WIXLIB

What is veganism?Why are we passionate about veganism?Where are we now?Vegan Society CertificationCustomer talking pointsFind out more

Here at The Body Shop we arepassionate about looking afterour planet and the creaturesthat live on it.Not only are all our productscruelty-free, they are also 100%vegetarian. We also have a hugerange of vegan products tomake sure we can meet asmany of our customers’needs as possible.But we are The Body Shop, andwe always strive to do more, andto take it one step further.What’s the next step in ourvegan journey?By the end of 2023, all of our productformulas will be certified as vegan byThe Vegan Society.Not only are we reformulating theremaining vegetarian products that we sell,we are also getting an independent charityto certify our products as vegan!Read on to find out more about what thismeans for our brand and our products.

The Vegan Society defines veganism as:For cosmetics, that means that the finishedproducts and ingredients must all becompletely free from ingredients or byproducts derived from animals.The vegan society defines animals as “theentire Animal Kingdom, that is allvertebrates and all multi-cellularinvertebrates”, so it really covers everything!It’s likely that there have always been vegansocieties and individuals living in the world,but the term “vegan” was coined in 1944 byDonald Watson – co-founder of The VeganSociety (more on this later!).The number of people converting toveganism around the world has beensteadily increasing since then and it isestimated that roughly 80 million peopleglobally live a fully vegan lifestyle.Hundreds of thousands more believe thatadopting aspects of veganism, even forshort periods (like Veganuary – the trend ofgoing vegan for January) is the right thing todo in order to protect our planet and theanimals that inhabit it with us.

Looking after our planet and theanimals that live on it is part ofThe Body Shop DNA.We were the first cosmetics companyto campaign against animal testing incosmetics in 1989, with a fundamentalbelief that animals should not beharmed in the pursuit of beauty. Ourfight continues for a worldwide banon animal testing in cosmetics. Wewere also the first major globalbeauty brand to use cruelty-freemusk in our fragrances.Our decision to go vegan is the naturalnext step in continuing of fight againstanimal cruelty.We want all our products feel as goodfor the soul as they are for the body.Cruelty-free and 100% vegan certified(by the end of 2023), we will nevercompromise our belief that animalsmust not be harmed in the pursuitof beauty.Our products uplift, empowerand boost self-esteem, all whilestaying true to our sustainable andethical principles, and that’s whyour customers trust in us and ourproducts, and continue to buyfrom us.We also want to make productsthat meet our customers’ needs.Instead, we work hard to source veganingredients that work.More and more young, ethicallyengaged people are passionateabout veganism, with the globalnumber of vegans reaching an alltime high in 2021, and the steepestincrease in younger age groups.To find out more about our fight againstanimal testing check out LA Read: XYZOur customers care, and so do we.Bring on 100% vegan certification bythe end of 2023!

At the start of 2021, roughly 60% of ourproduct formulas were vegan, and theremaining 40% were vegetarian.The difference between vegan andvegetarian is that people following avegetarian lifestyle consume and useanimal by-products, like dairy, eggs,honey, or beeswax.The non-vegan products we have in ourportfolio contain one or more of thefollowing ingredients: Honey Beeswax Lanolin (a thick greasy oil taken fromsheep’s wool and used in moisturisers) Ambrettolide (a resin excreted by theseedlac beetle used in perfumes toincrease their longevity on skin)As we get ready to be 100% vegancertified by the end of December 2023,we are slowly and steadily reformulatingour vegetarian products in line with theguidelines from The Vegan Society (moreon them on the next page!)Regardless of whether our products arecurrently vegan or vegetarian, you andyour customers can rest assured that100% of our products are cruelty-free.This means that we never test ourproducts or our ingredients on animals,and the animal derived by-products thatwe currently use are extracted in ahumane way.For example, the beekeepers who collectthe beeswax and honey for us don’t useany chemicals, and only use traditionalbeekeeping methods to keep the beescalm – they don’t even need to wearprotective beekeeping outfits!Want to know which of our products arevegan so far? Check out your ConsultantWebsite and of course The Body ShopWebsite for a full list of ingredients ofproducts.

