V-Label certification for vegan and vegetarian claims you can stand behind.

What it is

What is the V-Label and what is it used for?

The V-Label is a trademark for vegan and vegetarian products, owned and managed by V-Label, which calls it "The Vegan and Vegetarian Trademark". A company that wants the symbol on its packaging, menu or shelf edge applies to V-Label or to one of its national partners, which checks the product against the published criteria. When the product qualifies, the company signs a licence and may show the label in the form the V-Label style guide sets out. V-Label calls the result a certified product; its own documents call the company a licensee.

The mark is used across food and drink, gastronomy, cosmetics and cleaning agents, and retailers' private label ranges. Its value is simple: a shopper who avoids animal ingredients does not have to read the ingredient list and guess, because an outside organisation has looked at the recipe first.

For the business behind the product, the harder question is keeping that promise true. A new flavouring supplier, a changed processing aid or a line shared with dairy can break a vegan claim without anyone in marketing noticing. The label is only as reliable as the controls that sit behind it.

Current criteria. V-Label publishes its criteria for vegan and vegetarian products, a licensee manual and a style guide on its own site. The version in force, and any revision under way, is confirmed with V-Label or your national partner at the time you apply; your application is prepared against that version, not against a summary.

Who it is for

Who needs V-Label certification?

Nobody is obliged to carry the V-Label; it is a voluntary mark. Companies come to Sterling for it from four directions:

• A retail customer wants it on the pack. Supermarket buyers building a plant-based or private label range often name the mark in the product specification, and the supplier has weeks to show the recipe qualifies.
• A tender or food-service contract asks for verified vegan options. Caterers, airlines and institutional kitchens need a menu claim they can defend, not a line in a sales deck.
• You export, or a regulator is questioning your claims. Labelling rules for "vegan" and "vegetarian" differ by market, and an outside check of the recipe helps you answer questions about the claim with evidence.
• A group company or brand owner sets the standard. A parent company or licensor wants every plant and co-packer producing the same range under one mark, with the same controls.

The benefit is a claim your customers and your own teams can trust. It holds only while recipes, suppliers and production stay under control.

Requirements

What are the main V-Label requirements?

V-Label's requirements sit in the owner's own documents rather than in a numbered management system standard. At title level, a licensee works with six sets of rules. The list below is a plain-language map; the detailed criteria are read from the current V-Label documents during the programme and applied to each product in scope.

• Criteria for the V-Label: the published conditions a product must meet to be labelled vegan or vegetarian.
• Product category: each product is assessed as vegan or as vegetarian, against the criteria for that category.
• Licence and licensee manual: the contract with V-Label or its partner, and the manual that explains a licensee's obligations.
• Style guide: how the label may be shown on packaging, menus, shelf edges and marketing.
• Audits and inspections: V-Label runs an audit programme and describes how an inspection proceeds; your site and records must be ready for it.
• Existing customers: the owner keeps separate guidance for licensees after the first licence, covering the ongoing relationship and changes to the range.

Certification process

How do you get V-Label certified?

The decision belongs to the trademark owner. V-Label or its national partner reviews the product and grants the licence; Sterling prepares your products, records and people so that review goes through without rework.

1. 01
   Choose the products and the category.List the recipes you want labelled, decide vegan or vegetarian for each, and identify the markets and customers involved.
2. 02
   Gap analysis: test each recipe against the current criteria.Every ingredient, additive and processing aid is traced to a supplier declaration; gaps in information or in line controls are listed with owners and dates.
3. 03
   Close the gaps and build the application file.Replace doubtful ingredients, obtain missing declarations, set cleaning and scheduling rules and put the change procedure in place.
4. 04
   Apply to V-Label or the national partner.The licensor reviews the products, agrees the licence and, where its programme requires, inspects the site; any questions are answered with evidence.
5. 05
   Use the label correctly and keep the claim true.Artwork follows the style guide, recipe changes are rechecked before release, and records stay ready for audits and licence renewal.

Check the route before you sign. Ask who will grant the licence and confirm with V-Label that the organisation is V-Label itself or a partner it authorises. Once a product is licensed, look for it on V-Label's certified products listing. An offer to "supply" the label without a review of your recipes is not the V-Label.

Cost

How much does V-Label certification cost?

The cost depends mostly on how many products you want labelled and how well you already know what is in them. A bakery with a handful of simple recipes needs far less work than a manufacturer with complex flavour systems and shared lines. V-Label's own charges are set by V-Label or its partner and quoted by them.

Timeline

How long does V-Label certification take?

The slowest part is usually waiting for suppliers to confirm what is in their ingredients. As an estimate, a well-documented range reaches application in about one to three months; complex flavours, many suppliers or shared lines take longer, and the licensor's own review time comes on top.

If a retailer's launch date is driving the project, tell us on day one. We will say which products can realistically make it and which need reformulation first.

Your engagement

What your V-Label engagement includes

Choose how much of the work you want to carry. Under Design™, our consultants guide your team, who do the recipe and supplier work themselves; under Drive™, Sterling manages the work end to end with your people. Either way, Automate™ puts the records in Effivity, and Sustain™ keeps new recipes and changed suppliers checked after the licence is granted. Sterling does not certify or grant licences; V-Label and its authorised partners make that decision.

• Product scope and gap analysis

  Each recipe tested against the current criteria, with gaps, owners and dates agreed.

• Supplier and ingredient file

  Declarations collected, checked and linked to the recipes that use them.

• Effivity ISO & GRC software

  Recipes, declarations and changes held in Effivity, included with the engagement at no additional cost.

• Training for the people who matter

  Purchasing, R&D and production trained on what can break the claim, internal auditor training as applicable to your standard, and preferential Sterling Academy access, including complimentary awareness training for your people as part of the engagement.

• Line and change controls

  Cleaning, scheduling and change procedures that keep labelled products within the criteria.

• Application and audit readiness

  The application file prepared and support given until the licensor has decided.

Licensing decisions remain with V-Label and its authorised national partners.

Often combined with

Standards organisations pair with V-Label

• BRCGS Food SafetyBRCGS Food Safety certification consulting for food manufacturers: HACCP plan, site standards and controls ready for a graded audit, announced or unannounced.
• BRCGS Storage and Distribution · Agents and BrokersBRCGS Storage and Distribution certification and Agents and Brokers: Issue 4 and Issue 3 requirements, scopes, audits and cost factors, with Sterling's support.
• FairtradeFairtrade certification and requirements: which Fairtrade International standards apply, FLOCERT's audit, cost and timing, and how Sterling prepares you.
• FAMI-QS / GMP+FAMI-QS and GMP+ certification for feed businesses: how the two schemes differ, their requirement documents, the audit route and how Sterling prepares you.
• FDA FSMA (US)FDA FSMA compliance for food facilities, importers, farms and carriers: preventive controls, FSVP, food traceability and records ready for FDA inspection.
• FSSC 22000FSSC 22000 certification consulting for GFSI-recognised food safety: ISO 22000, sector PRPs and FSSC requirements, ready for a licensed body's audit.