vegan UK

Legendary vegan bakery in London robbed

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The legendary vegan bakery Ms Cupcake of Brixton, London was broken into last night.

Sharing the news on their social media, staff showed the broken window where entrance to the shop was gained using a brick.

The update also stated that cash was stolen from the business.

The Ms Cupcake bakery is one of the true pioneer vegan businesses in the UK and was largely responsible for launching the booming interest in veganism we see today.

I recently interviewed Ms Cupcake founder Mellissa Morgan for Tenderly online magazine. We talked about the trials and tribulations of running an independent vegan business and how the biggest hurdles are often completely unexpected.

In the interview (which you can read online here), Mellissa talked of how the business recently recovered from a flood. This break in was never going to have good timing, but right now feels particularly difficult for the team.

Please consider what you might do to help support the Ms Cupcake team as they move past this trouble.

My suggestions are:

  • Visit the store as soon as you can and spend up big (they sell a huge range of pantry items, packaged sweets, ice cream, and of course legendary cakes and slices)
  • Follow Ms Cupcake on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook
  • If you are at VegFestUK London this week at Olympia, stop by the Ms Cupcake stall (stand number CAT0 – next to One Planet Pizza) and buy lots of cake

In addition, you can catch Mellissa presenting a talk at VegFestUK London on Saturday October 26, 2019 between 1:15pm and 1:45pm.

Mellissa will be talking about all things sweet on the Foodies Stage.

Learn how you can use alternatives to refined sugars in your baking but still get immensely indulgent and decadent results. Over the years Ms. Cupcake has changed and developed her recipes to reflect changing customer tastes and now you can learn her secrets. Find out how this Brixton bakery has removed a third of the sugar from their cupcakes and cakes and introduced both a menu of refined sugar free items and a menu suitable for diabetics.

Get all the info about VegFestUK London (including tickets) online here.

Vegan jobs with The Vegan Society

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Have you ever thought about working with the most-recognised vegan group on the planet?

Check out these positions with The Vegan Society and get busy applying. Yes, they are all based in Birmingham, UK.

Business Development Officer (x 3)

The Vegan Trademark registers tens of thousands of vegan products a year and they are looking for three people to join the busy team and help register even more vegan products.

The role supports the Trademark team, working closely with some of the leading manufacturers across the UK and around the world and actively promoting The Vegan Society’s Trademark. The role will be working to strict deadlines and targets to ensure client expectations are met, managing the client relationship and administering all elements of Trademark product checking, applications, renewals, and queries.

Salary and hours: this is full time (37.5 hours per week) role with a salary of £24,799 per annum.

The application deadline is 9am Wednesday 13th November 2019. Interviews will be held on Wednesday 27th November 2019.

Media and Public Relations Officer

The Media & PR Officer is the first point of contact for the media at the Society and often undertakes high profile media interviews. This role works very closely with all departments to represent the Society’s voice in the media and good interpersonal skills are required.

The successful candidate will be expected to have excellent writing skills with a high standard of literacy and a positive, can-do attitude. A background in PR, journalism, communications or marketing is required and experience of media relations is preferred. Experience of being a spokesperson for an organisation is an advantage but training can be provided to the right candidate.

Salary and hours: this is full time (37.5 hours per week) role with a salary of £22,911 – £28,785 per annum.

The application deadline is 9am Friday 25th October 2019. Interviews will be held week commencing 28th October 2019.

To apply for these roles and find out more information, click here.

Please also take a moment to follow The Vegan Society on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.

Fry’s heading to Tesco supermarkets UK

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The Fry Family Food Co is a legendary vegan brand that is known and loved all over the planet.

The family-owned brand is especially famous amongst vegans and the vegan-curious in the UK. Their meat alternatives have been keeping people happy for what must now be a few decades.

In what is great news for lovers of this meat-free brand, The Fry Family Food Co now has products available in Tesco supermarkets around the UK.

You can now find their chilled Pepper Pie, Mushroom Pie, Curry Pie, Med Veg & Squash Slice, and Twin Chicken-Style Sausage Roll (new and seen first in Tesco) in around 800 stores.

