Vegetarian Society Approved brochure

Vegetarian Society Approved trademarks

Raise your profile in the plant-based market with the Vegetarian Society Approved trademarks

The Vegetarian Society Approved trademarks are symbols you will see on thousands of products in across the world. From food to clothes to household items to restaurant menus… If what you sell is suitable for plant-based customers, chances are you can add one of our trademarks, giving your business a boost!

Having the Vegetarian Society accreditation is hugely important to our brand. We’ve worked with the Vegetarian Society for many years and developed a strong relationship with their fantastic team. Beyond just accreditation, the marketing opportunities that they’ve been able to offer us have been extremely useful and we’re looking forward to continuing to work together.

Amy Bellchambers, Senior Marketing Manager, Higgidy

Benefits to your business

Consumers love seeing Vegetarian Society Approved trademarks on your products…and we’ve got the stats to show it!

Vegetarian and vegan consumers surveyed*

Over three quarters actively look for a Vegetarian Society Approved trademark on product packaging

62% would prefer to buy a product with a Vegetarian Society Approved trademark

8/10 have noticed one of our trademarks on product packaging

84% would trust a Vegetarian Society Approved trademark more than a manufacturer’s own vegetarian or vegan symbol

82% would prefer to see a Vegetarian Society trademark on a product’s packaging, than reading through an ingredient list

*All figures are from YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 2036 vegetarians and vegan adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between 21st – 27th March 2023. The survey was carried out online.

Plant-based integrity

The Vegetarian Society was established 175 years ago (and we have been accrediting products for the last 50 of those). Recognised worldwide, our trademark has been trusted by shoppers and supermarkets for over 50 years.

Brand promotion:

A listing on our website and access to incredible marketing, PR and networking opportunities, showcasing your products far and wide. Plus, we offer opportunities to feature in our members’ magazine, ‘The Vegetarian’.

Reassurance:

We check your ingredients and processes, giving you peace of mind they are suitable for vegetarians and vegans.

Expert Support:

We use our years of expertise to help in any way we can. Whether it’s assisting with product development, making connections with supermarkets or introducing you to our other clients for collaboration.

We offer a promotional boost for new clients

elp you reach a

We’ll help you reach a huge veggie and vegan audience, raising your plant-powered profile. In your first year of accreditation, we guarantee:

1 x post on our thriving social channels

A combined reach of over 400K followers across Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

1 x competition feature on our website

You provide and send the prize, we ‘ll take care of the rest, including promotion across our socials and newsletter.

Promotion at our exhibitions and events

Find exhibitions expensive? We attend many and will aim to showcase your accredited products on our stand at least once during the year

1 x mention in our Vegetarian Society newsletter

We’ll tell tens of thousands of subscribers about your products.

Our trademark criteria

In order for your product to be licensed to carry our trademarks, it must meet our strict criteria. We check your ingredient lists and specification sheets, and if they meet our criteria you can display the relevant trademark (once you have paid the licence fee).

Our vegetarian criteria:

• Contains no ingredient made from animal body parts

• Only free-range eggs are used

• Measures in place to avoid cross-contamination during production

• GMO-free

• No animal testing carried out or commissioned

Please see www.vegsoc.org/vegetarian-criteria for full details of the criteria

Our vegan criteria:

• Contains no animal-derived ingredients

• Measures in place to avoid cross-contamination during production

• GMO-free

• No animal testing carried out or commissioned

Please see www.vegsoc.org/vegan-criteria for full details of the criteria

You’re in good company

Thousands of products are licensed to display the Vegetarian Society Approved trademarks. Our clients range from large multinational corporations to small independent businesses and everything in between. Here is just a flavour of some of our clients who all proudly display our trademarks on some of their products.

If your products don’t meet our criteria...

If you want to display our trademark(s), but your products or production methods do not yet meet our criteria, we’re very happy to work with you to bring them up to our required standards.

Please note: The Vegetarian Society Approved trademarks are not allergen labels and should not be used as such.

Apply for your trademark today

We make applying for our trademarks stress-free and are with you every step of the way. Here’s what will happen at each stage of the process:

1. Fill out your application form

Complete our online form and we will send you a quote for accreditation. The trademark licence fee is tailored to each client and is determined by several factors, including the number of products to be accredited and the annual turnover of the product range.

2. Pay your trademark license fee

If you are happy with the quote, you can pay your fee and complete any outstanding documentation.

3. Get your products checked

At this stage, you can rest assured that we are taking care of everything. We will check your product ingredients and processes to ensure your products meet our criteria and we can help you with any ingredient queries.

4. Sign your trademark license agreement

Once your products have been checked, we will send you a trademark licence agreement to sign and return. When we receive this, you’ll get your certificate of accreditation.

5. Display our trademark(s) on your products with pride

Start using our trademark on your products and take advantage of our promotional opportunities.

www.vegsoc.org/apply

You can find out more about the Vegetarian Society and the work we do at wwww.vegsoc.org