1) The document analyzes social media mentions of veganism and the trend of Veganuary to understand consumer interest in plant-based diets. 2) It finds a large rise in social media mentions of terms like #vegan and #veganuary between 2015-2018, mirroring increased interest in veganism. 3) There is a direct relationship between the growth of social media discussions around veganism and an increase in people signing up for Veganuary each year, showing social media can track emerging trends.

1. 1
What can #veganism tell us about predicting
future trends on social media?
8th February 2018
Ipsos MORI

2. 2
Veganuary
It has become second nature to share our lives on social
media, but, in particular we have developed a love for
sharing what we eat as witnessed by the rise of
#foodporn.
A quick search of Instagram reveals more than 144 million
posts have been tagged #foodporn and that the tag is
currently one of the top 100 hashtags worldwide.
Within this social media whirlwind around food there has
also been a notable rise in the references to #vegan/ism.

3. 3
Veganuary
Ipsos MORI research in 2016 indicated that there were roughly 540,000 adult vegans in the UK, an incidence
of 1.05%. And, large corporations are responding.
• Tesco, for example, doubled their vegan and veggie Christmas food offering in response to demand
and launched a plant based range of wraps, pizzas and ready meals early into the New Year.
• This trend towards veganism is also witnessed by the success of Sainsbury’s vegan cheddar where sales
were 350% higher than projected.
• Pizza Hut have now also introduced a vegan pizza onto their menu and many brands like Zizzi,
Wagamama and The Diner have dedicated vegan menus.
• Dedicated vegan businesses are responding to the interest too. Many plant based markets and businesses
have been popping up all over the country and amongst these, Hackney Downs Vegan Market, serving
plant based street food, started as a monthly event just over a year ago but is now weekly and Temple of
Seitan (a vegan alternative to KFC) has just opened at its second location in Camden.
https://www.ipsos.com/ipsos-mori/en-uk/vegan-society-poll

4. 4
The rise of vegan as seen on social media
Ipsos MORI have explored the #vegan/veganuary trend across the
UK, using social media mining capabilities to explore veganism
within the context of Veganuary.
Social media content has been analysed across Twitter, Facebook
and Instagram for the Christmas period and into January for the
years 2015/16, 2016/17 and 2017/18 - to understand the trend in
chatter with regard to this topic.
2016/17
151,203
2017/18
283,732
2015/16
70,770
What is very clear is that the
trend in chatter around
Veganism is exploding.
Mentions of #vegan, #veganism and #veganuary on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, between 1st December-31st January (2016, 17, 18)

5. 5
Is #Veganuary more than a new year’s resolution?
7326
3559
1815
Dec 17 to Jan 18
Dec 16 to Jan 17
Dec 15 to Jan 16
Numberofmentions
Vegan chatter among social media users is getting louder each year
1st December 31st January1st January
Mentions of #vegan, #veganism and #veganuary on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, between 1st December-31st January (2016, 17, 18)

6. 6
Veganuary sign ups versus social media chatter
0
20,000
40,000
60,000
80,000
100,000
120,000
140,000
160,000
180,000
0 50,000 100,000 150,000 200,000 250,000 300,000
Veganuarysignups
Mentions of vegan/veganuary on social media
In fact there is a direct and clear
relationship between social
media and Veganuary sign up.
The important point here being
that..
social media has a powerful role
to play in better understanding
what consumers are interested in
and which trends are gaining
greatest traction.
Mentions of #vegan, #veganism and #veganuary on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, between 1st December-31st January (2016, 17, 18)
2015/16
2016/17
2017/18

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may not be disclosed or reproduced without the prior written consent of Ipsos.
7
Pippa Bailey
Director
pippa.bailey@ipsos.com
Mark Flood
Director
mark.flood@ipsos.com
Kathleen Malkin
Graduate Research Executive
kathleen.malkin@ipsos.com
Mike Lebeau
Research Executive
mike.lebeau@ipsos.com
Ellie Brooke
Marketing Executive
ellie.brooke@ipsos.com