There are a variety of reasons someone might choose to adopt the vegan lifestyle. Perhaps they are a strong believer in animal rights, deciding that they won’t be part of the industrial harvesting of animal products for human consumption. Maybe it is for environmental reasons. Considering that a large percentage of global pollution comes from the livestock industry. Or maybe it is for health reasons.
Whatever the reason, the vegan lifestyle has become increasingly popular over the years. Primarily boosted by the fact that we now have a greater understanding of the health benefits associated with being vegan. But even with this increased level of knowledge it wasn’t always viable for people to be vegan. Due to the fact that good vegan products were extremely hard to come by.
That has changed in recent years. More and more we are seeing major food companies, restaurants, and supermarkets producing and stocking vegan products. So why are we seeing this change happen now?
Increased Demand
The most obvious reason that more companies are switching to vegan products is due to increased demand. And the first lesson any business needs to know is that of supply and demand. The quickest way to make a profit is to find what the people want and give it to them. And, right now, vegan products are all the rage.
This increase in demand has been felt across multiple industries. Not just the food sector. The demand for vegan based beauty products, clothing, and cleaning products. You might be surprised to hear that all of these industries were selling products that weren’t vegan. But you would be surprised at just how many products on the market don’t meet the vegan criteria.
With shoppers being more ethically and environmentally conscious than ever before, companies are having to switch up their ideals to ensure they don’t get left behind by the changing social trends of the time. And this has led many companies to start innovating like never before.
Increased Options
With vegan products becoming more mainstream, more companies are now having to compete to corner the vegan demographic. And, as we said above, this means they are having to innovate. This has led to a sharp increase in the number of vegan products on the market.
Previously, vegan’s were limited in their shopping options. Especially in the food sector. Which meant that the few companies that were making vegan products already had a stranglehold on the vegan demographic. Which meant that any company looking to move into the vegan market would have to present enough options with their products to be competitive. Thus leading to a greater degree of choices.
The increase in vegan food products has also led to a huge surge in the number of vegan recipe books being produced. Both online and in print. This was also spurred on by the Covid-19 pandemic which saw people locked down in their homes for months. Which led to a lot of people adopting baking as a hobby. People are always hunting for the best tasty vegan cookie recipes or trying to find ways to transform their favorite dishes into vegan variations.
The fashion industry is another sector that has seen a huge shift towards vegan demand. With people being painfully aware of the social and environmental impact of fast fashion. Vegan clothing is often heavily tied into the sustainable clothing movement. Meaning fashion products need to to be made with renewable resources and by people being paid a fair wage in humane conditions.
Cancel Culture
When discussing the increased popularity of vegan culture we cannot ignore the impact that social media has had. Social media is, without a doubt, the most powerful force for social change on the planet. And one of the main reasons this is true is due to cancel culture.
If you don’t know, being canceled online is the process by which the court of public opinion essentially turns on a person or company. Often it is started due to a scandal and it leads to mass protests or boycotts. And cancel culture is a powerful thing. Being canceled creates a snowball effect. What starts off as a select few people simply highlighting an injustice slowly ramps up into a frenzy as social media users quickly rile each other up.
If a company is canceled it could potentially end them. That is how powerful social media has become. And this has led companies to become far more cautious with what they produce and, most importantly, which suppliers they work with.
It has become safer for companies to work with vegan suppliers and produce vegan products. That way they are far less likely to get canceled. Reputation is everything in the world of business. And maintaining it is worth any amount of effort.
