The Vegan Society of Aotearoa, Vegan Australia, and Doctors for Nutrition have asked the Woolworths Group to stop discontinuing and reducing vegan product lines.
Together, the three groups represent a combined community of more than 130,000 people across Australia and New Zealand. The joint letter, which requested a conversation as the first step, has been sent to the Woolworths leadership team.
The partnership stemmed from a shared concern for animal rights and the environmental and health benefits of transitioning away from an animal-based food system.
Woolworths is well positioned to shape consumer habits. However, the groups claimed that consumers have been noticing a reduction, discontinuation, and marginalisation of vegan products, particularly in the alternative proteins category.
The three organisations reported that some Woolworths stores have consolidated vegan shelves into smaller, less visible, and empty spaces and have asked Woolworths to:
- Maintain and expand viable vegan product lines.
- Ensure equal visibility and integrated placement of vegan products across relevant categories.
- Publicly commit to increasing the proportion and prominence of animal-free foods as part of your sustainability and corporate responsibility strategy.
These asks hold Woolworths accountable to their own commitments, as stated in their Sustainability Plan 2025.
- By 2030, in line with climate science, we aim to reduce our Scope 3 emissions by 19 percent compared to a 2015 baseline.
- In New Zealand, half of our emissions come from agriculture, and we share our customers' concerns about the environmental impacts of protein. Through our partnerships, we will work to improve this and expand our range of plant proteins so that our customers have a choice.
Woolworths has not yet responded to the letter.
