human Determination: Seventy Years of The Vegan Society. It is available to download here.

A transcript of an interview with Donald Watson from 2002 is available here and his 2005 obituary, from the archives, can be found here.

The story continues

The Vegan Society continues to hold true to the vision of our founding members as we work towards a world in which humans do not exploit other animals. We're as determined as ever to promote vegan lifestyles for the benefit of animals, people and the environment.

Will you join us to continue the story?

Left and above right: Donald Watson (02/09/1910 - 16/11/2005)

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The Vegan Society was founded in November 1944 and we've made tremendous progress since. The Vegan Society may have been established 75 years ago but veganism has been around much longer. Evidence of people choosing to avoid animal products can be traced back over 2,000 years.