A coffee shop has launched the UK’s first vegan bacon sandwich, and claims it’s a better hangover cure than meat

From inews.co.uk

Coco di Mama said its new bacon sandwich will help cure your hangover

A London coffee chain has become the first in the UK to add a vegan bacon sandwich to its permanent menu.
Coco di Mama, which last made headlines after it launched a black croissant made with charcoal, will launch the plant-based bacon baguettes on 11 September in all 23 of its branches.
The company is using a meat alternative made by THIS, a UK-based vegan producer that also developed pea protein chicken breasts used in burgers at Lewis Hamilton’s new plant-based fast food chain.
THIS claims its plant-based product “sizzles like actual bacon when cooked, mimicking the real thing in taste, texture, appearance and smell”. It’s made from soya beans and peas, with flavourings, canola oil, and potato starch.

                                       High in protein but low in meat Photo: Coco di Mama

“Launching the UK’s first vegan bacon sandwich with Coco di Mama is exciting new territory for us,” said co-founder Andy Shovel, who also went on claim his plant-based bacon is a better option when battling a hangover.

“The THIS Isn’t Bacon sandwich is nutritionally proven to be better for hangovers and we’re glad that we can be there for the nation in their times of hungover. And we’re pretty sure they won’t tell the difference.”
It was Dr Magda Robinson, a doctor from the UK quoted by Coco di Mama, who gave her backing to the claim. A degree of scepticism might be required.

Cynicism aside, Coco di Mama claimed customers couldn’t tell the difference in a culinary sense during trials. The chain also claimed the artificial bacon contains more protein then traditional pork-made produce and said it was “healthier” to boot.
Sara McCraight, head of brand, said: “We’re so excited to be the first UK brand to serve the THIS Isn’t Bacon sandwich, which not only tastes great but is also better for your hangover, better for your health and better for the environment. Adding a vegan option makes complete sense.”

Coco di Mama’s bacon sourdough baguettes will cost £2.95 and will also be available for delivery. They come in at 295 calories and contain 12 per cent of a man’s recommended daily intake of protein, more per gram, THIS said, than other food used as meat substitutes such as tempeh, seitan, and tofu.

https://inews.co.uk/inews-lifestyle/food-and-drink/coco-di-mama-vegan-bacon-sandwich-this-isnt-bacon/

Russia Might Just Have the Best Vegan Sausages In the World

From livekindly.co

Is Russia the best place in the world to get vegan sausages?
Moscow-based Vego makes vegetarian and vegan sausages that wouldn’t look out of place on the meatiest of charcuterie boards.
In images posted on social media, its half-smoked sausages hang on a string just like you would see in a butcher shop. But they’re not made from pork. They’re made from wheat gluten and coconut oil.

                                             Does Russia make the meatiest vegan sausages?

Vegan meat is soaring in popularity around the world and arguably, aside from burgers, one of the most popular meatless products is sausages — the star of the hot dog, English breakfast, and any half-decent cookout.
Linda McCartney, Quorn, and Beyond Meat are just a few of the brands in the UK and the U.S. that provide conscious consumers with vegan sausages that look and taste just like the real deal. But could Russia have the best vegan sausages in the world?

At first glance, Vego’s site looks like an advert for a butcher shop. But if you look again, you’ll see the vegan sticker plastered over many of the mega-meaty images.
It even makes cervelat, which looks virtually indistinguishable from the real deal. Traditionally made in parts of Germany, Sweden, and France, cervelat is usually created with a combination of beef, bacon, and pork rind. Despite its authentic appearance, Vego’s version is made with wheat gluten, soy protein, and red beetroot dye.

Boiled sausage with cheese, vegetable brawn, and dietary sausage are among the other vegan meats offered by the brand.

‘The Best Vegan Sausages in the World’

One New Zealand tourist who visited Russia (and discovered Vego) posted in a Wellington Vegans Facebook group, “I’m almost feeling guilty just looking at this photo.” The accompanying image shows a plate of meat and cheese.
They continued, “we’re visiting my family in Russia and they seem to have THE BEST vegan sausages in the world here, not even joking.”
Another Facebook user commented on the post, “I recently discovered them as well, holy moly. I can’t sleep, always watching YouTube with their reviews like crazy. Got obsessed and looking for someone to bring some of the sausages, but no friends going to Russia.”
The meaty dish contains Vego products, as well as vegan meats by Russian brand Higher Taste (Высший Вкус).