Both the slice Slice and Sausage Roll are ready-to-eat straight from the pack, or you can heat them in the oven for a warm and tasty treat.

You can view the entire range of Fry’s products (including the range of pastries available in Tesco) online here.

Fry’s will also be launching three frozen products later this month, so keep your eyes open!

Help this independent vegan shop in the UK stay open

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Friends. I sound like a broken record but it needs repeating constantly.

Shop with independently owned vegan businesses or we will lose them.

The above message was posted by the owner of Kind Earth Vegan Supermarket in Llanelli, South Wales.

They are on the brink of closing.

UK independent vegan businesses are crucial for some many reasons, but I’ll give you just the top few:

  • they create local jobs for local people without exploiting animals
  • they keep more money in local communities
  • they help to keep the focus of animals at the heart of veganism
  • they add social capital to neighbourhoods
  • they are opportunities to cross promote other independent businesses and producers

Kind Earth is a much-loved independent business and the locals want it to stay.

Here are some ways you can help keep it open:

  • if you are in the area, shop there regularly
  • if you are visiting, make a special one-off visit and spend cash
  • sign up to the Kind Earth newsletter to find out how to shop via mail order and join their veg box scheme
  • follow Kind Earth on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter

If you are in South Wales, drop in for a visit. You can see the exact location of Kind Earth thanks to Google Maps.

Vegan candle raises money for HIV charity

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Do you love candles AND improving outcomes for people living with HIV?

Buy this vegan candle and do something nice for yourself and an important charity.

The One Love candle is now available on the Avanti Candles website.

This vegan candle is handmade with natural soy wax, resulting in a soot-free burn. The company cleverly craft the candles with a wooden wick which crackles when it burns, adding to the enjoyment of the high grade fragrant oils.

The One Love candle has notes of cedar and sandalwood, blended with Moroccan rose, jasmine, lily, and patchouli.

It retails at £25 (reduced price of £20 at VegFestUK London if you are heading there) and with each sale, Avanti donates a percentage to Terrence Higgins Trust.

But what is the Terrence Higgins Trust?

Terrence Higgins Trust describes itself as the HIV and sexual health charity for life.

Their vision is a world where people with HIV live healthy lives free from prejudice and discrimination, and good sexual health is a right and reality for all.

Terrence Higgins Trust is the UK’s leading HIV and sexual health charity, providing a wide range of services to over 50,000 people a year. The charity also campaigns and lobbies for greater political and public understanding of the personal, social and medical impact of HIV and sexual ill health.

You can read more about Terrence Higgins Trust online here.

Now, back to the candle business.

Buy the gorgeous One Love candle from Avanti online and they will donate 10% of all sales to Terrence Higgins Trust.

Click here to buy online and make sure you take a look around the rest of their range of candles and diffusers.

You can follow Avanti Candles on Instagram.

London vegan café celebrates two years

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This blog post is a bit personal and soppy.

I hope you are all OK with me bigging up two of my friends and their fabulous business.

Essential Vegan Café is an all-vegan eatery in Shoreditch, London and today it is celebrating two years of trading.

Essential Vegan is an independent café run by chef Vanessa Almeida and her husband Neni.

I got to know Vanessa and Neni several years ago through the vegan scene in London. They would both come along to events I hosted and it wasn’t long until we counted on each other as friends, not just vegan comrades.

Vanessa and Neni work as hard as anyone I’ve ever met in the vegan community, if not harder.

I have seen them pull all-nighters, often multiple nights in a row, in order to prepare for large scale vegan festivals such as VegFestUK. At the first ever Hackney Downs Vegan Market Vanessa was swamped by customers and sold out of everything instantly, resulting in her actually RUNNING home to bake more cakes for attendees while Neni stayed at the stall and chatted with customers.

Their shed/hatch window takeaway stall in the now-defunct PUMP foodcourt in East London was crucial in pushing vegan food forward in the capital. Vanessa and Neni worked tirelessly to make delicious seitan burgers and succulent cheesecakes to keep the hungry crowds satisfied.

