PROJECT

VEG-ICON

Free open-source vegetarian and vegan certification marks for anyone to use. Widely adopted across Chiba Prefecture including at Narita Airport restaurants.

WHY

How to support
vegetable diets
that have a low
environmental impact.

The current percentage of vegetarians in Japan is approximately 6%, and it is estimated that there are over 7 million vegetarians in this country according to Frembassy’s “ Vegetarian, Vegan and Flexitarian Population Survey of Japan “. There are many more vegetarians in the world, including India, where about 30% of the total population are vegetarians and close to 2 million of them have been visited Japan annually according to Frembassy “ Foreign Vegetarians Visiting Japan in 2019 “.
As greenhouse gas emissions from meat became an issue, vegetarianism is gaining attention as a diet with a low environmental impact, and there is a growing international movement to promote a vegetable diet. Under these circumstances, is there an effective way to create a society in which vegetarians can live unimpeded, while at the same time supporting an eco-friendly vegetable diet?

Vegetarian population

Disadvantages of vegan/vegetarian

Greenhouse gas emissions from the food system

Monthly value of the overall average concentration of methane

HOW

Vegetarian certification
designed for everyone.

We, with Minnano Gohan Inc., designed a common certification mark for vegetarians and vegans for VEG-ICON project by Narita Airport Utilization Council at Chiba City, Chiba Prefecture. There are common marks for vegetarians in some countries, but most of them require payment. Until now, there has been no clear indicator for vegetarians to find a restaurant in Japan. Therefore, in VEG-ICON project, two free open-source certification marks; “vegetarian” and “vegan” were created as well as guidelines for anyone to use. The design of the icon represents the initials “V” for vegetarian, vegan, and vegetables, and the egg motif was added to the mark for vegetarians who are often allowed to eat eggs to convey the meaning of the mark at a first glance.

WILL

Taking the first step
from Chiba to the world.

The VEG-ICON mark is currently displayed in menus or restaurants at Narita Airport in Chiba Prefecture, where many foreigners visit as well as in Chiba city, a vegetarian-friendly city. We will continue to work with this project to turn this free vegetarian certification mark into a movement that spreads from Chiba to the rest of Japan and the world and to make our city a better place for vegetarians to live.