Founded in 2013, Higher Taste’s wheat protein-based sausages are popular across Moscow and the surrounding areas. According to the brand, this popularity is all to do with how the products are made.

                Russian brands make realistic-looking vegan sausage. | Alexandra Verkholantseva

Using Unique Technology

“Higher Taste Vegetarian Sausage and Vegan Sausages are made using unique authoring technology,” it notes on its website. “In the production of these products, freshly extracted wheat protein is used, which was grown on the fertile lands of the Kuban.” The Kuban is an area in Southern Russia, which surrounds the Kuban river.
It continues, “in order to make our products from this protein, it goes through a complex process of fermentation and maturation under certain time and temperature conditions.” It’s this patented process that makes Higher Taste’s vegan sausages completely different from any other in the world, it claims.
“Thanks to our proprietary production technology, we were able to achieve maximum similarity of the protein structure with meat producers,” the company adds. “Using a wide selection of natural spices, we were able to create an exquisite and recognizable taste of our products, which are in great demand among different categories of customers.” 

Vego and Higher Taste aren’t alone. As Russians develop a taste for vegan meat, more brands crop up, like Greenwise. Greenwise’s products are available in stores all over Russia, from Moscow to St. Petersburg to Volgograd. It creates plant-based chicken and beef, as well as vegan lamb jerky.

Like Higher Taste, Greenwise uses technology to give its products that meaty taste and texture. “We use ecologically clean raw materials from Russia, processing it at our own factory in Kaluga region,” the brand explains on its website. “We implement green technologies that allow us to produce plant-based products with high-fibrous structure, which gives our meat alternatives chewiness and (the) texture of real meat.”

Vegan Food In Russia

Following an entirely plant-based diet isn’t that commonplace in Russia. According to a survey from last year, only 1 percent of the population follows a vegetarian diet. Among those aged 25 to 29, this figure is slightly higher, with 2 percent eating a meat-free diet.  Many Russians still view giving up meat as unhealthy. Following WWII, Soviet leaders promoted meat consumption as part of a healthy diet. This thinking remains prevalent across the country.
However, this doesn’t mean that vegan food isn’t regularly consumed across Russia or that attitudes are not beginning to change.
Victoria Logunova is a Moscow-based vegan blogger. She told The Nomadic Vegan last year, “Russian society is not responsive to new ideas and sometimes you feel like an alien. Most people in Russia think that veganism is something dangerous for your health.”

“As a result, usually parents don’t support their children to go vegetarian or especially vegan. And this leads to conflicts and misunderstandings,” she continued. “Sometimes it’s not easy. But hey, we are the first generations of vegans in Russia, and we can see the positive changes every day.”

The Impact of ‘The China Study’

Although the vegan movement in Russia is still young, it is growing, says Logunova. This was largely helped by the Russian translation of “The China Study” in 2015. Written by T. Colin Campbell and his son Thomas, “The China Study” is one of the largest and most comprehensive nutrition studies ever conducted. Bill Clinton is among the book’s fans.
“These days more and more people realize that eating vegan is healthy and natural,” said Lugonova. “I can say that in the last couple of years, the number of vegetarian and vegan restaurants in Moscow has almost doubled.”
Rising environmental concerns are also changing Russian attitudes toward food. Greenwise says its customers don’t have to sacrifice taste to help the environment.
The company says the “best way” to reduce meat consumption is to give people “the opportunity” to enjoy their favorite foods — only by making them with plants.
“We can’t change people, so we just need to change the meat.”

https://www.livekindly.co/russia-best-vegan-sausages-world/

Patisserie Valerie Launches Range Of Plant-Based Cakes

From plantbasednews.org

The new collection of raw vegan cakes have rolled out nationwide in the UK

UK cafe chain Patisserie Valerie has launched a range of plant-based cakes and vegan brunch dishes across the country.
The cakes, which are all fully raw and made with '100 percent plant-based wholefoods', are priced at £3.50 a slice - or £40 for a whole celebration cake.
Flavors include Chocolate and Raspberry, Chocolate, Tiramisu, Strawberry, Orange and Turmeric, Peanut Butter, Pineapple and Matcha, Raspberry, and Lemon, and Blueberry.

