Swissveg


Swissveg, previously known as the Swiss Association for Vegetarianism is a Swiss association in the legal context of article 60ff of the Swiss civil code, where members are exclusively vegetarians. The association has its registered office in Winterthur. The president is Renato Pichler, who is also on the board of EVU. Swissveg is the biggest community in Switzerland for vegetarians and vegans. According to Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Switzerland has the second highest rate of vegetarianism in the European Union. Older governmental data from 1997 suggest that 2.3% of the population never eat meat and the observed trend seemed to point towards less meat consumption. Newer studies suggest that the percentage of vegetarians has risen to 5% by 2007.

History

The association was founded on 8 August 1993 in Sennwald under the name of Schweizerische Vereinigung für Vegetarismus. The association is an active member of the EVU and the International Vegetarian Union. It is also associated with the organisation Proveg in Germany. On 3 March 2014 the name of the association was changed to Swissveg.

V-Label

Swissveg has, together with the EVU, developed the European Vegetarianism-Label V-Label. They control which products and services can use this label within Switzerland. Products with the V-Label are available at all major groceries in Switzerland: For example in Migros and Coop. About 250 Swiss companies use the V-label.

Events

Swissveg annually organises several events, including vegetarian and vegan festivals. Veganmanias have been held since 2011. The 2016 edition in Aarau attracted 5,000 visitors, making it the largest of all vegan festivals in Switzerland. Previous editions were held in Winterthur, but due to a lack of space to accommodate the attendees, the organisation chose to move the festival to Aarau. In Gossau, St. Gallen, Veganmania was held first in 2017, then featuring 60 stands.
Day/DateTitle
EverydayMeat-free day
MondayMeatless Monday
Thursday
September 5Veganmania
June 25Veganmania
November 1World Vegan Day
October 1World Vegetarian Day