In the wake of Animal Aid’s ‘Mark It Vegan’ campaign, supermarket chain Asda has announced that as of January 2017 it will be introducing a new vegan logo to be used on all of its animal-free own-brand products.
The new logo will initially feature on 18 products, but will be rolled out to all applicable food, household and health and beauty products as packaging is refreshed. Asda has also announced that it will be launching a new vegan information page on the Asda Good Living website that will enable customers to find out which of the company’s products are suitable for vegans.
The news follows a concerted campaign by Animal Aid to urge all UK supermarkets that don’t already do so to label their vegan-friendly own-brand products. The ‘Mark It Vegan’ online petition has attracted more than 7,700 signatures, and many more people have signed postcards, sent emails and taken to social media to express their support for the campaign.
‘We are delighted by the news’, says Animal Aid Campaign Manager, Ben Martin. ‘This is exactly what we have been calling for. Up until this point, Asda had been one of the worst UK supermarkets for providing information about its own-brand vegan products, so this is a real turn-around and it will soon be amongst the very best. We hope that other companies will soon follow suit.’
At present Sainsbury’s and the Co-op are the only UK supermarkets that label the vast majority of their own-brand vegan products.
‘The number of vegans in the UK stands at just over half a million and is growing rapidly’, says Mr Martin. ‘Having suitably labelled products, similar to those already enjoyed by vegetarians, makes life much easier for vegans and those buying on their behalf. It allows us to shop with confidence, knowing that we are not supporting animal cruelty.’
A number of other supermarket chains in the UK have begun to state on the packaging of some products that they are suitable for vegans, but have yet to commit to introducing the measure across their entire own-brand range. Animal Aid has vowed to continue to urge these companies to introduce a consistent approach to vegan labelling like that announced by Asda.