By KATIE WONG HOY

Stores that sell exclusively vegan products are growing in popularity as more Australians move toward a meat-free lifestyle. 

Vegan Wares in Collingwood, Melbourne, sells specifically vegan shoes at a higher price than most synthetic chain store products. 

Vegan Wares director Bonnie Murthy said their shoes were more expensive because Vegan Wares offered customers higher quality and more sustainable products than was often available in chain stores.

“It’s to do with quality … most of our materials are Australian-made,” Ms Murthy said.

“Everything is cut, stitched, made in Australia, which means you’re paying the labour rates of Australia.

“Just because a product is vegan doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a high quality product … there are a lot of synthetic products out there that are vegan and yet because they’re not very sustainable, they use up a lot of resources and cause a lot of harm to habitats.” 

Findings by Roy Morgan Research in 2013 showed meat-free living was a growing trend in Australia. 

There has been an increase of 327,000 Australians who limit their consumption of meat to nothing or almost nothing. 

Campaign Coordinator at PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) Australia Claire Fryer said the trend toward veganism was largely due to education.

“Going vegan is better for your health, the environment and, of course, the animals,” Ms Fryer said.

“As people become more aware of what happens to the animals used for food and clothing, more and more people are choosing the cruelty-free vegan options which are readily available today.”

Waitress at Crown Melbourne Paige Lake has been a vegan for more than two years. 

She said she believed the recent rise in popularity of veganism might have contributed to the higher cost of specifically labelled vegan lifestyle products. 

“Veganism has become such a trend now and it’s gaining so much social traction that people are finding an excuse to become interested in the vegan lifestyle … obviously businesses want to capitalise on that current trend,” Ms Lake said. 

But Ms Murthy said her company was not focussed on profiting from consumers.  She said Vegan Wares wanted to provide products that improved the environment.

“As many of our customers already know, we don’t make a big profit margin on our shoes and we never have,” Ms Murthy said.

“But it’s never been the idea for the business to make profit, it’s been to provide ethical and sustainable products that will benefit the planet and the environment in the long run.”

For many vegan consumers it is essential the companies they support are in line with vegan values. 

While quality is important, companies must also be ethical towards workers as well as animals. 

Ms Lake said she would prefer to spend more money and buy products from a vegan store such as Vegan Wares because she struggled to find long-lasting synthetic shoes and wanted to support the vegan community. 

“From a vegan’s point of view, you want to support a company that directly identifies as vegan … Not only am I purchasing the shoe, but I am also purchasing the buying power of putting my money back into the things I want to see grow,” Ms Lake said.

“I know they are paying attention to quality so that they can build a reputation for vegan clothing products so people can see that leather isn’t something that we need in society.” 

Ms Murthy said while there were cheaper products available, they were not the best option. 

“A growth in consumption of vegan products is good, however I don’t like to tell people to buy vegan products and then they go and buy cheap products because that defeats the purpose of being ethical and sustainable,” Ms Murthy said.

But she said she was confident vegan lifestyle products provided many benefits for the consumer and she believed the future of quality vegan products was promising. 

 “Hopefully Vegan Wares has a good future and I hope vegan products has a much bigger one.”