Veganuary, the campaign that encourages people to go vegan for the month of January, has seen more than a quarter of a million participants since its 2014 launch. Most of the people involved are from English-speaking countries, especially America and the United Kingdom. To boost the campaign’s reach, inspire more consumers, and create more vegans, Veganuary plans to go global.
“A vegan lifestyle is something everyone can benefit from and should have the opportunity to try,” said Veganuary co-founder Matthew Glover in a campaign video. The team intends to spread its message across the world, focussing especially on countries like Brazil, India, and China, where meat consumption tends to be the highest.
To help further the campaign’s vision, Veganuary launched a crowdfunding campaign to raise £15,000. With the money, the company plans to hire new staff and create tailored websites for each country, which will be presented in various languages and offer region-specific recipes. “We want to embrace cultural differences and make sure that we’re talking to people in a way that is relevant for them. What works well in Australia might not work quite so well in Portugal, and vice versa,” the crowdfunding page said.
Veganuary was born in the United Kingdom but aligning with its plans for expansion, the brand is hiring a Head of Campaigns in North America. “Veganuary’s second largest market has traditionally been the US and Canada for our 31 day vegan pledge. But, with the larger population North America should really be the biggest market for our campaign. We’re looking for a highly motivated, talented individual to help us crack America, and make as big an impact as we’ve had in the UK,” the Veganuary team told LIVEKINDLY.
Veganuary has seen growing success since its launch, with each year’s campaign being bigger and better than the last. This year, the number of participants grew by 183 percent compared to 2017, with an impressive 168,542 people officially pledging to go vegan in January. More than half (62 percent) of Veganuary’s participants stayed vegan after the month ended and 99 percent of those involved would recommend it to others, a survey revealed.
Health, the environment, and animal welfare are the three main drivers for people choosing to go vegan, with animals being the most popular motivation — 43 percent of participants named this as their top reason for ditching meat, dairy, and eggs.
To view Veganuary’s crowdfunding page, see here.
