The "plant-based" is not just a trend. Αre you ready to seize the opportunity?
Vegan certification What is it
Foods and other products that are considered suitable for vegans are those that do not contain animals or their byproducts and have not been produced with the help of animals or their byproducts. Therefore, meat and its byproducts, dairy products, fish, insects, honey, and eggs are not vegan, just like any food that contains ingredients from one or more of the above.
- Recognition: V-Label is a highly recognizable certification body both locally and internationally. Certification from such an organization helps consumers choose this product among its alternatives, providing a competitive advantage on the shelf.
- Enhanced Transparency: Consumers increasingly seek products with clean labeling. Consumer research by V-Label reveals that 91% of consumers across 40 countries prefer products certified by an independent body that guarantees their nature, without the need to spend extra time reading the label. Similar findings observed in Greece, where 70% of consumers consider important for vegan or vegetarian products to bear a logo, such as the V-Label logo, according to HellasVeg’ s survey
- Expansion to New Target Groups: Plant-based products are a rising trend. V-Label certification is an easy way for businesses to increase the appeal of their products, attracting flexitarian consumers as well. Flexitarians are those who desire to reduce their consumption of animal meat.
- Increase Sales: Producers can benefit from the increased trust consumers show in the V-Label logo. According to a V-Label survey, consumers are more willing to pay more for a product with the V-Label logo compared to the same product without it.
Vegan certification The certifier
V-Label was founded in 1996 in Switzerland, and its trademark is owned by the European Vegetarian Union (EVU).
The V-Label is an internationally recognized, registered symbol for vegan and vegetarian products and services. Worldwide, over 50,000 products from more than 4,300 licensees now bear the V-Label.
Today, it has 29 local partners in various countries worldwide, speaking more than 20 different languages. Greekexports joined the effort to promote plant-based products in the food and cosmetics industries in 2020, becoming the 28th local partner of V-Label with exclusive responsibility for Greece, Cyprus, Kosovo, North Macedonia, and Egypt.
For more information, you can visit the official website of V-Label at the following link: https://www.v-label.eu/, and submit a request for an offer.
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Vegan certification What is it
The terms “vegan” and “vegetarian” are related to individual and social ideals, representing a way of life that seeks to exclude, as much as possible, all types of animal exploitation and cruelty in the food and beverages industries, personal care products, households, etc.
However, when it comes to labeling vegan and vegetarian products, it is not clear what exactly these terms mean, as there are no official definitions at either the European or national levels. Therefore, V-Label provides credibility to the products it certifies, as it is based on standard criteria developed by vegetarian organizations throughout Europe.
When you purchase a vegan product that bears the V-Label logo, you can be sure of the following:
- It does not contain any parts of the animal's body.
- It cannot be produced with processing aids of animal origin.
- No animal testing has been conducted.
- It does not contain or use GMOs (Genetically Modified Organisms).
- Measures are taken to avoid cross-contamination of non-vegan materials during production.
Significance Why is it Important
The market for vegan and vegetarian foods is constantly growing, as more and more consumers are transitioning to plant-based options. The market for plant-based products in Europe and the United Kingdom is projected to reach 7.2 billion euros by 2025, compared to the estimated €4.4 billion in 2019, according to ING Think.
Consumers seem to reduce animal-based products without necessarily following a vegan or vegetarian diet. According to Euromonitor research in 2020, 42% of global consumers represented this trend (flexitarian diet), while vegans and vegetarians accounted for only 4% and 6% respectively. In Greece, the percentage of flexitarians reached 25%. The reasons for this trend vary (ProVeg Market Data Compilation, 2019).
V-Label is a leader in the global market for plant-based products, offering:
- Transparency: Thanks to standardized criteria and specifications, consumers can easily recognize vegan and vegetarian products among others.
- Guidance: With the help of specialized scientists and technologists in the plant-based sector, V-Label serves as a guide for industry inquiries as well as everyday consumer shopping.
- Trust: Due to thorough inspections outlined by the standard, both the industry and the consumer can be confident that the certified product follows specific guidelines.