Essential Vegan also became famous around this time for their gourmet plant-based cheeses.

Vanessa has invested thousands of hours in order to perfect her handcrafted artisan cheeses. If you consider yourself a vegan cheese fan, you owe it to yourself to get along to Essential Vegan to buy a few of Vanessa’s creations.

As Essential Vegan Café turns two years old, it is also important to recognise how Vanessa has helped put Brazilian food on the London map. As a chef, she is a pioneer in the UK.

Vanessa and Neni relocated from Brazil to London many years ago and it was a dream of theirs to feed traditional dishes from back home to the population of their new home. They have realised this dream with Essential Vegan Café.

Feijoada is one of their specialties and I promise you will struggle to find a weekend brunch as delicious as this anywhere else in London.

I haven’t even touched on the rest of the sensational menu which includes cake, cassava chips, Brazilian cheese balls, seitan wings, salad, quiche, and casserole.

Congratulations to Vanessa and Neni for two years of Essential Vegan Café. I’m truly inspired by your determination, work ethic, and commitment to improving outcomes for animals.

See the exact location of Essential Vegan Café thanks to Google Maps (just a few skips from Shoreditch High Street Station).

See the Essential Vegan Café menu online.

Follow Essential Vegan on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.

5 online UK vegan shops you should support

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I understand that I rattle on endlessly about the importance of supporting independent vegan businesses, but like anything worth saying it is worth saying until you can’t say it any longer.

With that unstoppable determination in mind, I want to share my list of the top 5 online UK vegan shops that you could be supporting right now.

It includes a mix of groceries, cheese, clothing, wine, footwear, and baked treats.

Shopping online with these businesses keeps money in the pockets of vegan and independently-owned operations, allowing them to offer work to other vegans.

These businesses support other independent traders. Your money spent with these people keeps money in local UK communities, more so than if you shop with huge chain stores.

Are you ready for my list?

The Vegan Kind Supermarket is grocery heaven for online plant-based consumers. Of course the shop grew from the runaway success of their monthly subscription boxes, but the online shop has become an unstoppable force all of its own.

Click here to shop with The Vegan Kind Supermarket. They offer 15% off your first order!

Follow The Vegan Kind Supermarket on Instagram.

The Third Estate is not just the physical vegan boutique in London. Angela and James also operate an online version of their ethical shop. These people care about every aspect of doing the right thing by animals, people, and the planet so expect fairtrade and zero sweatshop goods. Select from a range of gorgeous boots, dress shoes, sneakers, sandals, handbags, belts, backpacks, clothing, and seasonal trinkets and candles.

Click here to shop with The Third Estate. Be sure to check out the online sale section.

Follow The Third Estate on Instagram.

Ms Cupcake is a world-famous, pioneering vegan bakery based south of the River Thames in Brixton, London but did you know they also deliver a selection of their treats all around the UK? Choose from tray bakes, cookie sandwiches, muffins, brownies, branded merchandise, and even the Ms Cupcake recipe book!

Click here to shop with Ms Cupcake. Look for seasonal items available for a limited time.

Follow Ms Cupcake on Instagram.

La Fauxmagerie is a 100% vegan gourmet cheese deli in East London. If you are a cheese lover, this place is your dream come true. If you don’t have a lot of spare time for vegan cheese shopping in that part of the city or you live at the other end of the country, why not shop for their gourmet cheeses online?

Click here to shop with La Fauxmagerie. Spend over £100 for free shipping. It’s easier to do than you think with such a huge range! Perfect for special occasions.

Follow La Fauxmagerie on Instagram.

Vegan Wine Box is THE online place to shop for home delivery wine that is all guaranteed to be vegan. Their selection of mixed cases is perfect for adventurous drinkers. The company has a strong focus on sustainable wines and you won’t get cheap, nasty vino in any of your deliveries. You can order a one-off box or subscribe for monthly deliveries.

Click here to shop with Vegan Wine Box. Look out for the Prosecco and rosé boxes!

