The changing face of veganism
Before we start putting our customer profile sheets together though, it’s important that we don’t get drawn into stereotypes. The face of veganism is changing. If I’d have asked someone to draw me a picture of a vegan 10 years ago there’s a good chance they would have sketched something resembling a 1960s hippy, or at the very least sandals would have been involved. But this has changed. I spoke with Dan Strettle, the founder of Alternative Stores, who sell everything from vegan shoes to food both online and offline. Dan has been vegan himself for over 5 decades and he told me there is now no such thing as a typical vegan customer. There’s no typical age or background – he said asking to describe a typical vegan customer is like asking him to describe a ‘typical customer’ for shopping in general. It’s impossible; it could be anyone.
Over the past couple of years we’ve seen some huge celebrities embrace veganism, or at least advocate for a plant-based diet. Grammy award-winning musician Billie Eilish, Oscar-winning actor Joaquin Phoenix, Formula One legend Lewis Hamilton, former US president Bill Clinton. Even world-class athletes such as Venus Williams are embracing a vegan diet. Many who you would think would ridicule non-meat eaters (former World Heavyweight champion boxer Mike Tyson and former Mr. Universe Arnold Schwarzenegger are just a couple that come to mind) are now joining the long list of, largely, plant-powered celebs.
These are all people who have huge, mainstream platforms. Joaquin Phoenix using his Oscar acceptance speech to describe how the dairy industry works to an audience of millions around the globe was a defining moment for the cause.
And this is why, before you begin the customer profiling exercise, you need to clear your mind of any preconceptions you might have about vegan customers. It’s now just as likely that your plumber will ask for oat milk whilst they are fixing your shower, so we need to smash the stereotypes of who our vegan or plant-based customers might be.
