We’ve got some tasty titbits to round off the year: from the ones to watch at Plant Based World Expo, to the latest launches, supermarket scoops and taste sensations.
So, get your mitts on a steaming mug of hot chocolate and a festive slice of Eggnog Dulce de Leche cake (spotted on the delicious. Insta grid) and catch up on all the latest intel.
Plant Based World Expo: the ones to watch
We were at Plant Based World Expo in November – here are our topline takeaways of tasty plant-based brands to look out for, ready for the January flex:
🌱🥓 Meat alternative brands Fable LA VIE™ and Redefine Meat were drawing a crowd. These guys are doing clever things in the foodservice and retail spaces to win fans.
🫕🌻Delicious bites that had us drooling included: a blue cheese from La Fauxmagerie (now part of the Purezza stable) and SUNFLY, a sunflower seed based chocolate spread from Estonia.
🥜🥛Some very good milk alternatives featuring chickpeas from and Macadamias from milkadamia. HAPPIEE! and Macadamias from milkadamia.
Great to see lots of innovation at a time when sales-based data shows that the plant-based category is struggling.
In Other News
The Ice Age cometh: the rise of frozen
Consumer demand for frozen snacking is on the rise. Our consumption of frozen foods is changing, while it has previously been the focus of value and creating meals on a budget, it is beginning to evolve, the frozen aisle now has luxury and indulgent options. It’s also a brilliantly sustainable choice massively extending shelf life and avoiding food waste.
We’re seeing innovative NPD from the likes of Pukpip who are about to launch their frozen, chocolate dipped Real Banana Bites in the UK market in March 2024, following the massive growth of the indulgent frozen fruit category in the US.
Good news for Free From
The Grocer has reported that Sainsbury’s is expanding its offering of gluten-free products with the introduction of a new format that combines frozen, ambient, and chilled free-from products in one aisle. The new format will be trialled in 20 stores with a mix of own label and branded products and follows a similar move by Morrisons and M&S which both offer expanded free-from areas in one site in the shop.
The move was welcomed by allergy campaigners and Coeliac UK, who said that 85% of customers reported having to use more than one store to find readily available gluten-free food.
Go bananas: your new festive cocktail inspiration?
Hands up who’s planning to serve banana cocktails this festive season? No? Well according to The Times you should be! If 2020 was the year of banana bread, 2023 is the year of sophisticated banana cocktails. Think Banana Cocoa Butter, a blend of Michter’s bourbon, cocoa butter banana and dulce de leche or maybe you’re more of a Wake Up, a boozy take on the post-dinner espresso combining coffee-milk-washed cognac, black mustard seed distillate, coffee liqueur and banana water – from the team at new bar Wacky Wombat in Soho.
