Why Smart Brands are Vegan-Friendly – Interview with Vikki Lenola

Many businesses are savouring sweet success by jumping on the vegan bandwagon. Vikki Lenola says you can, too, and this extends to all sorts of products - food, fashion, cosmetics, cleaning products and more - since veganism is a lifestyle rather than only a diet. The popular model has worked with hundreds of brands over the past few years. Being marketing and event-savvy, she’s also the producer of her non-profit fashion show called Vegan Fashion Canada. The event will showcase conscious brands on the runway and a sustainable, vegan textile display. The show also serves as a fundraiser for Animal Justice, an esteemed organization protecting animals with the law and giving them a voice in media. While Vegan Fashion Canada is on hold for now during the pandemic, Vikki has some tips to share on why it’s highly beneficial for businesses (of all types) to be vegan-friendly.

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Photo credit: @refined_photography_

Why is it a smart idea for brands to be vegan-friendly?

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The vegan market is booming. There are more celebrity vegans than ever before. For 2020 that includes best actor Oscar winner Joaquin Phoenix, 5X Grammy winner Billie Eilish, and many others at the top of their fields. In Canada, vegan-related searches on Google increased by 113% since 2016, according to marketing analytics software company SEMrush. In America, veganism has increased by 300% in the last 15 years, according to IPSOS Retail Performance. And the global plant-based meat market is expected to reach $85 billion by 2030, according to Swiss multinational investment bank, UBS.

Having an environmental degree, I don’t see using animal-derived “products” as sustainable. It requires too much resources and produces too much pollution and waste. The human population is growing exponentially. So is consumerism, especially in the two highest-populated countries which have skyrocketing economies. Meanwhile, the planet has limited resources and thresholds. So continuing business as usual is closer to being impossible everyday. It’s just mathematically impossible.

Concerns over health, animal welfare and the environment have contributed to the increase in veganism. Younger generations are making the connections especially fast. In 2018, a study by Dalhousie University, Canada, found that those under 35 years of age were 3X more likely to identify as vegan or vegetarian than those over 49. It’s also more common in urban areas, and urbanization is happening rapidly.

So why not get your business prepared now? Pretty soon, not being vegan-friendly is going to be like owning a gas station without a restroom; you’re guaranteed to lose a percentage of potential customers to your competitors who can accommodate them.

And don’t forget the free advertising! Many vegan consumers will act as your cheerleaders and ambassadors. Count on us for word of mouth promotion to friends, family, and social media groups. It’s just what we do in our growing, worldwide community. We get excited for vegan options. Of course, what we would really like is for every option you provide to be made with compassion in mind. But if you’re not yet a completely compassionate company, we will still encourage your kind options. For example, when McDonald’s first offered a veggie burger in Canada, animal rights organizations like PETA sent out emails about it to their members. I even got in the drive-thru line for the first time in many years, just so that I could buy the person behind me one to try. It gives your non-vegan customers something different to try if it’s food, and if it’s anything else it doesn’t take anything away from them. So you only stand to gain.

What are some of the successful brands going vegan-friendly these days?

So many businesses can do this. Even companies you’d least expect it from. Packaged meat company Maple Leaf Foods Inc. owns Lightlife, a brand of plant-based meats. Kentucky Fried Chicken now has a plant-based burger. Ice cream brands Häagen-Dazs and Ben & Jerry’s have multiple vegan alternatives. Dr. Martens, known for their edgy leather boots now has several vegan styles.

Many brands that were already accidentally vegan now advertise that their products are suitable for vegans. Other brands make small adjustments so they can be vegan and cruelty-free.

Innovative ideas are booming too and it’s exciting to see. We have designers like Doshi that make handbags out of recyclable paper. Textile companies like Piñatex and Apple Skin making fabrics out of plant-based waste. Clean meat from companies like Supermeat. And even creating protein powder out of carbon dioxide, like NASA’s Solein!

How can business owners successfully cater to this booming market?

I’d suggest that products – or services, for that matter - can’t just be vegan. It has to be good too. Otherwise it is just a huge disappointment to vegans since it makes them look bad, turning them off from it. And nobody else wants it because it’s poor quality. So, you end up serving no one.

Know that vegans do their research. Don’t slap a fake vegan label on something because you’re likely to be found out. It can also mean costly legal trouble for your company.

Also, like always it’s smart business to know your customer. Vegans are value-driven consumers. Appeal to this. For example, how can you be eco-friendly too? And not just so it looks good on paper, but rather, truly designed to be environmentally conscious. Or perhaps you might try donating a portion of your profits to help a worthy cause? These types of things are attractive to value-driven consumers.

As always in any business, I think it’s always important to network and think outside the box.

Lastly, know that you can profit and do good at the same time – and people will love you for it!