Veggie/Vegan Soap Demand

[Scott_1993]

Hi

I was just curious, for those that sell soap, do you find there is a special demand for vegan/veggie soap (e.g. without animal fat). I know that veggie/veganism is becoming quite popular but tallow is usually the cheapest material for soap making so I was wondering how this translated in sales?

Do you always make an effort to have both or do you not find much demand for it?

Thanks
Scott

 

[Kiti Williams]

I can't say for the others, but it did make a big difference in my sales at my first Craft Sale. A lady asked if our soaps were Vegan, our answer was "Yes, and crudity free as well.". as lye has been known to be corrosive for a long time, and the only scents were oils from my garden, we could make this claim. I use OO CO and VO in my soaps.

 

[shunt2011]

I’ve not noticed any large increase in demand here. I make mostly lard based soap. I do make some that are vegan friendly but prefer my lard over anything else. They out sell vegan any day at all my shows.

 

[TheGecko]

I was just curious, for those that sell soap, do you find there is a special demand for vegan/veggie soap (e.g. without animal fat). I know that veggie/veganism is becoming quite popular but tallow is usually the cheapest material for soap making so I was wondering how this translated in sales?

Do you always make an effort to have both or do you not find much demand for it?

Outside of having someone ask me for a magic soap for psoriasis at the Craft Fair is November, no one asked me about vegan soap (or if my soap was palm free). It would probably be different if I was twenty miles down the road in college town.

And even though it would probably increase my sales to include ‘vegan’ on the label, I’m not going to. I am thinking of putting a few bars out called “Soap Zero”...gluten free, sugar free, caffeine free, low carb.

 

[KiwiMoose]

Hi Scott,
Given that you are in Scotland - you might be better to get a local perspective. I make all my soaps vegan AND palm free, which is market driven here in New Zealand.
I don't think people would even think to ask if my soaps contained animal fat, and would probably buy them regardless. So if I didn't say 'Vegan' on my signs at the market nobody would even give it a second thought. They generally buy on smell/appearance alone. If tallow is your choice, then I say go with it, and see if anyone asks for vegan specifically before you go down that path. I wouldn't specifically say "my soaps contain tallow", because some people would think that was icky, not realising they've probably been using tallow soaps commercially for years.
From what I hear from other friends in the UK - you might be better to plug the palm-free angle as people in the UK seem quite conscious of that.

 

[Rebecca mueller]

From a quaint, forward thinking, kinda hippie college town, yes, I sell 99.9% vegan soaps. The only soap I make that isn't technically vegan is honey and beeswax soap, made with super local beeswax and honey. Im frequently asked about the ingredients. It seems important to some, others are more concerned about aroma. I think a new awareness surrounding the plant based movement has become more wide spread and may be changing the future of using animal products.
Cruelty free cosmetics, personal care, etc is becoming more of a deal breaker too when making a purchase.
I work at a salon and people will scan product barcodes before buying, using an app to check if it's cruelty free.
I think given the choice, if people knew there was tallow in a soap vs a vegetable oil, I suspect people would pick the vegetable oil unless they remember "soap like grandma made".

 

[Zany_in_CO]

If "vegan" is your personal preference, then I say go for it! Once you attract a customer base, they will always know where to go to buy more. For example, I had a wholesale customer that only sold goat milk soap. She had a steady base of customers that bought at the Farmers Market until the season was over. Then they would buy from her online store.

 

[Saltwater Scented]

If "vegan" is your personal preference, then I say go for it! Once you attract a customer base, they will always know where to go to buy more. For example, I had a wholesale customer that only sold goat milk soap. She had a steady base of customers that bought at the Farmers Market until the season was over. Then they would buy from her online store.

There's a company like that in central Texas. I forget the name of them but they are in all the Buccee's here. Buccee's is a very interesting gas station, that is generally the size of a small Walmart. Anyway, their entire line up seems to be goat milk centered. Fredricksburg Goat's Milk or something like that is the label name.

 

[cmzaha]

I make vegan and non-vegan soaps for the few that want vegan soap, but for the majority, it does not matter. I also get a few customers that ask for palm-free not many. If they want palm free vegan they are just out of luck because I do not make.

 

[SideDoorSoaps]

The only thing I’ve been asked if it was vegan was my lip balm. I’ve made a few soaps with animal fats and I actually prefer them to use and they sold well also however I don’t make them often.

my company does use the slogan Hippies Use Side Door Soaps so we stick close to the hippie vibe so I think that’s why we don’t get asked about vegan products.

 

[amd]

I think it is totally a regional question. 4 years ago when I started selling soap (2015), I got asked maybe once a year if my soaps were vegan and/or lost one sale because someone didn't want a soap with tallow/lard. Flash forward to the end of 2018 and all of 2019, at least twice at every event I did I would be asked if they were vegan, and I lost a number of sales when people were reading labels and they would see tallow. The awareness and change in my sales area has started to push me towards developing a vegan line. I don't plan to completely replace my non-vegan recipe, but add an additional lineup as an option for those who do care, and still performs the same for my customers who don't care.

 

[SeaSuds]

I don't sell but I think in the UK that palm oil is more of an issue than vegan/non vegan. You can easily source sustainable palm oil or look at using soy wax as an affordable palm or tallow replacement (lots of info on soy wax on this forum). I have just discovered Eurosoy800 (non GMO) which makes a lovely creamy soap. Take a look on Etsy and set the filters to UK to get an idea

 

[lenarenee]

From a quaint, forward thinking, kinda hippie college town, yes, I sell 99.9% vegan soaps. The only soap I make that isn't technically vegan is honey and beeswax soap, made with super local beeswax and honey. Im frequently asked about the ingredients. It seems important to some, others are more concerned about aroma. I think a new awareness surrounding the plant based movement has become more wide spread and may be changing the future of using animal products.
Cruelty free cosmetics, personal care, etc is becoming more of a deal breaker too when making a purchase.
I work at a salon and people will scan product barcodes before buying, using an app to check if it's cruelty free.
I think given the choice, if people knew there was tallow in a soap vs a vegetable oil, I suspect people would pick the vegetable oil unless they remember "soap like grandma made".

From a quaint, forward thinking, kinda hippie college town, yes, I sell 99.9% vegan soaps. The only soap I make that isn't technically vegan is honey and beeswax soap, made with super local beeswax and honey. Im frequently asked about the ingredients. It seems important to some, others are more concerned about aroma. I think a new awareness surrounding the plant based movement has become more wide spread and may be changing the future of using animal products.
Cruelty free cosmetics, personal care, etc is becoming more of a deal breaker too when making a purchase.
I work at a salon and people will scan product barcodes before buying, using an app to check if it's cruelty free.
I think given the choice, if people knew there was tallow in a soap vs a vegetable oil, I suspect people would pick the vegetable oil unless they remember "soap like grandma made".

And now there is a resurgence of interest in animal products, even eating carnivore. It will be interesting to see how this all plays out in the future.

 

[KiwiMoose]

LOL @lenarenee - and I'll say it again!

For info @Scott_1993 I am a soy wax user - this enables me to be vegan and palm free. PM me if you would like more info - or just search up some of the various threads on the forum as SeaSuds has suggested.

Weirdly - it seems i can't get lard from the supermarket here, but I can get tallow ( we just call it beef dripping). I can also get duck fat. Both are more expensive than soy wax, CO, OO, Castor, RBO. I would have lard was easy to get.

 

[Scott_1993]

Cheers everyone for your input. Thanks @KiwiMoose, I'll have a search and then get back to you. Have no experience of Soy, just experimenting with all things soap at the moment