The rise of veganism with TheVeganKind

Have you heard that 2019 is set to be the ‘Year of the Vegan’? Both The Guardian and The Economist have reported that 2019 will be the year that veganism goes mainstream, but is this the case? As the UK’s leading vegan retailer and a fixture in the vegan community since 2013, here at TheVeganKind we’re delighted to say that we are confident that it is!

We started TheVeganKind six years ago in response to our frustration at the lack of vegan products available on the high street, and the omission of vegan labelling on products that in fact were vegan. Tired of scouring ingredient lists, we realised how great it would be to receive a monthly package filled with vegan treats, and thus TheVeganKind’s monthly subscription service was born!

Is veganism on the rise?

It certainly is! Since our company’s humble beginnings from the living room table five years ago, TheVeganKind has become one the UK’s fastest growing vegan businesses, outgrowing two of our previous units and expanding to a team of 16 dedicated and passionate staff.

With the aim of making veganism accessible to everyone, we also launched an online supermarket in early 2017, shipping a wide range of delicious vegan food (we’re talking cheese, pizzas and even fresh doughnuts!), household items and beauty products to doors worldwide.

We were delighted to also have exceeded our Crowdfunder target at the end of 2018, which allowed us to move into a much bigger warehouse. We now have a much-needed 12,000 sq ft space to expand our supermarket range, and the crowdfunder also won us a targeted billboard campaign in London – with world leading advertising company, JC Decaux, which will be live until 24 February.

Not only have we seen our vegan business rapidly grow in recent years, but we have also been delighted to witness the vegan community boom. The number of vegans in 2018 was quadruple the number in 2014, with an estimated 600,000 vegans in the UK alone. Indeed, 42% of British vegans adopted the lifestyle in 2018.

Veganuary, a charity which encourages people to pledge to go vegan for the month of January, has also had 250,000 pledges worldwide so far this year – a significant increase on 150,000 pledges in 2018 and the 3,300 pledges in January 2014, when Veganuary began! The charity reported that over  62% of people remained vegan after Veganuary 2018, so we can probably expect over 125,000 newbie vegans this year!

What is next for TheVeganKind?

At TheVeganKind we are very excited to continue to grow this year, as an increasing number of people choose an ethical lifestyle! With our new warehouse we are now presented with an exciting opportunity to make veganism more accessible and versatile than ever before. We shipped an unprecedented 15,000 parcels in December 2018 alone, and look forward to building upon this by doubling the amount of products that we stock, including those from small, independent brands that may be harder to get a hold of by the public, introducing a frozen range, and obtaining our alcohol license to enable us to ship vegan alcoholic beverages!

To follow our journey throughout 2019 and beyond, follow us on Instagram – @thevegankindsupermarket and @thevegankind, and to shop all the latest, exciting vegan products, head over to TheVeganKind and use discount code NEWBIE15 for 15% off your first order. We look forward to seeing you there!