"As an association weve noticed there are discrepancies in the emoji arsenal, especially when it comes to pizzas. We feel there is a real lack of diversity for those pizza lovers that do not eat meat."
Jim Winship
The Pizza, Pasta & Italian Food Association (PAPA) are behind the campaign to feature a vegan and vegetarian pizza option in the latest emoji update.
“A range of pizza emojis that truly represent the tastes of Brits” is being asked for by The Pizza, Pasta & Italian Food Association (PAPA) in the new icon release due out later this year on platforms.
Currently across both iPhone and android the only pizza emoji option available features a slice covered in meat-based pepperoni which is being claimed isn’t “inclusive to the millions of vegans and vegetarians across the country.” PAPA has launched an online change.org petition titled: ‘Pizza Equality’ and are asking for pizza fanatics for their help.
The Unicode Consortium is a non-profit corporation that regulates the coding standards for written computer text that includes emojis, PAPA headed up by Jim Winship is petitioning to ask the Consortium to diversify its icon range as it celebrates the first ever British National Pizza Week which takes place 22-28th November 2021.
Jim said: “As an association we’ve noticed there are discrepancies in the emoji arsenal, especially when it comes to pizzas. The tastes of Brits are constantly evolving, and we feel there is a real lack of diversity for those pizza lovers that do not eat meat or who are in fact vegans. We hope our fellow pizza-holics across the nation will unite and help our campaign build momentum by signing our petition.”
PAPA reinforces its petition with releasing statistics that vegans across the UK ordered 81% more pizzas, and there’s a 154% rise in vegan side orders this year alone.
If you want a slice of the action, you can sign the petition here. and further support the cause by using the #EmojiKneaded across social media.
