VEGAN Food Certification Trend

As interest in health increases due to the spread of COVID-19 worldwide, interest in food safety has increased, and demand for international standards related to food safety such as ISO 22000, HACCP, and FSSC 22000 is also increasing.

Additionally, in developed countries such as North America, Europe, and Australia, interest in animal welfare and health-related has affected food consumption, and thus demand for vegan products and organic certification is increasing.

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• •  From 2015 to 2019, the annual average growth rate of worldwide food and beverage launches, including vegan and vegetarian claims, increased by 21% and 58%, respectively.1)
• •  More than 582,000 people participated in the vegan campaign that ate a vegetarian diet hosted by the non-profit organization of British, Veganuary in 2021, renews the highest record.2)
• •  The 2022 Top 10 Trends released by Innova Market Insights mentioned 'sustainability'. Because personal health and global sustainability are powerful motivating when consumers choose products, consumers say they choose vegetarian not only for personal health and diversity of diet but also for environmental protection.3)
• •  According to the Korean Vegan Union (KVU), the domestic vegetarian population increased by about 10 times over the 10 years from 2008 to 2018. In domestic, Vegan is not yet a mainstream market, but it is steadily growing around the MZ generation and keywords such as "Value conscious consumption," "Meaning out," and "Intermittent vegetarian". In this year, the domestic vegetarian population is assumed to be about 2.5 million.4)

<Food Certification Trend - VEGAN>

• •  In the case of Europe, interest in "sustainability" foods considering health, environment, and animal welfare has increased, and alternative meat consumption, vegan food, and organic food are showing steady growth. Europe accounted for 39% of global sales by it was the largest market for meat substitutes and alternative meat in 2016. Sales of plant-based food and beverage products in Europe continue to increase from 2.4 billion euros in 2018 to 3.6 billion euros in 2020.5)
• •  In the case of the United States, sales of full vegetarian foods that directly replace milk and meat increased by 27% from 2020 to 2021. Sales of the plant-based food retail market increased from $5.5 billion in 2019 to $7 billion in 2021, and as much as vegetable milk accounts for 15% of the total milk category and 35% of the total plant-based food market, interest in vegan products is increasing.6)

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[ Popular Vegan Foods ]

Plant-based Milk

Plant-based alternative milk is a milk-flavored drink that extracts protein and fat from plant-based raw ingredients such as beans, almonds, and oats. Typical examples include soy milk, almond milk, oat milk, and coconut milk.

General milk has three times more greenhouse gas emissions than plant-based milk and requires more than nine times land and a large amount of water to produce milk. Therefore, because plant-based milk is more eco-friendly than general milk, the demand for consumers that pursue vegetarianism continues to increase.7)

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Alternative Meat

Alternative meat is an alternative food that can replace meat. It is food ingredients that make its shape and texture similar to meat with the non-animal ingredient. Most of the alternative meat is made from plant-based protein materials such as beans and grains.

The size of the global alternative meat market was $4.7 billion in 2019 and is expected to be $6 billion sizes in 2023. By country, the United States forms the largest market with about $1 billion sizes.8)

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[ GIC Vegan ]

As mentioned above, the size of the vegan market continues to expand, and the demand for vegan food is also increasing. Vegan certification is a sure means that can inform consumers whether it is vegan food. Consumers can check and select the vegan mark attached to the product and purchase it.

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GIC provides its own vegan certification based on its knowledge that has been accumulated for many years about food safety management systems such as ISO 22000 and FSSC 22000. Please refer to the link below for more information.

GIC Vegan: https://www.gicert.org/gicert_kor/theme/gicertorg/service/02_product.php