Vegan Foods Delight at the Fancy Food Show

Posted by Amber McDonald on Jun 19, 2012 in Food, News | 2 comments

The summer Fancy Food Show is currently wrapping up at the Convention Center, where it has made its home for the last three days.  Featuring more than 260,000 products from more than 80 countries, it’s virtually impossible to see everything…I managed to cover about 1/3 of the space over a few hours and left very, very full on vegan samples.   Below are a few of my favorites:

• Rau Om’s tofu misozuke (miso-cured, non-GMO tofu)….holy omg wow.  It tastes like a rich, creamy goat cheese (or what I remember goat cheese tasting like), and their rep couldn’t emphasize enough how well it pairs with sake and shozu.  I believe it.  There isn’t much I wouldn’t pair this delicious stuff with.  Unfortunately, it’s only on the West Coast, but you can also order it online.  Do it.  Do it now.

• Organic Nectars’ Cashewtopia cashew cream frozen dessert is raw, vegan, agave-sweetened, non-GMO, gluten-free…basically the perfect food.  VegNews named it its 2010 best raw ice cream, and, apparently, it’s already in a Whole Foods near you.   You can also get $5 off your next order of $50 or more at organicnectars.com with code VIP5.

• Aiva Naturals officially makes the best vegan carrot cake you’ll ever taste.  And if that’s not reason enough to try it, the company was founded by a super cute vegan.  It’s a new company, so, sadly, I have no details on where you can find their goodies.  But, should you ever stumble upon their carrot cake, well, you know what to do…

• WayFare!  You already know them, you already love them.  They were dishing up vegan quesadillas with their delish vegan cheese and sour cream.  I ate two.  Then I ate their pudding.  Then I ate more of their cheese.  Then I had to walk away before it got ugly.

• Technically, I didn’t even make it to their booth (this place is huge, folks), but the awesome Beanito people sent me a care package of their totally amazing bean chips as part of the show, and I’ve been living on the chips for days.  In addition to being super tasty, they’re non-GMO, gluten free, high in fiber, high in complete protein and low on the glycemic index, so good news — I may not develop scurvy while eating them non-stop.   If you decide to join me on the all-Beanito diet, the Pinto Bean & Flax variety is heavenly with some guac, while the Chipotle BBQ flavor rocks all on its own.

• When is the last time you had caramels?  I miss very few things from my pre-vegan days, but this was one of them.  But, once again, I find there’s no reason to miss out on anything as a plant eater.  JJ’s Sweets Cocomels are the original coconut milk caramel…and they’re everything you remember caramels to be, but better.  This is a company to love.  Even their packaging is made with wind energy!  And their super nice rep gave me a whole package to take home.  I will not be sharing.  You can get your own.

• You’ve probably already seen Back to the Roots‘ Grow-Your-Own Mushroom Garden.  I’m the proud owner of two of their boxes, but, as I confessed to their rep, I’ve been too chicken (no offense, chickens) to try it.  After a little pep talk, I’m convinced I can do it.  If you want to try it, too, get 20% off with the code BTTREvent20.

• I literally squealed when I saw the Victoria Fine Foods’ Vegan Alfredo Sauce.  Unfortunately, the variety I sampled was just too artichoke-y for me.  Still, it would be great to have it as an option in stores when I’m too lazy to make my own.  And their Vegan Vodka Sauce more than lived up to my hopes.  I can’t wait to try the rest of their seven vegan marinara and alfredo varieties.

• By the time I stumbled upon Cheeky Monkey Foods, I was more than sick of olive oil samples on stale french bread, so their rep had to goad me into trying a sample of their Spicy Tomato Garlic Dipping Oil.  And I’m so glad he did.  This seemingly simple product was one of my favs of the day.  It’s also available online.

• Veggie Mama‘s agave-sweetened Garden Pops were frozen fruit and veg goodness.  If I had a little one, they’d definitely be getting their veggies in this super tasty way.  Sweet Potato Pie was delicious and the Carrot Berry and Citrus Cucumber varieties sound just as good.

• There were a ton of vegan chocolate samples to be had, but the clear chocolately winner was Naia’s Guittard Dark Chocolate Sorbetto. Sadly, this is another food not yet on the East Coast… but that may be for the best, as I nearly died from chocolate overload while attempting to eat an entire sorbetto bar.

I noticed a few trends at the show.  Bacon and ham (so. much. ham.) are still as popular as ever.  But, vegan is definitely growing — and, I mean, big font, proud-to-be-vegan vegan.

Also, blessedy, “non-GMO” was everywhere.  Put that in your pipe and smoke it, Monsanto.

Now, I’ll go succumb to my food coma…