Veganuary racks up record 25 million participants for 2024

Nearly 25 million individuals experimented with veganism in January this year.

Veganuary is a global organisation advocating for veganism in January and beyond. It commissioned multiple YouGov surveys across its primary campaign countries to determine the percentage of individuals who reported participating in Veganuary during the month.

The campaign spans across countries including the UK, the US, Germany, Italy, Spain, France, Austria, Switzerland, and Chile, where nearly 25 million individuals experimented with veganism in January this year.

Veganuary said it provided direct assistance to more than 1.8 million individuals attempting a month-long vegan lifestyle through its complimentary resources.

This encompasses participants who availed resources during the Veganuary 2024 campaign, such as those who subscribed to daily coaching emails, accessed videos on YouTube, tuned into the Veganuary podcast, followed guidance on social media and acquired the Official Veganuary Cookbook or Vegan Kit for recipes and nutritional information.

Veganuary’s head of communications Toni Vernelli said: “It is incredibly inspiring to see Veganuary’s participation and influence continue to grow around the world.

“As people become more aware of the incredible impact our food choices have on the health of our planet, attitudes towards veganism are changing everywhere and Veganuary’s friendly, non-judgmental, just-give-it-a-go-for-a-month-and-see-what-you-think approach has undoubtedly played an instrumental role in this shift.”

Veganuary, which began its first month-long vegan pledge in the UK in January 2014, celebrated its 10th anniversary last month as it branched out its operations to Spain.

In 2024, major brands such as Hard Rock Café introduced vegan menus globally, while companies like Claire’s Accessories and Salesforce participated in Veganuary’s Workplace Challenge, alongside 115 other UK organisations, the highest number ever.

Nevertheless, some businesses appear to be moving in the opposite direction of the prevailing trend towards plant-based foods.

Pret discontinues vegetarian-only stores

Pret a Manger has closed its last remaining vegetarian-only stores due to declining demand for specialised meat-free shops.

The food chain will convert the final three Veggie Prets in London and Manchester into regular shop formats by the end of this month, marking the end of the concept introduced eight years ago.

Initially, the chain operated 10 veggie outlets and had plans to convert most of the Eat stores it acquired in 2019, but pandemic-related challenges led to a re-evaluation of these plans.

The closure of several Veggie Pret branches began in late 2022, as the company found that its other stores were adequately meeting the demand for meat-free options, rendering standalone sites unnecessary.