Frequently Asked Questions
In Europe, V-Label has been established mainly in the food sector, making it the best-known company in this sector for years, according to research. V-Label is currently making its entry into the cosmetics sector as well, followed by cleaning products and other non-food products. In Greece, the product categories that have been certified vegan with the V-Label to date are the following:
- Meat alternatives
- Dairy alternatives
- Ready-to-eat foods
- Snacks
- Sweets
- Sauces & Dressings
- Drinks
- Cosmetics
- Personal hygiene products
- Cleaning agents (insect repellent, laundry detergents)
- Non-food products (e.g. paints)
The certification process consists of 5 simple steps:
- Registration of the expression of interest.
- Issuance of a personalized offer.
- Signing the offer and agreement.
- Initiation of the certification process and evaluation of product..
- Approval and issuance of the certificate.
From the acceptance of the Offer and signing of the contract, the time frame until the certificate is issued ranges from 2 to 4 weeks.
The cost of certification is annual and includes product evaluation and the right to use the V-Label logo. The offer is issued per product code and is additionally determined based on the nature of each product. An additional cost is also expected for the inspection.
V-Label certified products are not only checked for their composition but also at every stage of their production process. Therefore, V-Label can be considered a symbol of reliability for the consumer.
By simply reading the list of ingredients on the label, you cannot be sure whether the product is vegan or vegetarian, even if you are a food technologist! Some additives are indicated by E numbers (such as E441 is gelatin), while for other ingredients, their address on the label is optional.
Lastly, the origin of certain ingredients (e.g., additives) is not mandatory to be disclosed on labels, which does not provide a clear indication of whether they are of animal or plant origin.
The production process must be designed in a way that excludes the possibility of contamination of certified products with animal-derived ingredients.
According to V-Label criteria, the total percentage of contamination with animal products and by-products should not exceed 0.1% (1g/kg) in the end product. In case this limit is exceeded, the producer is urged to improve all stages of the production process to avoid contamination with animal-derived substances.
According to the European Vegetarian Union (EVU), the claim that a food is vegan or vegetarian does not exclude the accidental presence of animal-derived products if it is practically unavoidable for the company. A necessary prerequisite is that all stages of production, processing, and distribution are appropriately designed based on Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP).
Therefore, products that mention traces can receive V-Label certification under two conditions: A) the use of animal by-products during the production process is not intentional, and B) there is an appropriate cleaning process that ensures the contamination does not exceed the limit of 0.1% in the end product. However, the declaration of allergen traces is at the discretion of the company.
In any case, it is important to ensure that a consumer suffering from allergies is aware even of the smallest percentages of allergen traces.
V-Label does not certify the following products or products that contain the following ingredients:
- Meat products
- Fats from fish, fish parts, or other seafood
- Animal-derived aromatic substances (excluding dairy)
- Eggs (e.g., caviar), except for free-range chicken eggs
- Dairy products made with animal rennet
- Royal jelly
- Colorings derived from animal by-products (e.g., cochineal or carmine)
- Sugar processed with bone char powder
- Animal-derived carriers for additives (e.g., flavors) and other compounds
- Animal-derived clarifying agents (e.g., gelatin, isinglass)
Wine production involves the process of alcoholic fermentation of grape juice, a chemical process which a chemical process which is carried out with the help of yeasts that convert the sugars in the juice into alcohol.
In recent years, vegan labels have started to appear even on wine bottles. This is because whether a wine is vegan or not depends not only on the ingredients used in its production, but also the processing aid used. Animal products such as egg whites, gelatin (animal protein), and casein (milk protein) are sometimes used during the filtration and clarification of grape juice.
The fining process during the winemaking process is a critical point, because there are many cases in which winemakers add fining agents like egg whites, gelatin, or milk casein in order to remove unwanted compounds from wine.
Those agents are removed after the filtering process, so they are not part of the final product as ingredient. However, those substances are also in scope of the criteria of V-Label.
Taking into consideration the fundamental idea behind veganism, which states that animals/insects should not be killed or exploited in any form for food consumption, figs as a fruit are considered vegan.
Figs, depending on their species, have different methods of pollination. There are self-pollinating figs, as well as wild figs that are pollinated by tiny wasps. Wild figs cannot reproduce without these insects, and the insects cannot survive without the figs. Such a process occurs naturally, and in no way does a human "force" the insects to enter the figs.
By filling the application, you can find here, you will receive the offer.