For years the Veganuary has been told as an identity challenge, good for curious headlines and polarized discussions. Today, however, that narrative no longer suffices.Plant-based eating has moved out of the niche and into a terrain of concrete experimentation, where health, market, and food culture are much more intertwined than is often thought. The numbers bear this out: in 2025 alone, the initiative involved more than 25 million people worldwide, while in Italy more than one million consumers said they had joined the January challenge or otherwise significantly reduced their consumption of animal products.
More and more people are coming to Veganuary without the idea of “going vegan.” They use it as a dress rehearsal: thirty days to cut down on animal products, understand how the change works, see if it is sustainable even outside the initial enthusiasm. It is this pragmatic approach that explains why the initiative continues to grow and speak to a wider and wider audience, far beyond traditionally sensitive circles.
Plant-based does not mean one thing
The first misconception to be cleared is linguistic. “Plant-based” is not a one-size-fits-all diet, but a broad container ranging from legumes and fresh vegetables to plant-based alternatives to meat, ready meals, and processed products. Putting everything on the same footing is convenient, but misleading.
The most recent scientific research confirms that replacing some meat with plant foods can bring measurable benefits on cholesterol, weight and cardiovascular risk. But at the same time it signals that not all alternatives are equal. Ingredients, salt content, fat and degree of processing make a difference, much more than the label.
Market grows, but literacy needed
In Italy, the market for plant-based alternatives is growing steadily. In 2024, sales of plant-based products reached about 640 million euros, a double-digit increase from two years earlier, and nearly six out of ten households bought at least one plant-based product during the year. This is a clear signal: plant-based is no longer a choice of a few, but a stable presence in everyday spending.
But commercial growth does not automatically coincide with increased food awareness. Many consumers enter plant-based through products that imitate meat because they are familiar, easy to use, reassuring. It is an understandable transition, but not a neutral one.
Massimo Santinelli, CEO of Biolab, also insists on this point: “Plant-based products are not comparable to most ultra-processed foods. We use sustainable and largely organic raw materials that undergo a transformation process that does not alter their nutritional characteristics. Now leading scientific institutions are also coming out to confirm this.”
The most recent studies urge avoiding shortcuts: no food alone solves public health or environmental problems. Plant-based alternatives work when they flank legumes, whole grains and vegetables. A position also shared in institutional circles. As Roberta Alessandrini, director of the Physicians Association for Nutrition, explained, “Plant-based alternatives to meat show very different nutritional characteristics than processed meats, such as lower saturated fat content and good protein and fiber intake. They can complement legumes or other whole plant sources by contributing to greater adherence to dietary patterns such as the Mediterranean diet.”
A front door
In the end, Veganuary works precisely because it does not promise miracles. It does not ask for definitive memberships, but it does offer a space for testing. The data clearly suggest this: more than 80 percent of participants say they will maintain, at least in part, the dietary changes they experienced during the month. Some will return to their former habits, some will reduce animal products, and some will change more radically. All are legitimate trajectories.
The point is not the month of January, but what comes after. The idea that the plate is a concrete lever of change, to be handled carefully and without ideology. In this sense, Veganuary is less a flag and more an open question. And, today, that is already a lot.