Follow Vegan Wine Box on Instagram.

Have I missed your favourite online UK vegan retailer? Tell me in the comments.

Deluxe vegan sweet treat box

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First, a warning.

Every single time I post about Convectionery, they sell out. Like, in record time.

So if you like what you are about to read, you need to order instantly or it will be gone.

Convectionery has launched a deluxe box in the UK which includes a sample of every glorious thing the company makes including vegan versions of Kit Kats, Jammie Dodgers, Peanut Butter Cups, and Wagon Wheels.

The deluxe box from Convectionery costs £20 and includes:

1x peanut butter cup
1 x Vego chocolate cup
Rocky Road bites
2 x Jammie Dodgers
2 x Kit Kat
1 x Wagon Wheel
2 x White Kit Kat
2 x peanut butter Kit Kat
1 x white peanut butter cup
1 x white Vego cup
1 x white Wagon Wheel
2 x white chocolate covered Oreos
2 x chocolate covered Oreos

That is one impressive box!

Click here to order a box (or two) for yourself right now. This blog post went live on August 14, 2019 and I’ve been told it will only be available for 7 days or until it sells out.

You can follow Convectionery on Instagram.

Vegan pork scratchings

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Pork scratchings are a VERY particular product.

Put the animal cruelty aside for a second and some people just don’t like the salty crunchy things at all, while some people adore the traditional pub snack.

For people who were fans of pork scratchings after a few pints in the pub, there is great news.

Two passionate pork scratching fanatics have taken it upon themselves to create a vegan version of this divisive snack.

And they are running a Kickstarter campaign to get the compassionate version into pubs around the UK.

The founders of Vegan Pig said:

We never dreamed we would end up with a product that not only tasted so great, but was so similar to a pork scratching in both texture and in taste.

We’ve overcome challenge after challenge, but now, our next step is getting Vegan Pig into production.

We’re asking the Kickstarter community for £5200. This money will help us scale up our production and get our pig snacks out into the world – as well as helping us meet the minimum orders required to use 100% recyclable packaging.

Once we begin to produce them, we’ll be able to go from pub to pub to sell this delicious snack – so you can all give them a go yourself, with a nice cold pint.

If you check out their Kickstarter page right now, you’ll see they have already broken through that fundraising target!

It seems vegan pork scratchings are an in demand product.

You still have a week remaining to get behind this project and of course some of the reward levels include your own packets of Vegan Pig pork scratchings when the first retail packs are produced.

Click here to read more and pledge and follow Vegan Pig on Instagram.

Nuneaton Vegan Fair this weekend!

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Get excited!

The Nuneaton Vegan Fair is taking place in the Warwickshire town this Saturday August 3, 2019.

The following description of the event is from the organisers and it sounds fab.

The Nuneaton Vegan Fair will feature 30 stalls selling a wide range of vegan products including delicious cake, chocolate, cheese, cosmetics, clothing, recipe books, and a selection of hot food.

FREE entry. All welcome.

STALLHOLDERS

Caterers
Got No Beef Burger Bar
Sheila’s Kitchen
Vegan Joe’s
U-Juice

Cakes & Confectionery
SOOKS Ltd
Sweetest Things
Trishul Raw Chocolate
Totally Vegan
Lakeside Ethical Treats

Vegan Cheese
Soul Cheeze
The Naturally Vegan Food Company

Other Food Stalls
Venitin FOODS
Butterbelle
Vork pie
Natures Finest Juices
Tropical Paradise Preserves

Cosmetics & Toiletries
Iuvo Skincare Ltd
Clean&Natural
Bohemian Chic Minerals Vegan Cosmetics
Organik Orangutan
IT’s Cruelty Free

Clothing
Viva La Vegan
WEAR YOUR VOICE

Jewellery
Agharta Jewellery
Luna Tree Jewellery

Animal Campaigns & Awareness
Leicester Vegans
West Midlands Hunt Saboteurs

The Nuneaton Vegan Fair will run between 10:30am an 4:00pm. You can see the exact location thanks to Google Maps.