World’s largest vegan grocery store

HUGE news coming out of Australia today.

I previously posted about The Cruelty Free Shop, an Australian grocery store chain with outlets in Brisbane, Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne as well as online shopping. You can see that post here.

The big development today is that the Melbourne store has relocated to a site which the owner claims makes it the largest vegan grocery store on the planet.

The Cruelty Free Shop website says of the launch:

We’re pleased to announce that we are opening the biggest vegan shop in the world in Melbourne on Wednesday 12 April 2017.

Our new store will have more than 3500 different vegan products with all sorts of foods including 50+ vegan cheeses, as well as fashion, cosmetics, coffee, cake, hot pies, fruit & veg, and more.

From humble beginnings, the Cruelty Free Shop started as an online store based out of Jessica Bailey’s spare room in Sydney. We now have five stores across Australia and the widest range of vegan products in the country.

Our Melbourne store has also grown over the years and it’s now bursting at the steams at its current location so we are moving it around the corner to 124 Johnston Street, Fitzroy (just a five minute walk or two minute drive from the current location).

Be sure to visit our new store to check out the 1000+ amazing new items we’ll have in stock, grab a coffee, view the Edgar’s Mission photo gallery and stock up on all the very best vegan products from local, Australian and international businesses. Every Saturday we also have free food tastings of delicious new products and old favourites.

Thank you to all our wonderful customers who have made this possible and supported us over the past 15 years.

Wow.

More than 3,500 products certainly puts this up their as the largest vegan store of which I know.

You should follow Cruelty Free Shop on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter no matter where you live in the world and take the time to wish them continued success.

If you are in Australia and would like to know the exact location of the new giant shop, click here to get the info via Google Maps.

Vegan mac n cheese

In their quest to seemingly become the mainstream supermarket with the most vegan-friendly products in the UK, Sainsbury’s has started selling this ready-made meal.

Check it out.

Yes. Ready-made macaroni and cheese done vegan!

I’ll definitely be giving this a try when I get back to the UK. If you have tasted it, what did you think?

Extra note: these photos were taken by my buddy, Roger. Please take a moment to discover Roger’s website from which he takes orders for awesome pins and badges.

New vegan burgers and sausages

You should all be familiar with the Cauldron brand seen in most mainstream UK supermarkets.

They are probably most familiar to vegans thanks to their tofu and because a lot of their other products are only vegetarian.

However, the brand appears to be exploring more plant-based items with the launch of vegan burgers and sausages now available in Morrisons and Waitrose.

The sausages are billed as featuring mediterranean grilled vegetables, haricot beans and tomato pesto while the burgers are made from cauliflower, aduki beans, spinach and chipotle.

With the runaway success of Quorn vegan items, I expect we will see a few more Cauldron lines that are 100% plant-based rolling out soon (the two brands are owned by the same company).

Have you tried the new Cauldron burgers and sausages? What did you think?

Sainsbury’s is stepping up on veganism

Hey, have you all noticed the shift happening over at Sainsbury’s in regards to promoting vegan food?

Within the space of a week, the UK grocery giant has posted three vegan cooking videos to their Facebook page.

Check them out here:

Wow. Three pretty spectacular vegan recipes shared by one of the biggest retailers on the planet. They have even gotten two leading vegan food personailities to help with the videos (Heart of Cake and CookDaily).

This is a clear indication of how powerful veganism has become in the UK. These companies do not undertake anything without market research and a lot of consideration.

That they are making vegan options a big part of their current advertising campaign says volumes. Times are changing and if they don’t get on board, they are going to miss out and they know it.

In related news, Sainsbury’s have apparently teamed up with a group of scientists to redesign their store layouts to encourage customers to buy less meat.

The following is lifted from a story in The Guardian:

Oxford University scientists will work with Sainsbury’s executives in a programme that will see supermarkets redesigned. Proposals include: placing vegetarian alternatives on the same shelves as meat products; giving vouchers and loyalty points to shoppers who choose vegetarian products; and providing recipes and leaflets that outline how shoppers can eat less meat.

What do you all think of this push on plant-based consumerism by Sainsbury’s?

Vegan fish fingers

Love them or hate them, you can’t escape the fact that Quorn is steadily marching forward with expanding its vegan range and this newest addition is causing a lot of stir.

Say hello to Vegan Fishless Fingers.

Fish fingers are close to being a national food in the UK, so I’m certain there will be hundreds of thousands of people happy to see this product readily available all over the country.

I’ve heard of them currently being available via Tesco and Waitrose.

As an aside, I’d be interested to know if this vegan expansion also means a reduction in Quorn‘s vegetarian options. I think the only way I can really celebrate this ‘better late than never’ vegan onslaught from the food giant is knowing that it translates into the non-vegan stuff being phased out.

Are you excited about this new product?

New vegan hotspot

Certain towns and cities in the UK are really flying when it comes to vegan developments and surely Stockport in Greater Manchester is in the top five places to watch in the near future.

I reported on the recent opening of fine dining restaurant The Allotment and now hot on the heels of that announcement comes word of a 100% vegan grocery store opening in the town.

The Herbivore Vegan Store looks to be stocked to the brim with cheeses, meats, pantry items, snacks, chocolate and more. Shoppers will find superstar brands such as Follow Your HeartFry’s Family Foods and Vego.

The store has opened just a few days ago so be sure to keep up with developments via the store website, its Facebook page and the Instagram account.

You can see the store location here on Google Maps.

Yay for vegan Stockport!

Vegan pizza base

A reader (who has an Instagram account packed with cute people and cats) got in touch with me yesterday to ask if I had tasted this vegan-friendly pizza base.

I replied that I had not.

15139431_10154713551513894_1938850735_n

I was assured this base is probably the best pizza base you can buy in the UK.

Trouble is, not everyone is going to be able to locate it. This Crosta &Mollica ready to top pizza base with tomato sauce is available (as far as I can tell) only in Waitrose stores or via Ocado online.

Have you tried these bases? What do you think? Have you seen it in any other shops?

nye-2017

Come on through, Oatly!

Have you seen these two new incredible products from dairy-free enthusiasts Oatly?

oatly-panel

Yep, that’s correct. A tub of crème fraîche and a carton of vanilla custard.

I’m not sure if these products are available widely throughout the UK at the moment, but there are reports of them both being sold by Tesco.

Have you seen them out in the wild? How do you rate them?

nye-2017

New vegan product

Here’s a cheeky little post to show you a new vegan product that has me interested.

Check out this new ready-to-eat Moroccan Tagine pot by Dragonfly.

cvieljgwiaayn-j

I can’t wait for this to be available all over the UK, but the only place I can currently see it for sale is via Ocado.

Have you tried it? How was it?

nye-2017

Vegan haul at Tesco

Super quick update to share today’s vegan grocery haul video.

Watch to see all the latest plant-based goods I picked up from my local Tesco.

Enjoy!

nye-2017