                                                           (Photo: Patisserie Valerie)

'Delicious range'

"Introducing our delicious range of vegan raw cakes, hand made with ingredients that are free from egg, dairy, gluten, preservatives, additives, soy, and refined sugar... Each cake is packed full of pure and seasonal ingredients," the brand's website states.
Patisserie Valerie also announced on Instagram it had an 'important message for all vegans', revealing new plant-based dishes including a fig salad and smashed avocado on toast.
"Did you know that you can enjoy a range of delicious vegan brunch dishes and even a handcrafted coffee made with almond or soya milk?" the company wrote.

"Brunch, cake and a hot drink - yes please!"

https://www.plantbasednews.org/lifestyle/patisserie-valerie-plant-based-cakes

Thinking of going vegan? Here's how your body changes from day one on a plant-based diet

From telegraph.co.uk/health-fitness

Veganism, the plant-based diet which shuns meat and dairy, is having its time in the sun. Since 2008, there has been a 350 per cent increase in the number of self-described vegans in the UK alone. Where this motivation stems from is varied, but includes concerns about animal welfare, worries about the environment and religious reasons.
Many people, though, seek a healthier diet. Research suggests that veganism can have health benefits, if well planned. For those who have pursued a diet rich in meat and dairy for most of their lives, embarking on a vegan diet can lead to significant changes within the body.

The first few weeks

The first thing that someone starting a vegan diet might notice is an energy boost, due to the removal of the processed meat that is found in many omnivorous diets, in favour of fruit, vegetables and nuts. These foods will boost your vitamin, mineral and fibre levels. Thinking ahead about your meals and snacks rather than relying on convenience foods can also help to sustain consistent energy levels.

As time without animal products grows into weeks, there is likely to be a shift in bowel function either towards a more regular, healthy pattern or an increase in bloating, wind and loose motions. This is due to the higher fibre content of a vegan diet and the simultaneous increase in carbohydrates that ferment in the gut and can cause irritable bowel syndrome.

This may settle eventually and could lead to some positive changes in the diversity of the bacteria in the colon, depending on whether a vegan diet is made up of processed food and refined carbohydrates or is well planned and balanced. Although not proven yet, scientists believe that a high species diversity for gut bacteria could be beneficial for the whole system, in the same way that ecosystems are stronger as a result of lots of different types of species thriving.

Three to six months later

Several months into a vegan diet and some people may find that the increase in fruit and vegetables and reduced processed food can help acne to clear up. By this point however, your stores of vitamin D might be dropping as key sources of it in our diet come from meat, fish and dairy, and it isn’t always noticeable until it’s too late. Vitamin D isn’t well understood but it’s essential in keeping bones, teeth and muscles healthy and deficiency has been linked with cancer, heart disease, migraines and depression.

This is because vitamin D stores are only thought to last about two months in the body. How long your stores last will depend on the time of year that you decide to go vegan because the body can make vitamin D from sunlight. Making sure you eat plenty of fortified foods or take a supplement is important, especially in the winter months.

Within a few months, a well-balanced vegan diet which is low in salt and processed food may have impressive benefits for cardiovascular health, helping to prevent heart disease, stroke and reducing the risk of diabetes. As the intake of nutrients like iron, zinc and calcium are reduced on a vegan diet, our bodies get better at absorbing them from the intestine. The adaptation may be enough to prevent deficiencies in some people but not for everyone, in which case supplements can fill the shortfall.

From six months to several years on

Approaching a year on a vegan diet, vitamin B12 stores may become depleted. Vitamin B12 is a nutrient that is essential to the healthy functioning of blood and nerve cells and can only be found in animal products. Symptoms of B12 deficiency include breathlessness, exhaustion, poor memory and tingling in the hands and feet.

B12 deficiency is easily prevented by eating three portions of fortified food per day or taking a supplement, but managing it is very important, as any deficiency would negate the benefits of a vegan diet for heart disease and stroke risk and can cause permanent nerve and brain damage.
A few years down the line and even our bones will start to notice the change. Our skeleton is a mineral store and up until the age of 30 we can add minerals to it from our diet, but after that, our bones can’t absorb minerals anymore and so getting enough calcium when we’re young is vital.