The Vegan Society is a registerededucational charity that providesinformation and guidance on variousaspects of veganism, for existing andpotential vegans, caterers, healthcareprofessionals, educators and the media.The Vegan Society’s product registrationscheme, the Vegan Trademark, is widelyrecognised as the global standard forvegan products, ensuring that products arefree from animal ingredients and byproducts.The Vegan Trademark has been helpingusers identify that a product is free fromanimal ingredients since 1990. Registrationwith the trademark gives brands theconfidence to shout about their vegancredentials. Look out for the VeganTrademark on over 50,000 productsworldwide, including cosmetics, clothing,food, drink, household items, and manymore.The Vegan Society's dedicated andexperienced team check each productapplication against strict criteria, workingwith manufacturers and raw materialsuppliers to ensure that each productformula meets their high standards.The Vegan Trademark is renewed on anannual basis to ensure they have themost up to date information on all theproducts they certify.Over 90% of vegans and vegetarians lookfor vegan certification logos whenchoosing vegan products for the firsttime on cosmetics, so it’s important forus to ensure all our products areindependently verified so we can beconfident that we are truthfully andauthentically communicating with ourcustomers. By the end of 2023, 100% of ourproduct formulas will be ‘vegancertified’ by The Vegan Society* We are certifying each individualingredient in every productformulation, which is a first in thebeauty industry The vegan trademark itself will appearon the back of pack for certifiedproducts, and on Product Fact Sheets The word “vegan” will also be shownon the front of all our products***Some stores will still be selling through old non-veganregistered stock**Some small products will not have a ‘vegan’ callout or logo onthem, due to space issues on packaging design, however byDecember 2023 these will all be vegan

When we started this process, over 60%of our products were already vegan – andstill are!We’re now working with an externalcompany to certify them. The certificationprocess is rigorous and lengthy, so it’sgoing to take a while for all of our veganproducts to make it onto the list ofcertified products, but we’re aiming tohave completed this work with The VeganSociety by the end of 2023.The Vegan Society has a very strictapproach to certifying products – theylike to make sure they have all the rightinformation, that they’ve gathered it forthemselves, and that they’ve double- andtriple-checked it – talk about thorough!Not only do they certify the end products,they also certify each individual ingredientand raw material, showing the level ofinvestigation they undertake to provideauthentic communication to theircustomers.Although The Vegan Society is a UK basedcharity, their thoroughness and depth ofinvestigation is appreciated by vegans allover the world, and in our opinion, itmakes them the best possible option forcertification of our product formulas.It just takes a bit of time to check over allof our 650 products!While we work towards an entirely vegancertified offer by 31 December 2023, it’simportant to remember that we sellsome products which are still vegetarian.If your customer wants to know if aproduct is vegan, these are the simplesteps you can take to check!1.Check the label! Can you see thevegan callout, or The Vegan Societylogo? If you can, it’s certified vegan!2. If you can’t see these logos on thelabel, check out the Vegan Safe Liston Retail Park. If the product is on thelist, it’s vegan!3. If the product doesn’t have a veganlogo, and doesn’t appear on the VeganSafe List, it’s possible that either thisversion of the product, or a previousversion was vegetarian rather thanvegan4. Be sure to help your customer findtheir perfect vegan alternative

Now all that’s left is to share our vegan message with our customers! Need some helpgetting started? No problem, here are some really simple talking points to get theconversation going.Our products are inspired by powerful,hard-working, natural ingredients, andcontain lots of wonderful veganingredients, many of natural origin!Our world-renowned CFT programme isfull of amazing vegan ingredients, all withamazing unique stories. So share them!Living a vegan lifestyle is believed to be agreat way to help look after theenvironment and our planet. If yourcustomer is passionate about lookingafter our world, why not share somestories about what we are doing to help,like the recyclability of our packaging*.Looking after our planet and theanimals that live in it is part of TheBody Shop DNA. We have always andwill always work hard to ensure all ourproducts feel as good for the soul asthey are for the body!*Where local facilities allow

And last but not least, just 2 more, thenit’s over to you For those customers passionate aboutanimal welfare, you could share stories ofour brand’s history and our fight to endanimal testing, as well as our mission toremove all animal by-products from ourproduct formulas by December 2023.While there will be many customers whoare open to conversations about veganismand who will want to know more, there willalways be those who aren’t interested.Veganism can even be a contentious topic.Some customers may even question whyThe Body Shop is talking about the topic orreformulating some of their favouriteproducts, and could become angry orfrustrated.them out – really listen, and don’tinterrupt.Our products are independently certifiedby The Vegan Society - the mostrecognised and trusted Vegan trademarkin the world, meaning our vegan andvegetarian customers can rest assuredthat our products have been speciallymade to meet their needs.– this is the mostimportant step. Acknowledge what they’vesaid and make sure they feel understood.– explain the action you’re goingto take, and make sure you follow through.– to diffuse thetension, change the subject back to thereason they’ve come to see you today.

Want to learn more about veganism, oreven tempted to give it a go?Vegan living is a growing trend, andthere’s so much information out there tohelp you learn more.Here are a few of our favouritesuggestions to get you started. If youlearn something you particularly enjoy,why not share your thoughts with yournext passionate customer?Useful websites www.vegansociety.com www.onegreenplanet.org www.vegnews.comFilms & TV Cowspiracy Seaspiracy Okja Vegan: Everyday StoriesPodcasts Breaking Beauty The Chickpeeps podcast Our Hen House The Switch4Good Podcast The Bearded Vegans

The Vegan Society defines veganism as: It’s likely that there have always been vegan societies and individuals living in the world, but the term “vegan” was coined in 1944 by Donald Watson –co-founder of The Vegan Society (more on this later!). The number o