Body Shop gets landmark Vegan Society certification
Jan 3, 2024
Eco pioneer The Body Shop has scaled new environmental heights, becoming the first beauty brand globally to have 100% of its product formulations certified by The Vegan Society.
Across all its skincare, bodycare, haircare, make-up and fragrance, the certification comes after The Body Shop achieved the ambitious target it set itself in 2021 when 60% of its products carried the Vegan Society trademark.
The retailer noted the certification process “is extremely thorough”, with a meticulous assessment of every supplier and manufacturer of raw materials within the product catalogue. This meant over 4,000 ingredients had to be validated for over 1,000 products to carry the stamp.
Importantly, The Body Shop said its new status “also responds to growing customer demands”, noting the vegan cosmetics industry is predicted to grow with 6.31% compound annual growth rate between 2023-28 and reach $24 billion by 20281.
With over one in 10 young people saying that ‘vegan’ is an important factor in their health and beauty purchase decisions2, “this move from The Body Shop responds to growing customer demands”, the retailer said.
CEO Ian Bickley added: “We know that vegan beauty matters to millions of people around the world, and we’ve worked tirelessly to achieve this huge milestone. We were the first beauty company to fight against animal testing in cosmetics. We were the first major global beauty brand to use cruelty-free musk in our fragrances. We have now achieved another global first.”
Director of Business Development at The Vegan Society, Chantelle Adkins, also said: “This has been a massive project for them and showcases their commitment and dedication to vegan beauty. We hope that this significant step sets a global standard for other beauty brands to follow and inspires further change to reduce animal use and exploitation across the industry.”
An accompanying marketing campaign will “playfully lean into a common reaction” when anyone mentions the V-word — the eyeroll.