After the age of 30, our bodies harvest the calcium from our skeleton for use in the body, and if we don’t replenish the calcium in our blood through our diet, our bones fill the deficit and become brittle as a result.

Vegetables rich in calcium like kale and broccoli may protect bones, but many vegans don’t meet their calcium requirements and there is a 30pc increased risk of fracture among vegans when compared to vegetarians and omnivores. Plant-based calcium is also harder to absorb and therefore supplements or plenty of fortified foods is recommended.

When contemplating the years ahead on a vegan diet, balance is key. Well-balanced vegan diets may have major health benefits. Many of those benefits can be offset by deficiencies if the diet isn’t managed carefully, but supermarkets and food outlets are making it easier than ever to enjoy a varied and exciting vegan diet and our appetite for meat overall is declining. With the right preparation, a vegan diet can be good for human health.
Sophie Medlin is a lecturer in nutrition and dietetics at King's College London

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/health-fitness/nutrition/diet/thinking-going-vegan-body-changes-day-one-plant-based-diet/

Want to eat much less meat? Take the top vegan tips from the world’s tastiest cuisines

From theguardian.com/food

While veganism is growing rapidly in the west, other parts of the world have had meat-free cuisines for centuries. For a rich and varied plant-based diet, talk to the Chinese, Indians, Ethiopians …

                  Vietnamese staple vegetable pho, with mushrooms, carrots and pak choi.

                                     Photograph: Thomas Levine Photography/Alamy

Like most revolutions, the current surge in meat-free eating takes much of its energy from its newness. This is a hip and sexy break with the past, a movement with Silicon Valley solutions to the historic restrictions of a meat-free diet.Consequently, we hear a lot about trashy vegan street food, plant-based wellness and futuristic “bleeding” burgers, but little from those nations where meat-light, vegetarian and vegan food has flourished for centuries. It is bizarre. Such cuisines offer huge inspiration for anyone keen to increase the creativity and flavour of their meat-free cooking.

China

The chef Andrew Wong is baffled by western food manufacturers pouring money into developing mock meats. “Why waste your time R&Ding this stuff? It’s been done. Just go into Chinatown,” advises the chef-owner at London’s Michelin-starred A Wong.

Since Buddhism’s arrival in China about 2,000 years ago, regularly abstaining from meat has been a feature of Chinese life. Wong says a meat-minimal approach to eating is now “ingrained”.

     Plum in a golden vase, made with a Chinese cheese similar to halloumi by Andrew Wong.                                                                           Photograph: Andrew Wong

“In every province and echelon of society, people understand food is medicine and eating too much meat is not good. In old recipes, there’s never a massive amount of protein. My grandmother would cook vegetable dishes and use a small amount of meat as a lubricating source of oil.”

In the Forbidden City’s imperial court, that absence of meat spawned highly playful food theatre in which other ingredients were used to mimic meat. Today, Chinese chefs and food producers simulate meat and fish textures using vegetables, gluten and tofu in endless ingenious dishes and products. In these, mushrooms might pass for eel or offal, for instance, or gently cooked egg whites for crab meat.

Despite being widely available in the UK’s Chinese supermarkets, many of the core ingredients in this cooking are little known outside Chinese kitchens. “When westerners think of tofu,” Wong says, “they think of one hard, claggy 80s product, not the variety and finesse in 50 types of tofu all specific to individual dishes. Now you can get tofu as smooth as creme brulee. Bean curd skin, a tofu by-product, is versatile, too. You can fry and crisp it, steam things in it to give them a skin-like texture or cook it over fire, to create this crunchy, cheesy, stringy thing.”
All this mimicry is underpinned by numerous fermented ingredients that build umami flavours into dishes: “Bean curd or chilli bean paste, dried black beans, preserved dried vegetables – these all add layers of savouriness that fool your brain into thinking there must be meat there.”

Ethiopia

Even within Orthodox Christianity, the Ethiopian Tewahedo church is hardcore on fasting. Its attempts to “chastise the body”, as St Paul advised, mean followers abstain from meat and dairy for up to 180 days of the year. “It’s very common to be vegan every Wednesday and Friday,” says Tutu Melaku, the chef-owner at Tutu’s Ethiopian Table in Reading, who estimates that, given that meat is still a luxury product for many: “The Ethiopian diet is 70% vegan.”
Some Ethiopian staples, such as injera, a tangy, pancake-like bread made from fermented batter, can take years to master. “Sometimes, even I don’t get what I really want,” laughs Melaku, who uses wheat flour, not the traditional teff, in her injera. Export, she believes, is exacerbating the soaring cost of teff back home, so she adapted: “Why do I need to bring teff from my people, taking what they can’t even afford? I can’t do it.”

