Veganuary 2023: Strong and growing
More than 2M have pledged to go vegan since 2014
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Overview
Veganuary is a non-profit organization that encourages people across the world to experience vegan living for the month of January — and beyond!
This UK-based online vegan campaign turned 10 years old in 2023. This January, sign-ups have broken all records to date with 706,965 people participating in the program. This number surpasses the 2022 record of 629,900 participants. While the program continues to focus on the month of January, in 2017, Veganuary began actively promoting its vegan pledge as a year-round online campaign, so stay tuned for 2023 year-end results
The program has attracted national media coverage ranging from major newspaper coverage to radio and television appearances. It’s official — the world has embraced Veganuary!
The challenge was launched in January 2014 after a 2013 conversation between husband and wife co-founders, Matthew Glover and Jane Land. Participants receive daily email support and are encouraged to engage actively with Veganuary on its social media platforms. Veganuary.com is the largest website of its kind, providing answers for why to go vegan alongside excellent guidance on how to do it. The website features more than 1,500 vegan recipes, a vegan guide to eating out, and an online vegan starter guide, as well as the latest news and expert advice.
This 2022 campaign, more people and businesses than ever participated in Veganuary, beating all of our expectations. We have seen countless Veganuary activations in major supermarkets in the UK, Spain, Argentina and Germany this year. Food giants such as Domino’s, McDonald’s, HelloFresh, Burger King, KFC, Subway, Papa John’s and Starbucks launched new vegan products and menus with Veganuary, or promoted the idea of eating plant-based for a month with us.
Ria Rehberg, CEO of Veganuary
Goals
- Veganuary is a nonprofit inspiring people to try vegan for January (“Try Vegan This January” campaign) or for any other month of the year (“Try Vegan This Month” campaign).
- Dedicated to changing public attitudes towards vegan living while providing all of the information and practical support required to make the transition to veganism as easy and enjoyable as possible.
629,000
individuals signed up for Veganuary 2022
4,351
media stories published about Veganuary
740
new vegan menus added to chain restaurants for Veganuary
100+
organizations took the Veganuary Workplace Challenge
Approach
Veganuary is a free 31-day online vegan-pledge challenge.
Once signed up, participants receive daily email support. Participants also engage with Veganuary on its social media platforms to share their experiences and offer each other support. In 2022, the Veganuary hashtag had more than 550 million views on TikTok by the end of the month.
The campaign’s content spans the three main areas of motivation for exploring a vegan lifestyle: animals, the environment, and personal health. And, it focuses on targeting a key demographic: female millennials (15–35 years of age).
Advertising the pledge is carried out primarily online via social media and Facebook ads. An annual public transport campaign paid for through crowdfunding lends additional publicity. However, in 2021, the campaign included hundreds of billboards, posters, and banners instead. Organizers hold an annual press launch and build ongoing relationships with companies and brands to help Veganuary reach a broad audience. Activities include sponsorship from popular vegan brands, chain restaurants launching “Veganuary specials” (and even full menus!), vegan recipe videos, celebrity vegan ambassadors endorsing the campaign, and more.
VegFund Support
Since 2016, VegFund has awarded annual grants that have helped Veganuary get the word out. With those funds, Veganuary has not only reached their goals, but surpassed them, with more than 629,000 participants in 2022!
The VegFund grant has been essential to our work, as it allowed us to recruit a large part of those participants through social media advertising.
Ria Rehberg, CEO of Veganuary
Results
Veganuary has grown in popularity every year! Participant numbers since this online campaign’s inception:
- Veganuary 2014: 3,300
- Veganuary 2015: 12,800
- Veganuary 2016: 23,000
- Veganuary 2017: 59,500
- Veganuary 2018: 168,500
- Veganuary 2019: 250,310
- Veganuary 2020: 402,206
- Veganuary 2021: 582,538
- Veganuary 2022: 629,000
- Veganuary 2023 (January sign-ups): 706,965
The 6-month 2022 Veganuary survey results showed that:
- 629,000 people participated
- 80% of survey respondents who were not vegan when they signed up had maintained a dramatic reduction in their animal product consumption.
- 28% were still eating a fully vegan diet
- 37% were eating at least 75% less meat and other animal products than before the challenge
- 15% were eating at least 50% less meat and other animal products than before the challenge
- 86% who are not fully vegan said they’re extremely likely to try a vegan diet again in the future
- More than half of non-vegan survey respondents maintained a fully-vegan diet for the entire month (61%)
- 66% reported health benefits, including more energy, better skin, desired change in body weight, and improved mood after just one month of eating plant-based!
Top Tip
The practical daily aspects involved with vegan living can be a barrier for some people. Veganuary focuses heavily on the practical "how to go vegan" element and provides information to help break down that barrier. From daily email support and a Veganuary Facebook community to free access to more than 500 vegan recipes and an online vegan starter kit, these tools and resources assist people with making changes in a way that supports the obstacles they face in their day-to-day lives.
What’s Next?
Veganuary 2023 brings a bundle of new support materials for participants (or anyone!), including a 31-day YouTube video series, the 2023 Veganuary Celebrity Cookbook, a one-pot meal plan, and a new weekly podcast.