The rise in demand for vegan, kosher and other ethnically and religiously diverse food categories has led to the need for ethical food labeling.

In response to the growing movement sustainability, social responsibility and transparency on labels, Euromonitor International, a global market research company, has launched the new Ethical Labels database.

According to the new research, halal and vegan labels are set to grow by a compound annual growth rate of over 5% annually between 2015 and 2020, translating into $13 billion and 708 million additional sales, respectively.

Currently worth $45.3 billion and set to reach $58.3 billion in 2020, halal products are driven by ethnic and religious diversity.

“Demand for halal meat, an important feature of the Muslim community, is growing rapidly. The Muslim community’s share in the global population has been increasing steady and is projected to reach about 26% by 2030,” stated Ewa Hudson, head of Health and Wellness at Euromonitor International.

The top three fastest growing vegan markets between 2015 and 2020 are China at 17.2%, United Arab Emirates at 10.6% and Australia at 9.6%.

“Vegan product labelling is one of the key categories to watch in the future, as an increasing number of companies are expanding their consumer appeal by staying away from animal ingredients whenever possible. The rising demand and trend for vegetarian and vegan proteins indicates where the market is moving right now,” Hudson commented.

The global market for ethically labelled packaged foods, soft drinks and hot drinks (excluding private label) accounted for $793.8 billion in 2015 and is set to reach $872.7 billion by 2020. According to Euromonitor’s new research:

• Behind U.S. and Japan, China has established itself as the third-ranking market for Ethical Labels
• S. is the largest Kosher market, 18 times the size of Israel
• UK emerges as run-away leader in animal welfare labels with $30.1 billion in 2015