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We had such fun when we visited the Just V Show in London this year, which is a brilliant show celebrating all things vegan. From stalls serving up delicious food and drink, tips, life-hacks, to talks and advice from experts, if you’re vegan, vegetarian or simply curious to learn more about living cruelty free, you’re sure to find something to pique your interest at the Just V Show. Here’s some of the tastiest new products we tried, and some exciting new brands we found at the show…
Loving Earth
Allow us to introduce you to Loving Earth, an Australian company with a passion for raw, natural food, who pride themselves on being healthy, sustainable and fair. We were really impressed to learn that this is a company who really practise what they preach as all of their packaging is printed with vegetable inks on cardboard made with 97% post consumer recycled fibre, and their inner ‘plastic’ wrapper is home compostable and made using sustainably managed plant sources such as cellulose. This means Loving Earth aren’t cutting down any new trees to make their boxes, and no toxic chemicals are seeping into our water supplies because of harmful dyes.
But what do their chocolates and superfood mixes taste like? Nothing short of amazing if the amount of samples we managed to eat were anything to go by! Their chocolates are smooth, creamy and perfectly sweet, and we can highly recommend both the Caramel and Salted bars! Their superfood mixes are packed fill of different seeds, pulses and dried fruits, and make the perfect topping for a bowl of coconut yoghurt and fresh fruit.
To find out more about Loving Earth, please visit their website at www.lovingearth.co
Coconut Merchant
It seems like there’s nothing you can’t make with coconuts, and Coconut Merchant are certainly proving thats true with their wide range of innovative, delicious coconut-based products! Coconut Merchant’s aim is to share the new wonders of the coconut with us by showing us all the weird and wonderful ways you can use this amazing plant.
Coconut Merchant are a small company with a big heart, and they work directly with farmers’ cooperatives to not only ensure their products are all ethically sourced, but that their farmers are well paid too. It’s also worth noting that they do not use monkeys to pick their coconuts.
So which of their products caught our eye at the show? We could not get enough of their delicious Coco Amor caramel spread, which was rich, buttery and dangerously moreish! We bet it tastes even better on ice-cream too! And if you want to shake up your usual toast routine, try their sweet, silky coconut jam for a decadent breakfast. We were also really impressed with their coconut chips, which are lightly sweetened, and are perfect for snacking on the go!
To find out more about Coconut Merchant, please visit their website at www.coconut-merchant.com
Livia’s Kitchen
If you’re looking for a guilt-free treat that still tastes indulgent and satisfying, then look no further than Livia’s Kitchen! We found their attitude to food to be incredibly refreshing, as although all of their products are free-from gluten, wheat, dairy and refined-sugar, they believe that it is more important to think about what a product is made-with, rather than what it is free-from. And one thing they’re certainly not free-from is flavour!
Livia’s Kitchen’s Raw Millionaire Bites are a nutritional twist on the classic millionaire shortbread, and feature a crumbly oat base covered with a gooey date caramel, topped with smooth, rich dark raw chocolate. They currently have three flavours; almond & raisin, chocolate orange and salted date caramel that are available in handy snack bars, or great big tubs that are perfect for sharing (although they’re so delicious you will struggle to share them with anyone else!)
To find out more about Livia’s Kitchen, please visit their website at www.liviaskitchen.co.uk
Retro Corn
We were hit with a wave of nostalgia when we stumbled across Retro Corn at the show, and were transported straight back to childhood when we tried their sweet shop inspired popcorns. Retro Corn’s popcorn is like no other, because they take their hand-popped corn and coat it in traditional British sweets in amazing flavours of our childhood, such as strawberries & cream, rhubarb and custard, cola cubes, cherry pips and lemon & lime sherbert. So thanks to Retro Corn, you no longer have to decide between sweets or popcorn at the cinema because you can treat yourself to both!
