London, 1 November 2019 – Global standards organisation, GS1 UK, has seen the number of vegan specialist businesses joining its organisation rise by 50 per cent this year.  

Vegan firms joining GS1 UK are also becoming more affluent – registering a year-on-year increase in turnover of 35 per cent from 2018–19.

1 November is World Vegan Day, and 2019’s iteration is particularly momentous, marking 75 years since The Vegan Society began as an offshoot from The Vegetarian Society.

The Vegan Society estimates that the number of vegans in Great Britain increased by 300 per cent to 680,000 from 2014–18, and this has been reflected by the explosion of plant-based food and drink products entering the marketplace. 

Strikingly, 14 per cent of GS1 UK’s vegan member companies operate outside of the food and grocery sector, in health, beauty and cosmetics, apparel and homeware, marking the expansion of veganism into other sectors. 

Recent GS1 UK joiners include Heavenly Organics, a natural, vegan and organic skincare and cosmetics line, Will’s Vegan Shoes, a company pushing the boundaries in apparel, and Visibly Vegan, a firm challenging established norms with their cruelty-free, vegan candles. Kings Grooming, a cruelty-free range of men’s toiletries that supports various mental health projects, also forms part of this growing segment. 

Gary Lynch, chief executive of GS1 UK, said: “British consumers are more conscientious than ever about what they eat and where it comes from, and product data has a huge part to play in helping them make informed decisions about traceability, provenance and ingredients. 

“Given our sizeable membership we are able to quickly identify trends across a number of industries and the explosion in veganism has been easy to spot across both our food and drink, health and beauty and membership. 

“An increasing number of companies we deal with in these areas are responding to consumer demand, offering innovative alternatives.”

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About GS1 UK

GS1 UK is just one of 114 neutral and independent GS1 organisations operating worldwide. From product barcodes to patient wristbands, GS1 standards have been transforming the way we work and live for more than 40 years.

Whether online, in store or in a hospital, the common language of GS1 global standards is helping our community of more than 39,000 organisations across Britain to uniquely identify, describe and track anything, creating greater trust in data for everyone.

www.gs1uk.org

For more information or requests for interviews, please contact Gs1UK@instinctif.com