                            A typical Ethiopian sharing platter. Photograph: Eric Isaac/Getty

However, from breakfast beso, a pan-toasted barley flour porridge, to tikil gomen, a cabbage and fried potato dish seasoned with whole jalapeño, there are easier ways into Ethiopian cooking. On fasting days, families often enjoy beyaynetu, individual vegetarian platters where dishes such as fasolia (green beans in tomato sauce), gomen (simmered greens), shiro (a highly seasoned chickpea flour paste similar in texture to pease pudding) and thick, spicy wat stews are all served on an injera flatbread.
From misir (red lentil) to atakilt (cabbage, potato and carrot), wat stews of just a few ingredients, perfumed with hot berbere spice mix, are central to Ethiopian cooking. Find a high-quality berbere and take time with the wat’s onion base. The onions must be finely chopped and gently sweated until utterly broken down, which can take over an hour. “We do everything by the book and by hand,” says Melaku.

India

Mayur Patel, co-owner of the northern Bundobust restaurants, insists the Gujarati food he grew up on is “simpler than it’s made out. All the ingredients are available in Asian supermarkets everywhere and we don’t use dozens of spices. It’s more about how you combine and cook them – say, adding the garam masala at the beginning or end, which creates completely different flavours.”

You do not need to understand the Ayurvedic roots of meat-free Hindu cooking (certain “hot” foods are thought to dangerously excite the senses, yet fresh green chillies are somehow “calming”) to get to grips with Patel’s beloved dhal baht, “like Indian gravy that you add to rice”, or bataka shak, a dry-fried potato curry. Instead, you need to stock up on seasonings (mustard seed, fenugreek, coriander powder, cumin, asafoetida and curry leaves), buy a pressure cooker to speed up all those lentils you will be cooking and, importantly, perfect your tempering to either start a curry or finish one with a flourish.

                   Khandvi, pillowy pasta-like rolls made with gram flour and yoghurt.

                                  Photograph: subodhsathe/Getty Images/iStockphoto

“Starting by tempering oil with fenugreek seeds, mustard seeds and ground onion is fundamental. That gives you that savoury, jammy, umami flavour, like Marmite. Then, as you add fresh ingredients – green beans, aubergines, potato – you get different textures coming out. Okra, for instance, really thickens the base. It’s like making a cocktail, combining and blending vegetables. I think that gives you more creative space than basing a dish on one simple protein.”
It is a learning process. But you have Google and a head start, in that most Britons are familiar with the flavours of Indian food, if not the vast hinterland of Indian regional or even Gujarati cooking. Patel, for instance, is obsessed by his mum’s khandvi, pillowy pasta-like rolls made with gram flour and yoghurt.

Italy

Salvo’s serves 19 vegetarian dishes and 10 meat-free sides. The Leeds Italian has a dedicated vegan menu, too. The co-owner Gip Dammone relays these stats to demonstrate how, as the son of southern Italians – mum from Campania, dad from Sicily – he has a love of high-quality seasonal vegetables and vegetable dishes in his DNA.

    Casarecce pasta, red pepper, almond and smoked garlic pesto, confit onion and basil at Salvo’s.                                                                               Photograph: Salvo's
The Dammone family lived in Salerno in the 70s: “We were almost naturally vegetarian without knowing. Meat was an expensive commodity, utilised sparingly. Mum would send me to the butcher’s, but I never ordered more than 100g of meat. A meat ragu wasn’t a load of mince; you’d be excited to find a scrap of meat in there. We’d have mainly bread meatballs or often ‘meatballs’ made with diced, fried aubergine.”

In the poorer Italian south, families had learned to cook without (much) meat and, making a virtue of a necessity, use every last scrap of the beautiful produce growing in the rich volcanic soils of Puglia and Campania. Turnip tops went into pasta with capers and anchovies; bitter lettuces were stewed with garlic, oil and water; “ amazing” quarter-inch-thick slices of aubergine (known as la carne del popolo, the meat of the masses), were dipped in egg, floured and fried, years before the cauliflower steak. On the courgette-mad Cilento coast, you would see sliced courgettes drying on balconies, so when they were fried, they browned quickly: “They know how to process veg in southern Italy.”

