AUSTRALIA | In Australia, there has been strong demand for certified vegan products, with dairy alternatives leading, followed by snacks and condiments.
Other categories that Nadia Schilling, head of V-Label Australia, has been closely observing include personal care and household products, the quiet achievers.
At the same time, Schilling highlighted that the real evolution and growth were happening online, where certification does the heavy lifting.
“Direct-to-consumer brands and speciality grocers are picking up shoppers that the major chains no longer serve,” said Schilling.
“Online, you can't pick up the product and read the back of it, so shoppers rely on the V-Label logo before they add to cart.”
As the biggest gap is self-certification, any brand can label its products as "vegan" without independent verification. With ‘plant-based' seen as more of a marketing term and 'vegan' promising a guarantee, the V-Label certification has become the only thing that has closed the gap between the two.
Schilling cited Colgate as an example and mentioned that a product can be free of animal-derived ingredients, but the parent company still tests on animals.
“For ethically motivated shoppers, that's the opposite of what they think they're buying. V-Label screens for exactly this disconnect.”
V-Label is one of the world's most recognised vegan certifications, with more than 70,000 products globally certified. It conducts an audit of the entire supply chain, including processing aids, animal testing policies and cross-contamination risks that aren't required to be disclosed on an ingredients list.
“A vegan claim isn't just a recipe statement; it's a value statement, and shoppers expect the company behind the product to stand by it,” she added.
“When a shopper sees the V-Label, they don't have to read the ingredient list with a magnifying glass; they’ve got a third-party guarantee they can trust.”
Her advice to suppliers was to audit their ingredient lists in full and, most importantly, to obtain supplier declarations in writing. The brands that have built the most consumer trust treat V-Label certification as a quality system, not just a marketing logo.
“If you can't trace it, you can't certify it. And if you can't certify it, you shouldn't be claiming it.”
Looking ahead, Schilling expects Australia will eventually follow Europe's direction and introduce a legal definition for "vegan" on packaging. The ACCC has already prohibited misleading and deceptive conduct, and it's only a matter of time before a high-profile case forces the issue.
“Right now, having V-Label certification is a competitive advantage, but in five years, it'll be a hygiene factor. The brands moving early are the ones shoppers will trust.”
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