ProVeg has recently written a report that rounds up seven of the New Food Hub’s most important lessons for businesses and brands. These insights uncover what consumers want when it comes to plant-based products and how best to target your audience, and ultimately, how to increase your sales and market share.
One key takeaway that stands out stems from the question: should you use the word ‘vegan’ on your front-of-packaging?
It’s an interesting question, and, depending on how it’s answered, holds the potential to both isolate and attract different consumers.
Word choice is vital when designing packaging for plant-based products – types of restrictive language can be off-putting to some people, whilst certain terminology can encourage purchasers.
So, what’s the answer?
ProVeg recommends opting for the word ‘plant-based’ on the front of product packaging, with a V-label certification on the back – this combination will maximise your products’ appeal to flexitarians.
While ‘vegan’ is generally better understood by flexitarians in native English-speaking countries, as illustrated by a survey carried out by ProVeg, the use of the word on product packaging results in the lowest increase in purchasing intent.
With no formal legal definition in the UK or EU regarding a vegan or plant-based product, this is perhaps an underlying cause of consumer confusion, as the two terms tend to be used interchangeably. That’s why it’s important that products get V-label certification, as it’s the most reliable way to give consumers seeking 100% animal-free products confidence that they might otherwise lack based on terminology alone.
Flexitarians value indulgence, so ProVeg recommends avoiding restrictive language such as ‘meat-free’ and rather opting for ‘plant-based’ on the front of the pack, with a V-label certification on the back to best appeal to the flexitarian consumer.
If you are interested in learning more about developing your brand’s strategy, click here to read the full article. If you’d like to work with ProVeg International, you can email them at [email protected].
1. Smart Protein Project (2021): What consumers want: a survey on European consumer attitudes towards plant-based foods, with a focus on flexitarians’, European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (No 862957). Available at: https://smartproteinproject.eu/consumer-attitudes-plant-based-food-report/. Accessed 2022-10-24.
