Buying from non-Vegan companies
A common concern from new Vegans comes down to the issue of whether or not Vegans should be buying otherwise Vegan options from otherwise non-Vegan companies, whether it's from a restaurant, a grocery store, or a Vegan brand owned by a massive food conglomerate. It comes down to thinking that since the parent company engages in animal agriculture, they should not be receiving any money from ethical Vegans, since it may go towards supporting it. While these concerns are understandable, they are not based on any good evidence.
In short, buying Vegan products from otherwise non-Vegan companies is almost always a net positive, and is easily one of the most effective ways to promoting Veganism and getting non-Vegans to eat less meat.
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[hide]Supply and demand
Buying animal products is easily a net-harm. Buying whole plant foods such as fruits and vegetables is roughly neutral. Buying Vegan alternatives is a net positive.
If you understand simple economics, you would understand that buying a product signals to the company that there is a demand for that particular product, and they will proceed to produce more of it, and focus their attention on that. The more money people spend on these mock meats, companies will take note and dump more money and resources into it. As of right now, animal products constitute their main source of income; Buying mock meats and convincing others to buy mock meats from these companies creates the incentive they need to invest more into it, and to be convinced that it was worth hedging their bets on it, being able to make just as much, possibly even MORE money off of mock meats than real meat.
The fact that corporations are now financially invested in mock meats shows that there's a market for it, as well as a huge economic incentive. Don't feel as though the movement is being subverted or exploited when you see companies that sell meat start selling vegan products. This is a good sign, as it shows that there is now a market for it, and how a lot of people want to make efforts to cut down their meat consumption or even go Vegan.
It will take a while, and there will always be setbacks and stagnations, but if we want to make the whole world eat less meat, psychology shows that the best way to do to something like this is to make it as easy as possible. Changing a person's circumstances is strangely enough easier than changing a person's behavior, since humans are inherently stubborn and kind of lazy. Even if people 100% agree with the Vegan message and want to make an effort to eat less meat, people are too habituated to their eating habits to make a change from fatty fried foods to whole plants. If you make something even a little easier to do, more people will do it (and goes for the opposite as well; If you make something harder to do, even a little, rates of it decrease dramatically. Look into suicide means reduction). Buying mock meats, which will make them more accessible and cheaper, is a huge part of this.
Increasing Availability
Take a grocery store for example. If they see a lot of people are buying the Gardein and Beyond meats they have stocked, they're going to order more and put more on their menu. Seeing Vegan options being advertised or being stocked along the shelves exposes non-Vegans to mock meats, which makes them more likely to buy mock meats and thus displace real meat. Sure, they can buy whole-plants, but most people are habituated to eating meat, so giving them something similar is much more likely to be purchased.
Buying from Vegan Companies vs. Non-Vegan Companies
The vast majority of vegan alternatives you see in the grocery store are owned by some company or corporation that also has financial interests in animal agriculture, but there still exist small independent Vegan startups that you can buy from.
We strongly encourage of course support buying from 100% vegan companies/restaurants if possible to give them a chance to blossom and make an impact in the market, but buying Vegan from non-Vegan companies is still immensely important, and arguably even more important and effective in some ways. Corporations tend to come with more name recognition and trust, as well as quality control. They also control significant amounts of the industry, giving them the ability to push into the market more, meaning purchases from them might be more impactful.
Big corporations also have those huge research and development budgets compared to smaller companies, meaning they have the resources to make their Vegan products taste much closer to meat. Of course this isn't to say small vegan companies don't produce delicious products, and you should buy from them if you enjoy what they make; It's just that it's much more likely that big corporations can make a stronger impact here, not to mention if a small Vegan company is good enough, sooner or later it's likely to be bought out by a big corporation anyway.
Who buys these mock meats?
Interestingly, the majority of people who are buying these mock meats are not vegans, or even vegetarians. The majority of people buying vegan meats, milk, eggs, etc. are reducitarians who understand the ethical and environmental ramifications as a result purchasing of animal products, and are making an effort to cut down.
While of course it is important for Vegans to buy these products, Vegans have always made up a very small percentage of the population in the developed world. Grocery stores and restaurants are not dedicating money, shelf-space, and resources just to possibly cater to 1% of the population, they are stocking their shelves and adding Vegan options because the public at large, while not Vegan, is interested in trying out more plant-based meats. While the numbers of people who have been eating mock-meats has been declining a little (largely due to preferring the taste of real meat), the fact that so many people were interested in trying out mock meats easily demonstrates the increasing understanding of the benefits of Veganism.
As mentioned, these numbers have declined due to people preferring the taste of real meat, but they can be raised again if we buy more of these mock meats and get more investment into them to make them taste even more like meat, and thus attract more meat-eaters.
Current Impacts
We're seeing changes happen right now because of the purchase of mock meats. Grocery stores often have entire sections dedicated to Vegan products, dairy sales have been declining dramatically in favor of plant milks, most restaurants have at least a few decent Vegan options available, all of this culminating in huge reduction in animal suffering and environmental harm.
When NOT to buy from non-Vegan companies with Vegan options
There are often exceptions to every rule. While 95% of purchases of Vegan options will result in some sort of net-positive, there are times where buying from a non-Vegan company, even if they have dedicated Vegan options, is a bad idea.
The biggest offenders are companies that started out Vegan and stayed Vegan for a while but then decided that it wasn't lucrative enough and gave in by adding non-Vegan options to their product listing (often in the form of dairy or eggs). They'll lather it with some nonsense about how they're still going to make it "humane" and "sustainable" even though animal products (especially "humane" ones) are not sustainable, and these industries are still prone to massive abuses to these animals regardless of how ethical they try to make it.
