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Digital marketing agency Ethica Global has responded to backlash it received over having non-vegan employees.
The company, who is ‘committed to 1 percent for the planet, are living wage employers, carbon-neutral and members of the anti-slave alliance’, employs 26 local team members, some of whom aren’t vegan.
The brand was slammed after a photo of a man delivering bacon sandwiches was photographed outside Ethica’s office.
Fellow ethical business person Taylor Gathercole described the news as ‘disappointing’ to Eastern Daily Press – and said if employees wanted meat, they should have to ‘go out and buy it with their own money’.
‘It’s about balance’
In a statement sent to Plant Based News, CEO of Ethica Ollie Blackmore said: “There are vegetarian and vegan options from a fantastic local company that provides them. As the owner of the agency, I’m not comfortable funding meat production as a perk, so we’ll still be providing breakfasts in the future, but gradually these will become completely plant-based.
“This has long been the plan, but it’s also an indicator that we’re not an authoritarian extremist militant vegan operation that as soon as the CEO turned vegan, no bacon was allowed in the office!
“It’s about balance; it’s a nuanced, delicate journey around educating and making environmental choices wherever they’re possible. We are here to be inclusive, encourage and inspire our team, clients and community – otherwise, it’s an echo chamber.”
‘Focused on the good’
When questioned about his plans for the company moving forward, Blackmore added: “We are only focused on the good, positive changes that we can make. We are not telling other people what to do; we’re making options available to them.
“We’re entirely realistic that saving the planet isn’t an overnight thing, we are realists, we appreciate and applaud any tiny step that anyone makes to try and help.”
*This article was updated on February 23 to attribute Gathercole’s comment to Eastern Daily Press
