The burgeoning category of dairy-free
It’s no longer all meat-free burgers and vegan sausages. Dairy alternatives are well and truly making their mark on the plant-based space.
In the vegan cheese category, PETA awarded its 2020 award to Violife Epic Mature Cheddar – which it describes as ‘a superb vegan take on mature Cheddar’.
For Violife, the product – made from ingredients such as coconut oil, ground sunflower kernels, and olive extract – performs well on taste, crumble, mouthfeel, packaging, and melt. Its ‘next generation’ dairy-free block is ‘closest to the real thing ever made’, noted the company.
A newcomer has been awarded the best vegan milk prize: Mighty Pea’s Pea M.lk Original.
The product is made from yellow split pea protein, with other ingredients including grape juice concentrate, sunflower oil, and tapioca starch. One glass contains 8g plant protein, and an impressive 50% more calcium that cow’s milk. It is also free from dairy, nuts and soya.
Another dairy alternative, Oatly’s Chocolate Fudge vegan ice cream, has come away with one of PETA’s awards.
Oatly is upfront about the product’s nutritional profile. “It could be said that this ice cream breaks all our own records for ‘unhealthiness’, imbalance and general reckless abandon,” it notes. “But hello. If you are going to have ice cream, why not do it properly?”
The products ingredients list include oats, coconut and rapeseed oils, UTZ-certified cocoa powder, cocoa butter, and 10% vanilla fudge.
Although not strictly dairy, it is worth mentioning that in Nando’s was awarded the best vegan mayonnaise award this year, for tis Vegan PERinaise. Its ingredients list includes rapeseed oil, vinegar, African Birds Eye chilli, paprika, potato protein, green chillis, and rosemary extract.
Nando’s claims the product has the ‘creaminess of mayonnaise’ alongside the ‘spiciness of PERi-PERi’. “Use it as a slightly spicy dip for chips and crisps, or give a creamy bit to sandwiches and salads,” it advises.
