In case you might have missed it, London’s Vegan Life Live event – which took place on the weekend of 7th and 8th January – was a great opportunity to discover a wide variety of vegan products from a range of different companies. We’d love to share with you some of the amazing food we’ve tried so compiled a list of our 5 Top Buys from Vegan Life Live!
1. Raw & Wild Pili Nuts
If you’re a fan of nuts then this one should definitely tick your box! Raw & Wild offer a type of nut which is incredibly nutritious and have an amazing taste. I had the pleasure of meeting the owner of the company, Yiannis, who told me how these nuts are hand harvested in the Philippines and then are left to dry in the sun before being shelled opened by a Bicolano shell expert. They are then activated; a process which involves the nuts being soaked in water with sea salt until they are dry and crispy. The reason for doing this to activated nuts is to remove the toxic substances from the nut and to also make it more nutritious. Regarding RDA’s (recommended daily allowances) per 100g, Pili nuts contain 146% of your Vitamin E, 76% of your magnesium and 20% of your iron. After trying these nuts myself, I have to say that they taste incredible. They’re hard and crunchy on the outside but as soon as you bite into them you encounter a highly palatable, rich, creamy texture. I highly recommend the chilli version of these, they’re incredibly tasty!
2. Ape Coconut Bites
I’ve always been a big fan of coconut, but struggled to find a coconut snack that I could keep in my handbag all day and actually look forward to getting out and eating. After being introduced to the Ape products, I know this is the way forward, it just makes total sense. Ape coconut bites are a guilt free, full of fibre snack that counts as 1 of your 5 a day. What surprised me with this product was the texture; it’s almost like biting into shortbread except without the added calories! They are very full-bodied in taste, moreish and most importantly – healthy and affordable.
3. Adonis Smart Foods
Adonis offer low carb guilt-free bars (or squares) that taste simply delicious. I had the pleasure of sampling one of the Adonis snack bars which was the “Greenie”. This bar contains avocado, coconut and hazelnut, with matcha and lemon flavours. I have quite a sweet tooth and I wasn’t sure if this would hit the spot – but it did. The seamless blend of avocado and coconut go so well together that I forgot I was eating something 100% healthy. After speaking to the Austrian founder of the company, I had to respect his vision and mission for the company as it really does put health front and centre in the creation of the products. They are gluten free, dairy free, soy free, vegan and to top it off – have only 2% of naturally occurring sugar, which makes it even more attractive to diabetic consumers.
4. Crunchy Seeds
I’m glad I spoke to the Crunchy Seeds team at the Vegan Life Live event as I love eating seeds! I usually keep some regular, unflavoured seeds in my bag to snack on during the day, but sometimes I get a bit bored of them due to the lack of taste. However, Crunchy Seeds offer a huge variety of different flavoured sunflower, pumpkin and sesame seeds and I had the pleasure of trying all of them! This company offers healthy toasted seeds in a variety of flavours to suit everyone. I recommend the Curry Crunch – they have quite a kick, but a very enjoyable lingering savoury aftertaste.
5. Rhythm Health Kefir drinks
Rhythm Health Kefir drinks offer the first ever non-dairy ‘little bottle bacteria drinks’ with no added sugar. Kefir is a naturally occurring probiotic bacteria, with numerous health conferring attributes including vitamins and minerals. These drinks aim to help with digestive nutrition, whilst being simultaneously powerful and delicious. Rhythm Health drinks come in three different flavours: Passionately Mango, Coconut & Greens and Perfectly Pure. My favourite drink out of the three was the Perfectly Pure. This drink contains only coconut and has a lovely, rich yet refreshing taste. These drinks come in 126g bottles and it is suggested that you drink 3 per week to provide your gut and body with an optimum level of live probiotic cultures, hydration to restore and enliven your natural rhythm!
If you’re looking for some new vegan products to try then I would certainly suggest trying one – or all – of the above. They are all such different creations, packed with pleasing and often amazing health benefits and to top it off they taste superb – which is what trying food is all about afterall isn’t it? Check out Vegan Life Live for more on their upcoming events and the brands and products they’ll be featuring!
