Waitrose is having to change the name of its Plantlife vegan range because another company holds the trademark.
The supermarket is now relaunching the vegan range with the new name Plantliving, The Grocer can reveal.
“We are extending and relaunching our Plantlife range as Plantliving,” a Waitrose spokeswoman said. “Customers will still be able to get the same fantastic products as well as new additions to the range.”
The phase-out of the old brand and rollout of the new one will begin by the end of the month.
The retailer introduced Plantlife in September 2021 as part of its biggest ever own-label vegan and vegetarian new product launches.
The Grocer understands the name change comes after Waitrose reached an agreement with an Austrian company, Lemberona, that has held the Plantlife trademark in the UK since 2020.
Read more: Range preview: Waitrose Plantlife and GoVeggie 2021
Lemberona sells a wide range of plant-based organic gluten-free foods. Its Plantlife brand launched in the UK at the 2022 Natural and Organic Products show earlier this month, and the range is available to buy on Amazon.
Waitrose filed a trademark for the new name Plantliving on 1 February and the application is currently under examination, according to the Intellectual Property Office.
Waitrose launched Plantlife alongside GoVeggie, with both ranges falling under the banner of the Holistic Living brand. They include main courses, sausages and burgers, as well as snacks and desserts suitable for plant-based shoppers.
At the time, Waitrose executive chef Martyn Lee said the supermarket wanted “to provide our customers with more choice when it came to incorporating a holistic approach to their meals” as well as make “meat-free Monday or a flexitarian lifestyle even easier”.
The investment in plant-based products yielded results during the Veganuary push earlier this year. The supermarket told The Grocer its vegan sales were up 9% in January this year versus the same month last year, driven by ready meals, sausages and burgers.
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