The Retailer Winter edition_2020

Climate and sustainability

NEWS FROM THE bRC Veganism in Fashion: purchasing with confidence

Leah Riley Brown Sustainability Policy Advisor BRItish Retail Consortium

Numerous factors have brought the UK vegan food market up to £1 billion for the first time this past year: media attention given to research indicating that beef generates at least six times the greenhouse gas emissions per kilo of protein as soya beans²; that red meat requires 28 times more land to produce than chicken³; and that those signing up to Veganuary in January 2020 represented saving the carbon dioxide equivalent of 450,000 flights⁴. The latest reports estimate that there are approximately 600,000 vegans in Great Britain and that number keeps growing⁵. Veganism is not just growing in food categories but in clothing, as consumers look for items that cater to both their diets and their beliefs. The biggest issue for retailers to tackle is disentangling the notion in consumers that ‘vegan’ equates to being more sustainable. If a retailer wants to sell a vegan range of footwear, that would mean swapping out the leather for an alternative, which is most likely polyurethane (which is plastic). Swapping leather, wool, or silk for cotton, polyester, or viscose does not mean that article of clothing is more sustainable. It takes 2,700 litres of water to grow and create a cotton t-shirt⁶ and washing clothing releases microfibres into the marine environment (although the extent of the impact is still unknown)⁷ so there are a multitude of variables to consider before using the label ‘sustainable’. “BRC is working with its members to drive more responsible and ethical sourcing of products in order to help everyone make informed choices when it comes to shopping, whether they seek vegan products or not”

Labelling a cotton t-shirt as ‘vegan’ is also misleading as that cotton t-shirt was never made with animal-derived materials in the first place. However, retailers are doing their part to provide their customers with the assurance that any vegan product can be purchased with confidence. This means working with their suppliers to ensure that all materials and ingredients (including many glues and dyes) are not animal-derived and to check and verify them individually. To help address and tackle these challenges, BRC and its members have published the “Voluntary Guideline on Veganism in Fashion” with the aim of providing consumers with the level of assurance they expect from a retailer. It goes through a flow chart of decisions and questions a retailer will need to ask of their suppliers as well a list of animal-derived materials that are commonly found in clothing, footwear, or accessories. This is one of many ways in which BRC and its members are working collaboratively on progressing the industry. Under Better Retail Better World, the campaign which uses the framework of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the BRC is working with its members to drive more responsible and ethical sourcing of products in order to help everyone make informed choices when it comes to shopping, whether they seek vegan products or not. Learn more about the wider sustainability work being done by retailers as part of Better Retail Better World here. consumers look for items that cater to both their diets and their beliefs. The biggest issue for retailers to tackle is disentangling the notion in consumers that ‘vegan’ equates to being more sustainable” “Veganism is not just growing in food categories but in clothing as

¹ Sales of beef and pork plunge as Britons choose vegan diet, The Times. ²³ Tax meat and eat veg to save planet, says UN, The Times. ⁴ Veganuary for the Planet, The Ecologist. ⁵ Veganism: Why are vegan diets on the rise? BBC News. ⁶ The Impact of a Cotton T-Shirt, WWF. ⁷ What is the problem with microfibres? Microfibre Consortium.

36 | winter 2020 | the retailer