Chinese vegan market booming

The Chinese vegan market is expected to grow 17.2 per cent between 2015 and 2020 – the fastest growth rate in the world.

Global market research company Euromonitor International’s new Ethical Labels database reports a growing movement toward sustainability, social responsibility and transparency on labels worldwide.

According to the new research, halal and vegan labels are set to grow by a compound annual growth rate of more than 5 per cent annually during the period, translating into 708 million extra sales worth US$13 billion.

Despite leading growth for the vegan sector, China lags behind the US and Japan when it comes to ethical labels.

“Vegan product labelling is one of the key categories to watch in the future, as an increasing number of companies are expanding their consumer appeal by staying away from animal ingredients whenever possible,” says Euromonitor International head of health and wellness Ewa Hudson.

“The rising demand and trend for vegetarian and vegan proteins indicates where the market is moving.”

Meanwhile, the global market for ethically labelled packaged foods, soft drinks and hot drinks (excluding private label) accounted for $793.8 billion last year and is set to reach $872.7 billion by 2020.

Worth $45.3 billion currently and set to reach $58.3 billion in 2020 are halal products, driven by ethnic and religious diversity.

Other findings of the research: the US is the largest kosher market, 18 times the size of Israel; and the UK is the runaway leader in animal welfare labels with $ 30.1 billion last year.