Vegan influencer Clare Every (@thelittlelondonvegan) has gained an audience of 100,000 followers by sharing her food, becoming one of London’s most trustworthy vegan influencers.
Clare Every, the face of The Little London Vegan is a vegan food blogger, restaurant reviewer and food and social media consultant. A “huge food lover” for years, it has developed into her career: sharing her recipes, must-see restaurants in London, her travels and education on all things vegan. This has led to endless opportunities and success.
Her journey began only two-and-a-half-years ago, when she transitioned to veganism after watching documentaries like Earthlings and listening to the likes of Karl Yurofsky and Earthling Ed.
“They challenged everything I’d ever known and forced me to ask myself some uncomfortable questions and learn some hard truths,” recalls Every. “I know that lots of people went vegan overnight, which I think is amazing. But I definitely wasn’t one of those people.”
Every’s transition wasn’t smooth and she struggled to access food in supermarkets and options whilst abroad. Nevertheless, she adds: “One day, something just clicked, and I decided that no matter how hard I found it at times, I had to go vegan and couldn’t continue to contribute to animal suffering.”
For Every, her ethos is to fight against animal cruelty but she also notes the environmental and health benefits that come with being a vegan. She adds: “I’ve also learned about intersectional veganism, so I believe in fighting all forms of oppression: racism, sexism, classism, ableism, speciesism, etc.”
At first glance, Every’s page The Little London Vegan is incredibly bright and enticing, full of colour with a community-like feel. Each post features delicious looking vegan cuisine, with Every’s captivating personality frequently making an appearance too.
It’s apparent why the page has an immense number of followers. Every not only posts the attractive food she encounters but also gives insight into various important aspects that consumers may be curious of. “I spend hours writing my captions to include as much detail about the restaurant as I possibly can, including companies’ diversity policies, whether they’re wheelchair-friendly and whether they offer gluten-free options,” she says.
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Being an influencer has its perks, like ads and gifted posts. Nevertheless, Every doesn’t accept everything offered to her. I ask her what she checks before working with a brand.
“How long have you got?” she says, laughing. “My first point of call is to ask them for their diversity policy. I ask which steps are being taken to ensure diversity is being considered for the campaign and what they are doing as a business. I also ask for details about the items they’re sending me to ensure I’m not being sent any fast fashion or unnecessary packaging and merch I don’t need, to minimise my impact on the environment.” Aligning with her ethos, she does a thorough background check and even donates some of her fees to a charity after working with a brand.
It was only recently that the page reached 100,000 followers, with Every not only being one of London’s most followed vegan influencers, but also the UK’s. “It feels pretty bizarre! I never thought my page would get to this stage but I’m so glad it has. To be able to share my passion for food with other people for a living is a dream come true,” she tells me.
She touches upon the misconceptions that influencers have an easy lifestyle, but it takes a lot of hard work and dedication to build such a successful page. Every says she first felt famous when she was first recognised by a fan in the street: “After she left, my boyfriend and I turned to each other and said: ‘Wait, did that really happen?’”
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As well as reaching such a milestone, Every has had several notable moments in her career, further reinforcing her choice to transitioning to a full-time influencer. In June, she was listed as one of Evening Standard’s best London foodies to follow on Instagram during lockdown, and she was also on ITV News discussing veganism in 2019. “I sat next to Michel Roux Jr and debated veganism with him. I had to pinch myself on the way home from both of those.”
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Additionally, Every had a temporary contract with Papa Johns and was appointed as its chief vegan officer. Her role involved “developing their range of vegan products, suggesting new recipe ideas, recommending new products, trialling different products, keeping them up to date on the newest developments in the vegan world and helping to take their vegan range to the next level”.
Besides her Instagram page, she has developed a blog and a YouTube channel where she can easily categorise everything, making requests and information more accessible, especially for those who may not be as familiar with Instagram. She has also been growing her platform on TikTok, with a collective 105k likes from her videos. There, she shares various food eateries in London, her recipes and her reviews on new vegan cuisines. Most recently, she has been experimenting with Instagram’s newest feature, Reels, a replica of TikTok.
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Other than food, Every uses her platform to shed light upon other important topics, not only to broaden her knowledge but for her followers to gain an insight into topics other than food. She shares her platform with other vegan influencers who may focus on different sectors like fast fashion and vegan beauty.
She also uses her platform to educate audiences about veganism and its benefits. “I know around 40% of my followers are not vegan and are looking for tips on how to take the next step towards veganism without feeling like they’re being shouted at.”
She also talks about food waste and has worked with apps like Karma, Too Good To Go and Olio.
As the pandemic prevented her from venturing out to new vegan restaurants in London, she used the time to support local and small vegan businesses, compiling lists for her followers that are offering DIY kits and deliveries. With restaurants slowly opening up now, she has been sharing lists of restaurants with vegan options that are part of the Eat Out To Help Out scheme.
She touches upon the stigma that veganism is expensive: “I do think it’s important that we recognise that veganism is still a privilege that not everyone can benefit from, for a variety of reasons.”
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The Little London Vegan is a constantly growing community and Every has an everlasting passion for food. She explains it will always be her focus as veganism is becoming more popular and accessible. To that end, she dreams to own her own restaurant one day.
For future vegans, she says: “Be kind to yourself. Take it slow and go at your own pace. You’ll probably make a few mistakes and learn a lot along the way. Don’t beat yourself up over it.”
