On Sunday we went to the V-delicious show in London which was also in the same hall as the Allergy and Free-From Show. There were plenty of vegan options and stalls to look at and so many people and products it was hard to know where to start. There were also plenty of samples to try. So much so that we did not need lunch at all!
Some of my favourite vegan products were there such as the Nakd bars which had the new crunchy bars I had been struggling to find in shops but there was every flavour to sample at the show (and I think I did sample every one! Yum!). On the same stall were the Trek bars. I have previously only had the peanut and oat bars but there were several other flavours at the show which I had not tried. Unfortunately not all of them are vegan but the ones I found which were included original, banana, oat and raisin and morning berry. There were great offers on so I bought quite a few (and enjoyed the morning berry one after my dinner tonight).
One of my favourite things that we bought from the show were some gluten free cookies from Against the Grain. I think they are my favourite shop-bought vegan cookies ever. They are so crumbly and delicious. We tried the chocolate chip and hazelnut, the chocolate and orange, the ginger crunches and also the almond cookies and all were incredible. They were doing a deal for 3 packs and I can tell you it was really hard to choose which one not to get! http://www.againstthegrainfoods.com/
One stall we came across had samples of this delicious new product called Rita's Fugasun. They are not all vegan but the one we tried was and it was amazing. It is a vegetable and rice pie-like thing but not with pastry. It is actually really hard to describe but if you ever get the chance to try some you must. Not only is it delicious but it is very low fat and also low calorie! http://www.ritasfugasun.com/
Another new company we came across was Dee's. Dee's food includes some vegan sausages, burgers, veg pots and quinoa pots. We got to taste two types of sausages which were the leek and onion sausages and the roast garlic and mushroom sausages. My sister and I both had different favourites and an even bigger surprise was that my sister's favourite was the mushroom ones as she hates mushrooms (the moral of the story being you have to try these even if you hate mushrooms!). We were also very kindly given a pot of the Tex-Mex veg pot to take home. My sister took that so I will update you on the verdict of that. I am really excited about finding these products in the shops as the sausages we sampled were delicious and looking on the website it looks like everything else is going to be just as good. Check it out at http://www.dees.ie/#1
Now, lets talk marshmallows! One of my favourite samples of the day (and then HAD to purchase a bag) were the freedom mallows! There are many delicious vegan marshmallows out there but never have any quite hit the spot for topping a hot chocolate than these little beauties. If a taste test was done between these and "normal" marshmallows I seriously doubt anyone would pick up that these were vegan, they are that close to the real thing. I am really going to have to ration these if I want the pack to last!! http://www.freedommallows.com/
We didn't just look at food though. One of the best non-food stalls we found was for ecozone. Their products are environmentally friendly, effective and carry the vegan society logo. There were plenty of products and from the demonstrations they looked brilliant. I bought some ecoballs (used in place of detergent in the washing machine and last for 1000 washes!), some stain remover and some powder for getting whites white! I haven't had the chance to use them yet but will update you when I do. I will almost certainly be buying from this company again. http://www.ecozone.com/
There were plenty of other stalls with delicious vegan food but I don't have time to write about them all. But here is a picture of part of my haul! I also got a vegan society bag and a chart to put on the wall about vitamins. (I've just realised it is a really poor picture taken on my phone so sorry about that).
The picture just reminded me, if you haven't tried Vive Soy then you should. I had previously only tried the cappuccino flavour (which I love) but got to sample the chocolate and vanilla ones at the show and they are really really really nice! We found them in Tesco but apparently they are soon coming to other major supermarkets. I have heard some people unsure as to whether they are vegan or not because they do not specify the source of the vitamin D but I emailed them and was reassured that they are indeed vegan!
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