“We are vegans for ethical reasons”
In this exclusive interview ahead of SIAL Paris 2024, Juju and Fabi of Vegan Gesund Mit Grund share insights into the growing acceptance of plant-based diets in Germany and across the world. They discuss innovative vegan products and their excitement about discovering new plant-based, sustainable and ethical options at SIAL Paris 2024.
How have you seen consumer attitudes towards plant-based diets evolve in recent years, especially in Germany?
We have seen that society is opening up more and more for the vegan world, for vegan products, and they are getting used to it. I think six years ago when we became vegan we had to explain what veganism is. And right now in Germany everybody knows and most people eat vegan foods on a daily basis. Like vegan meat on a barbecue or oat milk or soy milk etc. They are starting to implement them for their nutrition, which we are really seeing, especially in our community, growing in numbers. It’s amazing to see what has happened in the last six years, it’s getting bigger and bigger and we love to see this.
I think it’s coming to the minds of the people that it’s more than just a trend. It’s a lifestyle decision, it’s an ethical choice that people are making. And I think that society is getting the point that it’s not just like, okay, I’m going to try it, I’m going to do it. A lot of people have really bonded to this vegan lifestyle because they have learned so much about what’s happening out there, about the reality. And it touches them so that they change their lifestyle and it becomes part of their new identity. This is what we’re seeing. I would say in the younger generation the question is more why are you not a vegan? Basically with the young people, with the students, it’s so common to be vegan and it is becoming uncool to smoke, to eat meat, this is the new thing for the kids to be aware and to eat healthy food and to be vegan for ethical reasons. It’s cool again. It’s becoming cool, which we really love to see.
What exciting vegan innovations or products have caught your attention recently and how do you see them kind of shaping the future of the food industry?
Cellular milk which is made in a lab without animal abuse but is still at the end of the day the same milk on a chemical level. This means you can make all of the milk dairy products out of this cellular milk base. This is, I think, the most exciting thing, because you can, in the future, have all of the normal cheese and yogurt and stuff, like we’ve known from our childhood. This is what it’s about. We are vegans for ethical reasons. That doesn’t mean that we don’t like the taste of cheese or meat or something. It’s really ethical. So it’s so amazing to see that the people who make this choice for ethical reasons can get this amazing taste back. It’s like a present. This is very, very exciting. It already exists. There are many, many companies out there who do this already.
There is a German company that started selling cellular milk cottage cheese last week, and it’s available at the supermarket. It’s becoming real and we were really waiting for it to, I think for four years now. Now time is running for companies to get it out as fast as possible in the supermarkets and this is the end of a main obstacle to becoming vegan for some people. It means you can choose products without abuse, and even for health reasons you can choose products without antibiotics, without lactose, that kind of thing. You can choose how much B7 and vitamin D is in there, how much calcium is in there, etc. So very, very exciting. We’re looking forward to having many of those old tastes back. It’s the same with cell cultured meat, it’s already out there and we love that as it’s becoming more affordable more people are trying it.
How important is sustainability in the development of plant-based alternatives and vegan alternatives? And what role do you think this is playing in attracting new consumers?
I would say it’s very, very important because to the choice to become vegan is made because you’re aware, you’re conscious, and you’re thinking about your output and your input. So you are also thinking about sustainability for sure, definitely for most of vegans. If it’s not really sustainable, we wouldn’t buy it.
What makes it easy is that most of the vegan products out there are really sustainable because we take care about it and because essentially they are more sustainable because they are made from plants. We don’t have to feed the animals to get their products. We eat the fruits and the vegetables and legumes directly.
It’s very important because vegans are aware for ethical reasons, for health reasons and also for sustainability. Every environmentally conscious consumer knows a plant-based diet requires fewer natural resources and means they have a lower carbon footprint. These are all things that make the lifestlye attractive for them. Especially for the younger generation, it’s the environmental impact what makes it very attractive to go vegan.
What are you looking forward to seeing and discovering at SIAL Paris this year?
We are very excited. For us privately, but especially for our community. We are looking forward to to bringing new products to our community, to telling them what’s next coming up because they’re always curious and most of us are foodies, we love food. It’s important because as a vegan you have to make smart decisions. If you want to cook vegan, you don’t have all the same opportunities others have. So we have to be creative and as the number of products we can use increases, the easier our lifestyle becomes.
We especially love cheese, so we’re looking forward to all the cheese options, but we are curious about everything which we can see and taste and film for our community to show them because it’s also a visual experience. A feast for the eyes is a feast for the stomach.
We are also interested in eco-friendly packaging solutions, and discussing vegan issues with the industry, with the major players. For us it’s interesting to see what’s coming up next, what’s out now, and what is the plan for the next three years, ten years, etc. Even some companies who do not have vegan options right now, we hope to talk to them and convince them to think about solutions and inspire them with the vegan lifestyle, especially as vegan society is growing and growing. So, also for us as activists, it’s interesting for us to speak to different companies.
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