The plant-based challenge, which had its first outing in 2014, has seen exponential growth since its debut with huge numbers of people signing up to take part each year.
Veganuary has become a ‘bigger feature than Christmas in the retail calendar’ since it launched in 2014, according to one of its founders.
The vegan pledge – which encourages people to try a plant-based diet throughout January – has now accrued a staggering 2 million sign-ups since its debut.
It was conceived by husband and wife team Matthew Glover and Jane Land who came up with the idea while sitting at their kitchen table. They expected a handful of people to take part and were blown away when 3,000 signed-up for Veganuary’s first outing.
Since then, the campaign has continued to grow, making global headlines, with participants from more than 200 countries including the UK, US, Chile, Argentina, Brazil and India among others.
The future of food
In a statement sent to Vegan Food & Living, Matthew Glover, co-founder and Chair of Veganuary, said: “When my wife Jane and I decided to launch a new year’s vegan pledge in 2014 we expected only 1,000 people to take part.
“More than 3,000 signed-up and we were blown away. Now Veganuary is a bigger feature in the retail calendar than Christmas, reflecting the ever-increasing number of people choosing plant-based food.
“Two million official Veganuary participants in just eight years is a huge achievement, but the explosion in plant-based products that has accompanied it is truly revolutionising the future of food.”
ADVERTISEMENT
Celebrities sign-up for Veganuary
More than a few famous faces have taken Veganuary’s pledge, including wildlife presenter Chris Packham, TV presenter Jasmine Harman, actor Peter Egan and ‘dragon’ Deborah Meaden – all of whom are now Ambassadors for the charity.
Chris Packham, who did Veganuary in 2019, is fronting this year’s campaign video, in which he encourages everyone who cares about climate change to take part this January.
In the video he says: “Climate change and biodiversity loss are themes that are on everyone’s minds at the moment and we all want to try and make a difference. And by changing our diet, we can certainly do that.”
