Stop Calling Foods “Vegan” — Here's What Works Instead

Names matter. We need to stop calling foods "vegan" and start using other, more exciting labels.

Shifting the world’s diets in a plant-forward direction requires careful consideration of how we label meat-free foods. Most restaurants use the simplest words for their plant-based options: “vegan” or “vegetarian.” Recently, the term “plant-based” has also gained popularity. Unfortunately, these words don’t work.

Dozens of psychological studies show that these terms — “plant-based” or “vegan” — are not meaningfully effective in getting people to eat less meat while dining out. It’s time to start phasing out these words and replacing them with more exciting alternatives: appeals to health, sustainability, and, above all, taste.

A Vegan Option By Any Other Name… Would Be Better Actually

To show how different types of labels might work, I searched for and graphed various plant-based “nudge” studies. A “nudge” is a way to guide people into making specific choices, without removing the choice altogether, like changing the names of menu items.

Data time! Here’s a chart of what I found — if you’re not a chart person, you can skip a bit below where I’ll explain what all these numbers mean. Take a look:

A few notes: Please remember that this chart encompasses a wide range of study types, so none of these trials are a one-to-one comparison. Instead, review them and look for overall trends. Researchers (or curious research–minded folks!), I compiled all the studies into this spreadsheet if you’d like to dive into the nitty-gritty.

Across many studies, “vegan” consistently harms food sales as compared to alternative labels. “Plant-based” is a bit better — in one study, participants chose a “vegan” food gift basket 20% of the time. When that word was swapped to “plant-based,” it became a bit more popular, but not much: only 27% of people chose it. Good, but not good enough.

Health-focused nudges are more effective, particularly for individuals who are already seeking healthy food options. However, health appeals aren’t consistent: one real-world study even found that using health-focused language decreased consumption compared to basic labels! Interestingly, one recent study focused on the higher protein content of a vegan sausage roll, which works better than other health-nudges like “Healthy Choice” or “Light N’ Healthy.” If you’re going to reference health, it’s probably best to highlight salient health factors (like “protein-packed”) rather than general descriptors (“healthy”).

Sustainability indicators are also an improvement, but again, the findings aren’t consistent. When discussing environmental nudges, we may accidentally run headfirst into the small body problem. In one study, using a “traffic-light” style carbon label (red indicating red meat, yellow other animal products, and green vegetarian and vegan) made participants swap out red meat for other animal products. I wrote about this problem in an earlier piece if you’d like to read more.

One type of nudge reigns supreme: taste. This shouldn’t be too shocking — making food sound appealing is a good motivator for people to order it. The good news is that discussing taste is relatively straightforward. This plant-based nudge guide recommends highlighting flavor, texture, provenance, and ingredients to make the food more enticing. “Zesty three-bean chili” is way more exciting than “vegan soup.”

To understand why these labels work better, we need to unpack why the word “vegan” isn’t an effective marketing tool.

The Word “Vegan” is Attractive to Vegans and Basically No One Else

I’m a vegan. I love it when I see the word “vegan” sprawled across a menu in big, flashy green letters. It’s great for me! But it’s not great for meat reduction.

Seeing the word “vegan” can spark several associations in the average person’s noggin. First, they associate that food with something being taken away, namely, meat and animal products. While many vegan products might have tons of flavor, someone perusing a menu may only think about a lack of flavor.

Secondly, they might associate it with other vegan foods, which often have negative associations. Many individuals in the media frequently paint vegan foods as disgusting or strange, which can color people’s opinions before they even take a bite. Or maybe they tried a vegan product before and didn’t like it — unfortunately, those first impressions can sometimes linger and deter future plant-based eating. Finally, they might associate it with the identity of veganism, to which they don’t belong. “That’s a food for someone else,” they might instinctively think, “Better not order it.”

If you’re still not convinced, imagine yourself perusing a menu when you come across a food label that doesn’t describe you: say “kosher” or “halal” or “gluten-free”. If I see “gluten-free” on a menu, I associate it with something being removed from the cooking process, namely, delicious carbs. If I see “halal”, I implicitly assume it’s a food geared towards Muslims, which I am not. If I’m making a quick look through a menu, these quick assumptions are enough for me to skip past those food options entirely, which might mean I’m missing out on some insanely delicious food!

This is why taste-based nudges are so valuable. When we sit down at a restaurant, we’re looking for something delicious, something worth the price, maybe a comforting classic or an exciting new flavor. I’d be way more likely to order something called a “spiced ginger almond cookie” than a “gluten-free cookie” because those flavors are interesting and appealing. Use language to add, not subtract.

“Vegan” Should be Used Sparingly

There are benefits to the word “vegan”. For one, it allows vegans and vegetarians to order their food more easily. It’s best to title a plant-based dish something tasty and then include a subtle indication that it’s plant-based, like a tiny V, PB, or leaf icon. This is the best of both worlds: appealing to meat-eaters and vegetarians alike. Another option gaining popularity in supermarkets is the green label “Suitable for Vegans”. This can allow vegans to buy it confidently without activating the identity of veganism that may deter meat-eaters. I wasn’t able to find psychological studies on its effectiveness, but I’d predict it would work better than the label “vegan” alone.

There’s another potential benefit that isn’t captured by any of these research studies: social norm signalling. Theoretically, the inclusion of the word “vegan” on menus can signal to consumers that veganism is becoming more mainstream. Again, I couldn’t find evidence for or against this idea, but it’s worth considering, especially in regions where veganism isn’t a salient concept.

Nudges Can Be Part of the Solution

Implementing these types of wording changes isn’t too tricky. In one survey of restaurant managers and customers, restaurant managers rated all pro-vegan nudges as positive. However, only 8% of them actually implemented the nudge of attractive labeling, suggesting a significant gap between attitudes and implementation. Other research shows that implementing these changes doesn’t affect whether or not customers want to return to the restaurant, so it’s unlikely to harm sales long-term. This means these labels are a true triple-threat: straightforward, scalable, and effective.

It’s time to let go of the word “vegan”, at least in terms of menu food option labeling. If you’re curious about implementing these changes, you can review Better Food Foundation, Greener by Default, and other plant-based nudge advocacy organizations (Disclosure: I’m a freelancer who frequently works with BFF).

Let’s end this resource the same way the best plant-based burgers do: with a grain of salt. Bear in mind that these types of label nudges are more effective in online studies than real-world trials, and these nudges alone are unlikely to be enough to shift our collective diets. Menu nudges should only be one part of a broader solution. Next week, we’re going to dive into the science of menu ratios: that is, how many plant-based items of food do we need on a menu to change ordering habits? Stay tuned!

Thank you

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