It's not often as a business reporter you inquire about a company's annual turnover and receive this kind of a response: "Last year we said we saved 15 million chickens from slaughter, 15,000 cows and 75,000 pigs. That's our turnover."

Then again, if you're asking the question of a company that sells vegan-only products and holds a strong stance against animal cruelty, then perhaps that's the closest you'll get to discussing orthodox business.

Tammy Fry.

The response comes from the international marketing director of Fry's Family Foods, Tammy Fry. She says she gets her accountants to look at such things. "We don't look at the pennies. We like to know that we're making a difference and we go for that number," she says.

Fry's Family Foods has been a legend in South Africa for more than 20 years and has been selling its frozen (and more recently chilled) range of vegan food in Australia since 1998. It now supplies demand for non-meat foods in 23 countries and has recently incorporated the company in Australia - although its cultural antecedents are all in South Africa.