Welcome to the Vegan Australia Accredited Business program, the trusted benchmark for food businesses committed to serving authentic vegan dishes, enabling their vegan customers to order with confidence.
The Vegan Australia Accredited Business program aims to ensure vegans can have confidence when ordering vegan menu items from restaurants and cafes. It addresses the real issue of vegans being concerned about hidden animal products. Accreditation aims to remove this doubt for the consumer.
By achieving accreditation, you will not only build trust and widen your customer base but also gain a significant commercial advantage, as vegan consumers increasingly seek out accredited businesses.
In the past some businesses have avoided offering vegan options due to uncertainty. By becoming accredited, you will gain the knowledge you need to confidently cater to a greater range of customers. You will stand out as a vegan-friendly business and attract more customers.
The core part of the program is the online training course, designed for restaurant and cafe managers and staff.
This structured course provides food service businesses with the essential skills and knowledge to confidently prepare and label vegan food items for their customers.
The course is designed to give you an understanding of how to:
To gain accreditation, at least one manager per location must complete the course. Additional staff can take it at no extra cost.
Accrediting your restaurant or cafe assures the public that your business has undertaken and passed training in the area of vegan food preparation and that it will continue to follow the principles of the training.
By gaining accreditation, you give your business a distinct commercial advantage by showcasing your business as being inclusive. Accredited businesses with tasty vegan options on the menu will broaden their customer base, because they will be automatically ready to cater for practically any customer who comes through the door. Vegan food is inclusive and is suitable for vegetarians, people wanting to reduce meat consumption, those concerned about the environment, lactose intolerant diners and health conscious consumers.
A major advantage of taking the vegan accreditation training course is that it will help you avoid mistakes. Improper labelling and preparation of vegan food can lead to disappointed customers and negative reviews.
Businesses that have gained accreditation will receive the following.
Accreditation is open to businesses operating within the food services industry, including restaurants, cafes and other hospitality, as well as institutional bodies such as school canteens and aged care kitchens. Accreditation is only for food services and catering where a food product is directly served to the customer.
Businesses do not have to be exclusively vegan to gain accreditation, however the Vegan Australia Accredited Business trade mark can only be displayed by businesses that have some vegan items on the menu. This means that a business can become accredited before putting any vegan items on their menu.
If your business has multiple locations (up to five), each location requires a separate application and fee and at least one manager at each location must complete the accreditation course.
Food chains with over five locations under the same brand are not eligible to be part of the Vegan Australia Accredited Business program. They should apply for the Vegan Australia Certified program instead.
1. Apply online:
2. Complete the accreditation course:
3. Get accredited and promoted:
If you have any questions, please contact us via email at [email protected]
Vegan Australia is the national voice for veganism in Australia. It advocates for veganism with campaigns such as Sizzle for Change, the Vegan Pledge, Vegan Education in Schools and the Vegan Australia Certified program.
Vegan Australia runs both the Vegan Australia Certified program and the Vegan Australia Accredited Business program.
Vegan Australia Certified: This applies to vegan products, mainly packaged retail products, including well-known brands available in every supermarket, such as Blackmores, Vegemite, Peters Drumstick and Nuttelex.
Vegan Australia Accredited Business: This applies to retail food businesses where a food product is directly served to the customer, such as restaurants and cafes. It is a training program to ensure that the establishment is knowledgeable about vegan food preparation and labelling.
In summary, certification applies to individual products whereas accreditation is a training program that applies to businesses where a food product is directly served to the customer.
The vegan business accreditation programs for Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand ensure restaurant and cafe customers can have confidence when ordering vegan dishes.
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