Veganuary finishes with record number of people pledging veganism for January

‘Vegan living is growing; it’s here to stay’

Natalie Portman has been vegan for eight years (AFP/Getty Images)

Veganuary finishes on Thursday on an all-time high, with more people than ever before taking part in the annual month-long pledge to veganism.

A record 250,000 people signed up to the campaign this year, eschewing all meat and dairy products from their diets for the duration of January.

The figures surpass the number of pledges in the last four years combined.

Judging by what previous participants have said, the organisation predicts that 60 per cent of those who took part in the challenge, which was launched in 2014, will stay vegan.

“With a quarter of a million participants this year, Veganuary is finishing on an all-time high,” said Rich Hardy, head of campaigns at Veganuary.

“I think Veganuary has reached critical mass now – vegan living is growing; it’s here to stay, it’s part of the national conversation and it has credibility. That’s great news for people, animals and the planet.”

Part of Veganuary’s rise has been credited to 13 new overseas partnerships, with the campaign extending its global reach by running promotional material in India, Sweden, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Peru, Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, South Africa, Japan, Iceland and Russia.

Veganism has become increasingly mainstream in recent years, but it has arguably surged in the last few months, as supermarkets continue to unveil new plant-based ranges and restaurants add vegan dishes to their menus.

Veganuary will publish its full breakdown of this year’s campaign in spring, which will include data on participants’ overall experience of veganism and how easy or difficult they found it.