Vegan food brands whose owners sell meat or dairy

If you find the typical life cycle of a dairy cow in the UK unethical, you may want to double-check the ownership of some of the vegan bands you buy.

We believe it's important to 'follow the money', and to trace the ultimate ownership of brands, as profits ultimately find their way to the top.

Below is a table of vegan brands we have found to be owned by non-vegan companies:

Dairy giant Danone owns vegan Alpro and Provamel brands

This contradiction is best exemplified by French multi-national Groupe Danone, a company which claims it is the global number one for both fresh dairy and plant based products. In 2016 it completed the purchase of WhiteWave Foods, whose brands include Alpro and Provamel.

Alpro, which is by far the UK's best known vegan brand of plant milks, are now part of a brand roster that includes Activa yogurt, Cow & Gate baby milk and Actimel.

What’s more, Danone remain subject to multiple consumer boycotts over their aggressive marketing of their baby milk formula.

This £12.5billion takeover left many consumers stunned and outraged.

Many vegans have been left questioning the ethical implications of one of the world’s biggest dairy companies owning vegan brands.

With Danone claiming it signifies a move towards sustainability, will consumers see through this greenwashing and realise these multinationals are simply trying to cash in on the global vegan boom?

Other meat and dairy companies that own vegan brands

At Ethical Consumer, we have found other cases of this ethical conundrum for vegans.

Take dairy free spreads such as Pure and Vitalite for example: Pure is owned by the Kerry Group, whose other well known brands include Dairygold and Cheesestrings.

Arla, one of the world’s largest dairy companies, owns the Jord vegan milk brand. Nestlé owns Wunda vegan milk.

Vitalite’s owners Dairy Crest (now Saputo Dairy, based in Canada), produce a wide range of cheeses and butters, including Cathedral City, Clover and Utterly Butterly. In 2021 they also bought Sheese (Bute Island Foods), a vegan cheese company based on the Isle of Bute, Scotland who have been making vegan cheese since the late 1980s. Saputo will reportedly invest £3m in the local island community over five years.

In June 2022, Saputo’s UK subsidiary Dairy Crest admitted to 21 pollution incidents and permit breaches since 2016 at its creamery in Cornwall. Local residents say they were forced to endure “horrendous smells” which left them with headaches and vision problems. It was also alleged that fish were killed due to the “sludge” pollution, in the River Inny which is home to native wild brown trout among other species.

We also found links between the meat industry and cornerstone vegan brands such as Linda McCartney, whose public championing of the meat-free lifestyle has contributed significantly to the current boom in alternative diets.

The brand is currently owned by Hain Celestial, a company who sells poultry products in the US, as well as owning Ella’s Kitchen baby food, much of which contains meat.

One of the world's largest multi-nationals, Unilever, also has a stake in the vegan market through their dairy-free soya ice cream brand Swedish Glace. However, the group continue to profit from the meat and dairy industries through their other brands, such as Hellman’s, Ben & Jerry’s and Knorr. 

Applewood – another well-recognised brand from wholefood shops – is owned by TINE SA, Norway’s biggest dairy producer, along with Ilchester and Mexicana vegan cheese.

Cauldron (which has gone fully vegan in summer 2023 after removing egg from the last few products) is owned by Monde Nissin whose other brands include Dutch Mill yoghurt and Lucky Me instant noodles (many containing meat). 

Our article '10 ethical brands owned by unethical companies' expands on some of these companies, and has been extended to 15 brands, including Vivera by JBS.