All About Happy Cow
HappyCow is an online company that provides information regarding the best restaurants that serve healthy vegan and vegetarian food at various locations worldwide. It shares information regarding vegan and vegetarian-friendly restaurant listings, bakeries, caterers, bed and breakfasts, and farmers markets. It also advocates for better animal rights and organizes events to further that cause.
When was it started
HappyCow was founded in 1999 by Eric Brent. Earlier, in 1997, he had realized that information regarding vegan restaurants and food joints was hard to come by on the internet. The online resources available at the time were hardly updated to reflect new vegan food joints.
Since Eric was an avid traveler, he saw the need to create a one-stop source of information on all the vegan restaurants where people like him (vegetarian and traveler) who were visiting new cities and countries would find healthy vegan food.
Since its inception, the website has grown tremendously thanks to a diverse team of like-minded individuals who help run the website.
Services Offered
Since it was founded, HappyCow has always granted free access to information to its users to encourage more people to contribute since it now operates based on a crowd-sourced information gathering model.
It has thousands of listings of businesses in most countries around the world. Each of these businesses has been reviewed by customers. Restaurants are categorized as either veg-friendly, vegetarian, or vegan.
Currently, HappyCow is more than just a website showing people where they can find restaurants. It is a community of vegans and vegetarians who share their experiences, add new listings, and give honest reviews about the listings. Members also use the platform to push for improved animal rights.
Users can now find vegan recipes and vegan nutrition guides as well as healthy cooking tips for a variety of vegetarian foods onsite. They can also share their own recipes with the community.
In 2014, HappyCow launched “The HappyCow Cookbook: Recipes from Top-Rated Vegan Restaurants around the World.” People can use it to learn more about these restaurants and how they can make some of the dishes served there.
App and Social Media
Since the smartphone boom kicked off, web usage on mobile devices has been on the rise. HappyCow has a dedicated mobile site and mobile apps for both Android and iOS devices. Users can also subscribe to the newsletter.
The company is also found on various social media platforms including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest. HappyCow runs a YouTube channel where they interview people and cover events worldwide.
Through these platforms, they have reached more people.
Funding
HappyCow allows free access to its website making it a not-for-profit entity, technically, although they are not afforded the 501-c status. To make ends meet, they rely on adverts, Cookbook sales on Amazon, app purchases on the app stores, charitable donations, and merchandise sales (t-shirts).
Awards and Recognition
HappyCow has been a serial winner of VegNews’ award segment called “Veggieawards.” They have won 11 consecutive accolades for “Best Website” and more recently bagged the award for “Best App.”
The website is rated among the Top 50 vegetarian blogs of 2012 by The Institute for the Psychology of Eating and the Top 100 vegetarian food websites by web100.com
Official Website: happycow.net