Understandably, Dammone is mystified by meat substitutes such as seitan: “It’s like boiling dough. There’s a better mouthful in a lot of veg.” This is something he is reminded of every time he visits Italy, where “vegetables are still revered in their own right”. Could demanding far better vegetables be the key to unlocking Britain’s meat-free future?

Three more meat-free hot spots

Jamaica: Ital, a belief system focused on increasing “livity” or life-energy, whose purest adherents eat only organic, vegan food, developed alongside Rastafarianism in 30s Jamaica. Check out the bean and pumpkin curries and stews at Negril in Brixton, south London, or Liverpool’s street-food outfit Ital Fresh. Think jerk-marinated cauliflower wings.

Vietnam: In Vietnam, Mahayana Buddhist dietary rules gave rise to dedicated meat-free dishes and veggie versions of everyday staples, such as banh mi sandwiches and noodle bowls. For his much-praised book Vegetarian Việt Nam (£25, WW Norton), Cameron Stauch spoke to monks and home cooks to get the skinny on daily dishes and specials, such as the Twelve Predestined Affinities Salad.

Greece: “The Orthodox tradition of [meat and dairy-free] fasting is strong here and widely practised,” says Heather Thomas, the author of The Greek Vegetarian Cookbook (£24.95, Phaidon). “True believers abstain for several months each year, many supermarkets have dedicated nistisimo fasting foods, and some of Greece’s best-loved dishes evolved from fasting: dolmadakia vine leaf parcels, Lenten spinach “risotto” spanakorizo, and many lentil, bean and vegetable stews like gigantes.”

https://www.theguardian.com/food/2019/aug/29/eat-much-less-meat-top-vegan-tips-from-worlds-tastiest-cuisines

Vegan food becomes UK’s fastest growing takeaway

From theguardian.com

Orders of vegan meals grew 388% between 2016 and 2018, figures show

Vegan burgers are challenging popular British takeaways such as doner kebabs and chicken tikka masala. Photograph: Rex/Shutterstock

They are still a long way from toppling chicken chow mein as the nation’s favourite takeaway, but vegan meals are now the UK’s fastest growing choice, with orders rising almost fivefold over the last two years.

Burgers made from black beans, sweet potato and quinoa and vegan “fried chicken” are among the dishes challenging doner kebabs and tikka masala when households cannot be bothered to cook or do not have the time.

With 600,000 people believed to be vegan in the UK in 2018, and an increase in “flexitarians” choosing to reduce their consumption of animal products, orders of vegan takeaways grew 388% between 2016 and 2018 while vegetarian orders rose 137%, according to research by the British Takeaway Campaign.

Pakistani, Greek, Persian and Turkish takeaways also grew in popularity more rapidly than the nation’s favourites – Chinese and Indian – over the last two years, indicating a growing cosmopolitanism in UK appetites. In a blow for proponents of fish and chips, English takeaways recorded the slowest growth – less than 1%. Meanwhile average household spending on takeaways has grown to nearly 15% of food expenditure from close to 11% in 2015.

Paul Baron, the owner of I Am Doner, a pair of kebab shops in Leeds and Harrogate, said his vegan kebab routinely outsold chicken, halloumi and falafel. Made from seitan, a meat substitute derived from wheat gluten, the “voner” kebab sometimes outsells the lamb alternative too.
“Demand increases by the week,” Baron said. “The vegan crowd comes in all sorts of shapes and sizes. A lot of people are coming in who aren’t vegan.”

The online delivery platform Deliveroo reported that vegan orders had quadrupled over the past two years and said that in the last 12 months the number of vegan restaurants on the app increased by 168%, making it one of the fastest-growing categories.

Last month the platform’s top-selling vegan dishes were Wagamama’s vegatsu version of katsu curry, Pizza Express’ vegan margarita and the smoky chorizo and cheese burger from Arancini Brothers. In June 2019 the platform recorded its highest number of vegan orders, followed by January 2019, perhaps driven by new year resolutions.
“As people look for healthier and more diverse eating options, they aren’t turning away from takeaways, they are turning towards them,” said Ibrahim Dogus, the chairman of the British Takeaway Campaign.

