Veganuary: Over 75 firms to encourage staff to take on plant-based eating challenge
Numerous global businesses are taking part in the Veganuary Workplace challenge this year, with total sign-ups for the initiative since it launched in 2014 now around the 2 million mark.
More than 75 UK companies have signalled their backing for Veganuary 2022, promising to encourage their staff to cut meat and dairy from their diets throughout January, the organisers behind the campaign have revealed.
Major companies including Harrods, Volkswagen Group, Sky, Superdrug and Papa John’s are among those to officially sign-up to the campaigns ‘workplace challenge’, which commits employers to providing a wider range of plant-based food for their staff, as well as running events and educational initiatives that promote vegan diets.
M&S, NHS Supply Chain, PwC, EY, and Adept Carehomes have also signed up to the global 31-day plant-based diets challenge, which kicked-off on 1 January 2022.
A YouGov poll of 2,000 UK adults last month commissioned by Veganuary found more than a third of respondents were either interested in adopting, or planned to try, a plant-based diet. It also found that attitudes towards veganism had become more positive over the past two years, with 36 per cent of respondents describing eating a plant-based diet as an “admirable thing to do”.
Veganuary’s head of communications Toni Vernelli said companies signed up to the challenge in 2022 would therefore be lending a “helping hand” to the growing number of people interested in adopting a vegan diet.
“It’s great to have so many businesses putting their values into action by taking part in Veganuary’s workplace challenge,” Vernelli said.
“It’s a fun way to unite their teams in a shared experience while demonstrating their commitment to reducing their impact on the planet and improving the health and wellbeing of their employees.”
Liz Williams, managing director for Papa John’s UK, said the firm was encouraging staff in dozens of countries to take part in the challenge. “The call to sign-up to Veganuary’s 31-day challenge has been shared with colleagues in over 45 countries, many have answered, and they will be supported through January and beyond with helpful tips and plant-based recipe inspiration,” she said.
It comes as growing numbers of food firms are expected to rollout yet more plant-based and vegetarian food and drink products this month to capitalise on the annual Veganuary campaign.
“Eating more sustainably needn’t be complicated or expensive – there are simple steps we can all take to reduce our impact on the planet,” said M&S nutritionist Sophia Linn. “Our Sparking Change Challenge is designed to help customers make small changes that can easily be incorporated into their day to day lives and make it stick for the long term.”
