How popular is Veganuary in the UK this year

It is only one week into January, but the Veganuary campaign and more than 500,000 people have already signed-up for the 31-day vegan challenge in 2021– surpassing last year’s total of 400,000 – with the sign-ups still on high.

People are questioning their diets. We see it year after year that the rate of change and awareness increases as we become more knowledgeable about how we eat, how we consume, what we buy, and all the different reasons we should change.

This year Britain’s major supermarkets not only are offering a plethora of plant-based foods; they are also actively promoting Veganuary and even advocating the reasons why people can try a vegan diet.

“While new vegan product launches from big name brands are exciting, the way British supermarkets have embraced Veganuary this year is truly game changing. They are not simply using it as a marketing opportunity but are promoting the many benefits of plant-based eating and encouraging people to give it a try. As bastions of our food supply, they know that the only sustainable way forward is plant-focused.”

Toni Vernelli, Veganuary’s Head of Communications

Aldi, Asda, Tesco, M&S, Morrisons, Waitrose and Iceland have dedicated Veganuary information pages on their websites with Tesco and M&S launching their first Veganuary TV and radio adverts this week.

Another push comes from executives at UK multinationals, including Nestle, who instigate their workforces to join Veganuary and other companies such as Bloomberg, PwC, EY, Marks & Spencer, and Quorn that encourage their employees to try a plant-based diet.

Since Veganuary (a UK nonprofit organisation) launched its pledge in January 2014, the number of people taking part has risen dramatically year after year. Over 400,000 people took part in January 2020. Their motivation was based on health reasons (38%), animal welfare (37%), the environment (18%), and other reasons (7%).

The beginning of a new year is a great time to try something new. Especially if you ever thought about trying a plant-based diet. Since 2014 Veganuary has inspired and supported more than 1 million people in 192 countries to try vegan for January and beyond. If you have your reasons to try a plant-based diet, you can take the pledge today at veganuary.com.