2020 was a big year for veganism in the UK. And judging by the response to Veganuary this year, the rise of the movement for culinary, social, and agricultural change is set to continue. According to the latest research there are around 600,000 vegans in the UK and this number is steadily growing.
Conscious consumerism will continue to pave the way to making it easier for people to switch to plant-based diets, and in influencing their decisions on which products to select, and this extends well beyond their diets. Whether it’s for health, happiness, or ethical reasons, what’s clear is we are part of a growing global movement that’s not just about the food we consume but also about making cruelty-free and sustainable choices when it comes to what we wear and the beauty products we apply.
It is estimated that approximately half of all British women are choosing to purchase cruelty-free and vegan friendly beauty products, even though a third of these people are not following a strict vegan lifestyle. With a focus on ‘clean beauty’ and ‘conscious beauty’ creating greater awareness and influencing decisions. We have been aware of ‘cruelty-free beauty’ for many years, and we know that this is associated with not testing on animals. ‘Vegan Beauty’ differs in that the ingredients in these products do not contain any animal by products including beeswax, animal fat and crushed beetles (used in colour cosmetics to create that high blush colour).
Although many of us may not follow a strict vegan diet, the vegan beauty market is on the rise—projected to reach 20.8 billion dollars by 2025. This lifestyle trend is expanding rapidly across the beauty industry with many more of us choosing brands aligned with our personal values.
Brands like Bybi, Medik8, Nails Inc, Too Faced, Milk Makeup amongst others have followed suit in becoming 100% vegan. Aveda has also recently announced that all their products will soon be vegan – they have even removed beeswax citing this as one of their biggest challenges. They are the first brand to appoint a global advocate for sustainability, Arizona Muse, a model, and climate activist who will be spreading their news on sustainability and veganism.
Recently, Holland and Barrett introduced their “vegan beauty bundle” which consists of essential full sized bottles of beauty goodies. The ‘vegan’ certification verifies that products (and all their ingredients) have not been tested on animals and are free from any kind of animal extract.
Millennials are the main group of consumers that are driven towards this trend and social media has a large impact on what drives them to considered purchases. We are living in an age where our media consumption is at a peak. The availability of information at our fingertips has seen many changes globally in recent decades.
There is a flourishing vegan community on Instagram and on TikTok. In the last twelve months, both platforms have reported a major increase in engagement with relevant content. The #vegan hashtag has had more than 6.8 billion views on Tik Tok and 105 million posts on Instagram, with #vegetarian following closely behind.
Celebrities are also spreading the word launching new businesses under their name. Tennis champion Venus Williams co-founded Happy Viking, a range of plant-based yellow pea and brown rice protein shakes, also based on a personal experience. She wanted to offer people a healthy way to refuel and recover whilst also feeling satisfied. Kate Hudson has also launched Inbloom which are plant-based powders aiming to boost energy, clear brain fog and strengthen your immune system.
With Covid 19 changing our way of life across the globe, it’s interesting to see how it’s impacted our diets and nutritional factors. According to the Vegan Food and Living survey 65% believe that it will make people think more carefully about eating meat in the future. There is more competition from supermarkets as they are trying to create delicious and innovative products for their vegan customers. Tesco is considered to have the largest own range brand vegan options across all categories.
One thing that is clear is that consumers are becoming more aware of what they are eating, drinking, and applying to their bodies and when creating a new brand, you can develop a range whilst keeping top of mind current trends and movements, aligned to their visions and ethics. If you are a large multi-national company, this is going to take time to phase in, but it is important to be mindful when considering new product development that there are alternatives available from components to ingredients that can be introduced across your brand.
If you are looking to develop a brand in the beauty, spa or wellness industry or you have an existing brand and you are looking for consultancy support to move things forward, get in touch, we would love to hear from you. Bespoke Advantage is a brand management company working with clients across the beauty, spa, and wellness industry to develop their brands from ‘concept to shelf’.
We love partnering up with award-winning beauty and wellness brands, well-established companies, retailers, investors, trade bodies to bring your ideas to life. With over 60 years combined experience in building brands we know what it takes.
As a beauty brand consultancy, we support you in taking your business to the next level through strategy, brand management, product development. Introducing our 3 C’s – we draw upon years of Clarity, Creativity, Commerciality to deliver your results. We design brand identities and visual elements, create products, develop go-to-market strategies to help you to engage with your ideal customers. We work with you to develop a comprehensive strategy for your business by understanding your vision (and the marketplace) and then delving into the details to create order and structure, neatly packaged up to deliver you commercial results.
We work with clients based in different corners of the world – from the UK, to Africa, Sri Lanka, Australia, the Middle East and across Europe. Over the years we have worked with a diverse portfolio of businesses – here’s a snapshot. If you would like to discuss your ideas with us, get in touch, we would love to hear from you.
‘As a Queensland-based company, we were determined to tap into the European market and establish a strong presence. From the very beginning, Bespoke Advantage demonstrated a deep understanding of our export goals and objectives. Their comprehensive knowledge of the European market, coupled with their extensive network of contacts, enabled them to connect us with key decision-makers and influential stakeholders in our target countries. Their strategic guidance and insights were invaluable in shaping our export strategy and positioning us for long-term success.’
‘With the assistance of TIQ, we engaged Bespoke Advantage to help us enter the highly competitive but lucrative UK market. During the last few months Janet and her team have worked diligently to introduce and expose Perfect Potion to buyers and retailers we would never have been able to reach being based in Australia.’
‘Janet has a wealth of experience across retail, buying and marketing. She conducted a full strategic review of our cross functional business and the travel retail market to develop a comprehensive buying and quality control strategy that was signed off at board level. I highly recommend her as an asset to any business.’
‘Through Janet’s management skills, expertise and proven track record on the job she successfully managed the purchasing of our retail operations and ensured the integrity of our brands in-stores. Her enthusiasm and total dedication, delivered results in any project she was involved in.’
‘Janet has excellent beauty market knowledge. Level headed with clear vision, direction and the ability to drive business forward, Janet led the teams through a complete product design change advising on what the key marketing messages should be, incorporating her technical knowledge and beauty expertise.’
‘Absolutely fantastic course. Condensed learning from Janet, an expert in developing beauty brands. Also, valuable introductions to expert professionals, in the Masterclass sessions. In 12 weeks, you will learn from Janet, what would take years to learn by yourself. A very worthwhile investment’