Recommended partner · Certification
The Vegetarian Society
The UK's original voice for the vegetarian and vegan movement, founded in 1847, and the people behind the Vegetarian Society Approved trademarks that have sat on packs since 1969.
Visit vegsoc.org
What they do
All figures from vegsoc.org, trademarks and certification pages, read September 2026. Registered charity 259358, Manchester.
Why I send founders there
A buyer trusts a mark they have seen a thousand times.
Every founder-led brand I work with gets asked the same question in the first buyer meeting: what is on the pack that tells a shopper what this is, without reading the back? A recognised certification mark answers it before it is asked.
The Vegetarian Society publishes its own shopper research on this. It says 82 per cent of shoppers prefer to see an accreditation symbol on packaging rather than read an ingredients list, 75 per cent actively look for the trademark, and 84 per cent of plant-based consumers trust it more than a manufacturer's own symbol. Those are their numbers, not mine, and they are the ones a buyer will recognise.
What makes it worth doing early rather than late is the assessment itself. It covers ingredients, cross-contamination on the line, genetically modified ingredients and animal testing. That is the same set of questions a grocery technical manager will ask, so answering them once for the mark means the answers exist when the retailer asks.
And there is a launch benefit most brands do not use. New licensees get a first-year package that includes a social post to a combined following of over 400,000, a product competition on the website, a newsletter mention, a feature in the members' magazine and promotion on the Society's exhibition stand. For a brand with no marketing budget, that is a launch campaign for the price of a certification.
Launching a vegetarian, vegan or plant-based line? Get the mark decided while the artwork is still a file.
Enquire with the SocietyWhere it fits
Stages 01 and 02. Before the buyer, not after.
Foundations
Decide which mark you are going for while the recipe and the artwork are still moving. A change to a supplier or a shared line later on can change the answer.
Do it hereBuyer ready
The mark is on the pack shot in the sell sheet, and the assessment paperwork sits in the technical pack. The buyer's first question is already answered.
Ready to sendSelling
Use the first-year promotion. Social reach, the newsletter and the members' magazine all land after the listing, when rate of sale is what matters.
Free reachGood to know
Before you pick up the phone.
- Fees are not published. They depend on turnover and the number of products, and the Society's own line is that it may be less than you think. Budget it as a quote, not a list price.
- The marks certify vegetarian, vegan or plant-based status only. They say nothing about sustainability, welfare or environmental claims, so do not lean on them for those.
- Cross-contamination rules are real. If your product runs on a shared line, expect questions about cleaning between runs, and possibly changes to how you schedule production.
- Genetically modified ingredients rule a product out for all three marks. Check the spec sheet before you apply, not after.
- The Society also runs plant-based catering training from £850 a day plus VAT, delivered in your kitchen or theirs. Useful if foodservice is on your route, not just retail.
Trademark criteria, business benefits, shopper statistics and catering training pricing from vegsoc.org, September 2026. Shopper percentages are the Society's own published figures; methodology is not stated on the pages cited.
Next step
Want the mark on the pack before the buyer sees it?
Go direct to the Society's trademark team using the button above. If you would rather I made the introduction, or you want to talk through which mark fits the product first, twenty minutes is usually enough.
You contract with The Vegetarian Society directly, on their terms.