Northern Irish households spend on average £57 a month on takeaways, more than any other part of the UK, while those in the east Midlands spend the least. The research also reveals variations in taste with Scotland’s favourite being an Indian, London preferring Chinese and the north opting mostly for pizza.

Mainstream caterers are increasingly targeting vegans and people who want to eat fewer animal products. In January the airline Jet2 introduced a vegan pasta arrabiata in its in-flight service and in April Ryanair added a vegan lasagne. Thomas Cook has a vegan biryani and tagine on its planes. Meanwhile the bakers Greggs announced it was working on vegan versions of all its best-selling products, from steak bakes to pasties and doughnuts, in an attempt to repeat the runaway success of its vegan sausage roll.

https://www.theguardian.com/food/2019/aug/28/vegan-food-becomes-uk-fastest-growing-takeaway

20 East of England Co-op stores have introduced loads of new vegan foods

From edp24.co.uk/news

Get your hands on falafel burgers, dairy-free cheese, vegan snacks, doner 'kebab' meat, organic pies and more.

Whether for health, environmental or compassionate reasons, more Brits than ever before are choosing to switch to a vegan diet. If not every day, but for part of the week. It's really never been easier to go meat and dairy-free, with supermarket buyers and product development teams working overtime to provide tasty, nutritious alternatives to this growing section of the population.

The latest retailer to get on board is the East of England Co-op, which has just introduced a range of new plant-based products across the Deli-to-go, freezer and chilled areas of 20 of its stores in the eastern region.

Here are just some of the brands to look out for.

Clive's Pies
Pies are an easy option to turn to on those nights when you don't have time to prep dinner from scratch. And Clive's hit the nail on the head when it comes to both flavour and convenience. The organic, free-from pastries have been made in the top floor of a converted woollen mill in South Devon for over 30 years. "We do everything we can to minimise our environmental impact through local sourcing of ingredients, waste recycling, using recyclable packaging and the recent installation of a heat recovery unit which uses the waste generated from our chillers and freezers," say the Clive's team. Look out on your shelves for anything from saag aloo pie to lentil and kale tart and creamy mushroom pie.

                                                   Clive's tomato tart Picture: Clive's Pies

The Brook
Home-cooked style dishes made in small batches and full of nutrients. Their ready meals range from red Thai curry to black bean chilli and jackfruit rending. "We understand just how busy life is these days and, without access to convenient meals, eating plant-based regularly can be hard to sustain. Our hope is that by delivering a range of restaurant-quality meals we can help you achieve the lifestyle and diet you want, without having to compromise on quality."


Fry's
Established in 1991, Fry's is now a second generation family business that is passionate about tasty plant-based foods, from burgers, sausages and mince, to falafels and falafel burgers. "The original idea behind Fry's," says the team, "was to make nutritious products for our family who are all passionate about plant-based diets. We still make our food for our family, but it is now a lot bigger, so join us and you can enjoy tasty food that is better for you."

                                            Fry's falafel burger Picture: Fry's Family Food

V Bites
Meat-free burgers, beef pieces, chicken pieces, ham slices, lamb doner kebab slices and cheese are just some of the tasty products V Bites sells, with cheese and kebab 'meat' hoped to be clear winners for vegan shoppers at the Co-op. The brand was established over 25 years ago and has a clear vision to be at the forefront of creating vegan meat substitutes, saying: "Through our taste-obsessed research and development, we are focused on delivering a wide variety of delicious and healthy meat substitutes to satisfy the most discerning meat-reducer."


Mama K's
Mama K's focuses on sourcing the finest ingredients and freshest produce to create healthy products whilst maintaining an authentic and traditional Middle Eastern and Mediterranean taste. In the Deli to Go section of your Co-op you'll discover snacks, from bean salads and falafels with fresh houmous to houmous dips with pitta chips.


Find the new ranges in Essex: Manningtree, Stanway, West Mersea, Sible Hedingham, Brightlingea, Halstead, Wivenhoe
Suffolk: Framlingham, Saxmundham, Leiston, Felixstowe, Hadleigh, Combs Ford, Holbrook, Woodbridge

https://www.edp24.co.uk/news/co-op-introduces-new-vegan-ranges-1-6235697