To find out more about Retro Corn, please visit their website at www.retrocorn.com
HEAVEN + HELLTHY
If you love baking, but are often disappointed by the fruits of your labour, then worry no more as HEAVEN + HELLTHY are on a mission to make home-baking easy with their revolutionary all-in-one vegan home baking kits!
HEAVEN + HELLTHY’s clever kits have every ingredient included, are free-from all the 14 major allergens such as nuts, dairy, gluten, soya and eggs and are registered with The Vegan Society to you can be sure your cookies are cruelty free. Everything comes pre-measured and mixed to make baking extra simple, so you can be enjoying delicious vegan cookies in no time at all! And how do they taste? Pretty darn awesome we think! We were drawn to their stand by their beautifully eye-catching boxes, that are so lovely they can easily be reused as a gift box if you’re planning on sharing the cookies with a friend or loved one (although they taste so delicious, you’ll find it hard to share!).
To find out more about HEAVEN + HELLTHY, please visit their website at www.heavenandhellthy.com
Pudology
If you’re after a decadent little pot of deliciousness to round-off your meal, then look no further than Pudology’s pudding pots! These are the richest, tastiest little pots of heaven, and come in perfectly sized single-portion pots, so you have a good excuse not to share! These scrumptious little pots of deliciousness come in a host of different flavours, which are sure to please just about anyone. All of their puddings are vegan and gluten-free. Their range of products includes a mango & passion fruit coconut yoghurt, plain yoghurt, chocolate orange pudding, banoffee pudding, millionaire’s pudding and a rich chocolate pudding. Is your mouth watering yet? Ours certainly is!
Savvy
If you’re a fan of tahini, then you need to know about Savvy’s range of sweet carob sesame spreads! The good folks over at Savvy discovered the delights of carob molasses infused sesame spread back in the early 1990’s whilst travelling in Turkey, as they kept coming across a sweet and nutty dip called tahin-pekmez, which is tahini (pulped sesame, with it’s distinctive nutty flavour) mixed with fresh, rich, sweet carob molasses. They discovered that not only does this stuff taste amazing, it’s notorious for it’s energy-enhancing properties too, and is a good source of insoluble fibre which keeps you fuller for longer, making it perfect as a breakfast spread for your toast.
We will say however, that our favourite way to enjoy this spread is straight from the jar with a spoon! But don’t just take our word for it, because Savvy’s date spread won ‘Best Sweet Preserve’ in Yorkshire’s Finest Taste Award in 2014!
To find out more about Savvy, please visit their website at www.savvyfoods.co.uk
Ms. Cupcake
If you thought a vegan diet was all salads and beans, then Ms. Cupcake is here to prove you wrong! Ms. Cupcake is London’s very first vegan bakery, located in Brixton, and their mission is to create incredibly decadent cakes for people regardless of their dietary requirements (many of their bakes are gluten and wheat free too!). From cupcakes, layer cakes, cookies, muffins, squares to sandwiches and savoury treats, Ms. Cupcake’s bakes cannot be beaten in terms of taste!
We particularly enjoyed her red velvet brownies, smothered in a layer of Oreo cookie cream, all topped with a thick layer of chocolate, and their mango and passion fruit cupcakes were nothing short of spectacular! If you have any friends or family who are sceptical of just how delicious vegan food can be, treat them to a Ms. Cupcake baked good and we’re sure they’ll soon change their tune!
To find out more about Ms. Cupcake, please visit their website at www.mscupcake.co.uk
True Nopal
Coconut water is everywhere these days, but unfortunately not everyone is a fan! If you’re one of those people who just can’t stomach it, allow us to introduce you to this delicious alternative from True Nopal, cactus water! But what does it taste like? Cactus has a clean, crisp and refreshingly fruity taste (with a hint of berries), and has half the amount of calories seen in leading coconut waters. Not only that, there’s also no added sugar, and the drink is a beautifully vibrant bright pink colour! Did we mention it’s packed with electrolytes, potassium, magnisium and antioxidants? It’s the perfect beverage to keep you well hydrated this summer!