Companies such as Cosmic Bliss (formerly Coconut Bliss), a once Vegan ice cream company, decided to stop being 100% Vegan and added various ice creams made from cow's milk, which was met with a considerable backlash. The best option for a company like this is to boycott them entirely, and message them saying you're disappointed with their change in direction, and will not buy from them again until they go back to being a Vegan company.
The difference between a company like Cosmic Bliss and other non-Vegan companies is that Cosmic Bliss took a calculated and deliberate step back, and should therefore be punished appropriately for their business conduct. Other companies that make efforts to add more Vegan options on the other hand are taking steps forward, and should be rewarded with their progress with patronage from Vegans, and others looking to eat less animal products.
Another example of companies that should be boycotted is a company such as Lightlife, which is owned by Maple Leaf Foods, though the brand itself is 100% vegan. While they haven't made any non-Vegan foods, back in 2020 the company did a huge campaign intentionally calling out leading Vegan brands Impossible and Beyond, labeling them as "unnatural" and "genetically modified." Aside from promoting anti-science nonsense and spreading the idea that these technologies (that have been immensely useful for improving food security) are dangerous, they're trying to scare people off of two of the biggest brand names in Vegan meats, both of which have brought about amazing changes to the industry and have gotten people to eat much less meat. Seemingly, this was done by LightLife to promote their new Vegan burger (which has since been discontinued as of 2022 LOL!!!) and compete in the market, and while more mock meats competing is certainly a good thing (to give people more options), brands shouldn't directly call out others in their advertising, unless there's damn good reason to do so.
Finally, and a much more applicable example, you should try your best to avoid going to to eat as restaurants that don't have any significant Vegan options aside from side dishes like fries and potatoes. This is discussed more in our article discussing eating out as a Vegan.
If you don't really have any other options aside from these companies, then buying from them isn't as big of a deal, but if your local supermarkets stock plenty of other brands with Vegan bacon and ice creams, or if there are other restaurants in your area with real Vegan options, you should buy from them instead.
Vegans opposed to buying from non-Vegan companies at all
There exists a small yet vocal minority of vegans (often influenced by anti-capitalist thought) who remain adamant about not buying from these companies, so much so that they'll make it a part of their Veganism and accuse any Vegan who buys such products being not REALLY Vegans. We have already addressed the problems of associating anti-Capitalism with Veganism, but this section will target a particular part of the ideology they zealously defend. Their arguments are not valid, and are made in ignorance of basic economics.
While most Vegans will understandably have the concerns of buying Vegan products from such companies, they often quickly change their minds when presented with the proper reasoning. However, the ones who remain firmly against it tend to be completely blinded by ideology, and will firmly hold their ground on it regardless of what you say or the evidence presented. It stems from their hatred of capitalism, and they have distaste for the idea that such companies will never be "punished" for their treatment of animals and will never cathartically collapse.
Does it suck that these corporations that profited off of animal suffering will never collapse? Well, maybe, depending on who you ask, but this is not relevant, considering that this is an emotional desire, not a moral one. Nothing about being Vegan requires these corporations to collapse, the only thing that matters if fewer animals are suffering.
Of course, as discussed, even if you don't buy from these companies, you still shop at grocery stores and other places that may sell animal products (unless you grow your own food, or live near an all-Vegan store, neither of which is applicable for a large portion of the population) so going by the logic of these people, if you buy from these places, you still support animal agriculture. They may object and say that it's done out of "necessity." The thing is, if we're accepting the premises of these people, what exactly is the difference in harm between buying from a grocery store that sells meat, and buying products from some big corporations that also sell meat? How is buying from a local grocery store (which some may not have, many people only have access to chains) causing less suffering, especially since these stores also stock products that are sold by the big corporations you're boycotting? And even if you opt for just eating whole plants, there's still a very good chance that your produce (unless sourced locally) is grown by some giant food corporation that has interests in animal agriculture. At that level there's no point in even being Vegan anymore, is there?
Over the past few decades, the industries involved in animal agriculture have been lobbying against the animal rights movement, and part of this has been demonizing mock meats; However, now that they have a financial investment in mock meats, they have no reason to push against them, and in fact may lobby more in favor of them. Mock-meats may be more profitable in the long run too, since they won't need to deal with the increasing welfare regulations and carbon taxes, nor will they have to worry about so much waste that comes along with animal products. These corporations are not loyal to animal agriculture, they are loyal to only money, and will do whatever is necessary to maximize profits. We need to convince them that they can still do this while being a Vegan company, which is why it's so important to buy these products in the first place.
These people don't realize how much more difficult and daunting they're making Veganism seem when they literally say that virtually every Vegan alternative is off-limits; One of the best things about these mock meats is that they make reducing meat consumption much easier for the average person, so when you tell people not to buy them, this means fewer people will reduce their consumption of animal products, which will hurt more animals.
A person of the persuasion we are criticizing here who happens to be reading this is very unlikely to be convinced (people deep into their extremist ideologies are unlikely to concede points on the spot), this section was to point out how the main contentions raised are asinine. The best advice we can give is, when you see some Vegan who is against buying Vegan products from non-Vegan companies, it's best to not listen to or associate with them. They're very likely a crackpot on other issues too (probably assume some capitalist conspiracy where a small group of elites control the world or something like that, which they presume to be self-evident), and they're a very small minority anyways, so find sensible, rational Vegans to work and communicate with if you really want to make an impact.
