More than 1.3 million Brits gave up animal products last January according to Kantar.
1st January, 2020 — As Veganuary 2020 gets underway, research released today suggests most participants will not resume their previous food consumption habits when the month-long vegan pledge is over. Findings from a new Kantar study commissioned by Veganuary show that people who cut out animal products for January 2019 maintained reduced consumption levels until at least July 2019.
The Kantar study was based on data from their shopper panel that continuously tracks purchases from 30,000 British households. It was commissioned by Veganuary to get a better understanding of the campaign’s impact. The results show that the impact is much greater than the number of people who officially sign up online and lasts much longer than just 31 days. Key findings include:
1.3 million people in Britain chose to forego animal products during January 2019, 10 times more than officially signed up to Veganuary in 2019 from the UK
832,000 of these people gave up animal products for the first time in January 2019 and 366,000 said they did it as part of Veganuary (over three times more than officially signed up from the UK)
Those who gave up animal products for the first time but did not stay vegan after January consumed a reduced volume of animal products until at least July 2019 when compared to the same period in 2018 (based on scanned shopping receipts from the same households)
Kantar calculated that the total volume of this reduction was at least 4,452,603kg, however the real figure is likely to be much higher as their data excluded items where animal products were one of several ingredients e.g. ready meals and any food consumed outside of the home
Veganuary has calculated that this reduction equates to approximately 3.6 million animals
Toni Vernelli, Veganuary’s Head of Communications, says: “We knew that the ‘Veganuary Effect’ was real and many more people tried vegan in January than officially signed up with us, but seeing the long-term impact that a one-month vegan pledge has on consumption habits – and ultimately animals’ lives – is very exciting.”
She added, “Veganuary’s aim is to get people to try vegan for one month and see how they feel. Our own surveys show about 50% choose to stay vegan as it was much easier and enjoyable than they expected, but we always hoped the other half discovered some products and recipes they loved so much they permanently swapped these for the non-vegan equivalent. Now we know that’s exactly what’s happening, and it’s great news for animals and the planet.”
Veganuary 2020 is already the biggest yet with more than 300,000 people signed-up and the number is still rising at a rate of one person every three seconds!
Notes
Check out our blog for more details on the Kantar study, what impact does Veganuary have and our calculations for the number of animals saved.
Contact
Toni Vernelli, International Head of Communications
E: [email protected]
Feeling inspired? Why not check out our dedicated plant-based recipes section?
