Page 100 - #59 English

I Iced

Gelato

SIGEP, the Exhibition of the Artisan Production of this new trend has emerged to certify or highlight vegan
Gelato, Pastry, Confectionery and Bakery hold in Rimini flavors.
every year had saw a trend for vegans from last year. Al- Veganism is steadily gaining new followers and pro-
most all of the major companies in the industry began to ducers are gearing up quickly because market demand is
offer products – and in some cases an entire product line growing, as reflected in the figures: recent research shows
for this new trend. that 6% of Americans claim to be vegan, while 36% claim
Veganism is both the practice of abstaining from the to use alternatives to milk and meat. On top of that, a
use of animal products, particularly in diet, and an associ- further 7% claim to eat meat only on a very occasional
ated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of ani- basis. Another 26% claim to have reduced their consump-
mals. A follower of either the diet or the philosophy is tion of meat in the last year. Moreover, 13% of consumers
known as a vegan. As a lifestyle, veganism rejects all forms associate veganism with healthier, 12% with a healthy diet,
of exploitation and cruelty to animals, and promotes re- and 8% with greater social responsibility.
spect for any form of animal life. As far as diet goes, Veganism is viewed differently in various parts of
veganism encourages the consumption of vegetable prod- the world. Some areas, including India and the UK, provide
ucts and specifically excludes any meat, fish, poultry, eggs, cultural and even legal support, such as food labeling which
honey, milk and derivatives. It differs from vegetalism,which makes it easier for vegans to recognize which foods are
refer to a diet that excludes only foods of animal origin. compatible with their diets. Numbers of vegans are grow-
Now the very concept of gelato being vegan sounds ing in several countries, such as India, Taiwan, Israel,
contradictory – because gelato is a dairy product that uses Sweden, Italy, Austria and Germany.
milk solids, cream and so on. Does being a vegan means Apart from the numbers, the phenomenon clearly
that you have to bid farewell to gelato? No! First of all , it seems to be very much on the rise and gelato makers will
should be pointed out that many gelato flavors, in par- need to keep tabs on it, perhaps starting out by testing a few
ticular sorbets, are vegan by definition because they products and monitoring their success with customers: some
contain no milk or derivatives, eggs, honey, etc. This does areas, such as the North of Italy, are showing a stronger trend,
not mean that all fruit gelato is vegan, however, this is why while others would appear to have much less of a market.

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