Plainly each week on this planet of vegan meals information is extra thrilling than the final and this week isn’t any exception. We’re smack dab in the course of the vacation season and Virgin Atlantic is enhancing journey with new vegan snacks. On the bottom, Divine Chocolate is giving us a brand new skinny, crunchy candy deal with, too.
Plus, from Miyoko’s Creamery to Daiya Meals and Laughing Cow, vegan cheese is having a giant information week. Learn on for extra.
1Snackable chocolate crisps
Between Thanksgiving and Christmas, we discover ourselves snacking on every little thing from chips to chocolate, and one firm, Divine Chocolate, helps us do exactly that … on the identical time.
Divine
This vacation season, Divine Chocolate is re-launching its standard Crispy Thins in newly designed packaging. This gentle, crunchy deal with is available in 4 flavors, together with the vegan-friendly Darkish Chocolate and Darkish Chocolate with Mint. All varieties mix Divine’s fair-trade chocolate with puffed rice and can be found at chosen shops, Amazon, and Divine Chocolate’s on-line retailer.
“We’re thrilled to carry again our Crispy Thins with a brand new look that completely embodies our model’s ethos and the delectable style of those snacks,” Troy Pearley, Govt Vice President and Common Supervisor for North America at Divine Chocolate, stated in a press release.
“These addictive treats have been definitely worth the wait as our new look fantastically displays each our model and the way scrumptious these thins style,” Pearley stated.
Primarily based within the UK, Divine Chocolate has operated for 25 years and is targeted on combating exploitation within the cocoa business, selling girls’s empowerment, advancing grownup schooling, and numerous sustainability initiatives.
2Vegan chorizo, scorching canine, and jackfruit meat at Publix
Chicago-based Upton’s Naturals is increasing its attain by introducing its vegan meat merchandise in additional than 1,300 Publix shops beginning January 2024. This self-funded vegan meals firm will provide Publix clients a variety of plant-based choices, together with Chorizo Seitan, Conventional Seitan, Updog Vegan Sizzling Canine, Bar-B-Que Jackfruit, and Chili Lime Jackfruit.
Upton’s Naturals
Plus, the vegan model is growing its presence in Sprouts Farmers Market, the place 400 shops will function Upton’s Naturals Bacon Seitan of their refrigerated meat options part from early December.
Daniel Staackmann, a devoted vegan, based Upton’s Naturals over 17 years in the past. The corporate has been on the forefront of plant-based meals innovation, introducing the primary pre-seasoned seitan in 2006 and main the jackfruit development.
Upton’s Naturals emphasizes easy components and acquainted flavors, making it standard amongst plant-based shoppers.
Upton’s Naturals
“Increasing into Publix shops has been a enterprise objective for a few years,” Staackmann stated. “[This] underscores our perception that scrumptious meals made with actual, recognizable components will all the time be in demand no matter tendencies.”
3Virgin Atlantic’s vegan snacks
Vacation journey is hectic irrespective of the way you slice it. However journeys are all the time higher when airways replenish on vegan treats. At Virgin Atlantic, flights have stocked up on new choices, together with LoveRaw’s Cream Wafer Bars, a caramelized biscuit now obtainable to Higher Class and Premium clients.
Love Uncooked
For one thing heartier, the airline’s Higher Class menu now incorporates a Past Burger (served with pickled onions, vegan cheese, and vegan mayonnaise) and new double salted caramel or lemon sorbet flavors of Northern Block’s plant-based ice cream. Within the Premium cabin, clients can order panko-coated tofu with katsu vegetable curry.
“We’re delighted to introduce our new onboard menu, marking the return of the season that makes our clients crave some winter solar,” Corneel Koster, Chief Buyer and Working Officer, Virgin Atlantic, stated in a press release.
“At Virgin Atlantic we’re all the time seeking to create memorable moments onboard, which is why we attempt to supply an unmatched, up to date, and in depth collection of dishes throughout our cabins,” Koster stated.
4Kraft’s new vegan mac and cheese
Our forks have been prepared for this second for what seems like an eternity: Kraft’s vegan mac and cheese is beginning to hit shops this week.
The brand new Kraft NotMac&Cheese is a product developed by The Kraft Heinz Not Firm, a three way partnership between the meals large and Chile’s The Not Firm—which makes use of synthetic intelligence to develop an identical options to animal merchandise from vegetation.
The Kraft Heinz Not Firm
“By means of our three way partnership with NotCo, we’re in a position to ship the creamy and comforting expertise shoppers have beloved for many years, now plant-based with Kraft NotMac&Cheese,” a spokesperson for the three way partnership advised VegNews earlier this week.
“No one is aware of mac and cheese like Kraft Heinz,” the spokesperson stated.
The kicker? We get not one however two flavors—Authentic and White Cheddar—which we intend to mix for a swirly feast of cheesiness.
5Vegan cheese makes strikes
In different vegan cheese information, Miyoko’s Creamery is contemplating a sale of the corporate and exploring potential strategic partnerships, present CEO Stuard Kornauge revealed to shareholders in a letter. This improvement comes after this 12 months’s departure—and alternative—of founder, CEO, and namesake Miyoko Schinner.
Miyoko’s Creamery
Regardless of doubling its gross sales to $40 million between 2019 and 2021, the corporate noticed a decline to $33 million in 2022 and $25 million within the third quarter of 2023. Dealing with market and financial challenges, the corporate ceased manufacturing at its Petaluma facility for effectivity causes. The corporate had earlier funding successes, together with a $52 million spherical in 2021.
One other vegan cheese pioneer, Daiya Meals, just lately appointed a brand new CEO, Hajime Fujita, a former director with 17 years of world enterprise expertise.
Fujita, who performed a key position in Daiya’s improvement below its mother or father firm Otsuka Prescription drugs, will lead operations throughout North America and spearhead worldwide growth.
“There may be huge potential within the Daiya model to push the extremely aggressive plant-based class to new heights, significantly via product innovation and daring advertising,” Fujita stated in a press release.
“I’m thrilled to be rejoining Daiya at such a dynamic interval within the wider cultural dialog round plant-based consuming, and I sit up for working with our improbable group in writing the subsequent chapter of our wonderful model story,” he stated.
Bel Manufacturers
Lastly, our vegan cheese-loving associates in the UK are getting one thing new to clamor about with the growth of Bel Group’s plant-based Laughing Cow cheeses to retailers this winter. Search for the almond milk-based cheeses in Authentic and Garlic and Herb flavors at Asda and Sainsbury’s UK-wide.
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Anna Starostinetskaya is the Senior Information Editor at VegNews and is all the time maintaining a tally of all issues vegan in her house metropolis of San Francisco, CA and in all places else.
